This New 5D ‘Eternity Crystal’ Stores 360 TB Of Data For Billions Of Years

Scientists at the University of Southampton have successfully stored the entire human genome on a five-dimensional (5D) crystal. This technology is capable of digitally storing up to 360 terabytes of data and is designed to endure for billions of years.

Created by the university’s Optoelectronics Research Center, this crystal has been nicknamed the “Superman crystal,” reminiscent of the 1978 Superman movie, where a memory crystal contained the knowledge of Superman’s biological father, Jor-El. In reality, this crystal can store a staggering amount of information – enough to contain the entire human genome – and remain stable for billions of years without degradation.

Professor Peter Kazansky, who led the research team, explained the significance of this breakthrough: “The 5D memory crystal opens up possibilities for other researchers to build an everlasting repository of genomic information from which complex organisms like plants and animals might be restored should science in the future allow.” The ability to preserve genetic data in such a long-lasting medium provides a new level of security for humanity’s biological legacy. The technology could one day serve as a vault, protecting vital information about our species, as well as other life forms, from the uncertainties of the future.

The crystal is made from nanostructured glass, using ultra-fast femtosecond lasers to inscribe data. Unlike traditional 2D storage mediums like paper or magnetic tape, which are susceptible to decay over time, this crystal encodes data in five dimensions: two optical and three spatial coordinates. This method allows for dense data storage, holding up to 360 terabytes (TB) of information, and ensures the crystal’s stability even in extreme conditions, such as temperatures up to 1,000°C (1,832°F) or freezing environments.

To demonstrate the crystal’s capabilities, the researchers encoded the entire human genome – approximately three billion DNA base pairs – into the crystal. The genome was sequenced 150 times to guarantee accuracy, ensuring that every letter of the genetic code was in its precise place. But this crystal is not just a cold storage device. In anticipation of future discoveries by unknown civilizations or species, the crystal also contains a visual key.

The key, as Professor Kazansky noted, explains “what data is stored inside and how it could be used.” It includes representations of the basic universal elements (hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen), the structure of the four DNA bases (adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine), their arrangement in the DNA double helix, and how genes are structured on chromosomes. This makes the stored data decipherable to any future human, machine, or alien intelligence that might uncover the crystal.

The human genome crystal is now housed in a time capsule located in a historic Austrian salt cave, managed by the Memory of Mankind archive. This cave offers a uniquely stable environment for the long-term preservation of this critical repository.

While we don’t yet possess the ability to synthetically recreate complex organisms from DNA sequences alone, the rapid pace of scientific advancement makes it difficult to predict what the future might hold.

Source: University of Southampton