1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Live TV
Latest audioLatest videos
In focus
Russia's war in UkraineIsrael-Hamas warIndia elections
Digital World

The end of memory?

October 26, 2016

The human race is producing digital data at an unprecedented rate. Storage media such as DVDs, CDs and hard drives have a lifespan of about ten years. Will our data still be preserved in 20 or 30 years' time?

https://p.dw.com/p/2RiqY
Image: ZED

Storage media such as DVDs, CDs and hard drives have a lifespan of about ten years. How can we ensure that key moments of life captured on digital photos will still be preserved in 20 or 30 years’ time? Or that in 100 or 500 years, information on the storage locations of nuclear waste and the necessary safety precautions are still available? How can data be stored permanently? Each potential solution presents a new scientific and technological challenge. What will replace USB flash drives? DNA? Quartz? Or will we have to go back to the sheets of paper that proved their worth over the centuries?