Anyone who has ever had a hard drive crash on ’em knows that “data storage ain’t forever.” But how about 300 million years?
Hitachi has developed a system that uses a femtosecond laser to etch microscopic dots within (note: *in*, not *on*) a sliver of quartz 2 cm wide and 2 mm thick. The data density is somewhat better than for a CD; the prototype withstood several hours at 1,000 degrees (F or C, not given). Resistant to chemicals, proof against water. Data would be safe for as long as the quartz wasn’t mechanically ground up into glass… hundreds of millions of years being a possibility.