5D discs could preserve mankind’s knowledge for billions of years

All things come to an end eventually, and mankind is no exception. Even if we don’t drive ourselves to extinction through the over-consumption of resources, unchecked scientific advancement, or war, on a long enough timescale, our demise is still inevitable. That being said, we can still ensure the continuity of our species, even if we’re all dead, by preserving the records of our existence for other intelligent life forms to find. However, preserving that information requires a medium that can survive for potentially billions of years after our demise, but does such a medium exist? The answer is yes, there is such a medium, one that researchers from the University of Southampton have been working on: 5D storage discs.