Jesse Wilkins writes:

- There is a substantial assumption here about the availability of hardware,
>writers, readers, and media over time. USB is good but I have my doubts
>about its availability 500 years from now

At one time (and I assume this is still true), Norsam's ion beam wrote to a titanium (now nickel) disk in digital code, analog letters, or both.  The idea was that if the digital became unreadable in 500 years (very likely,) "all" you would need to read the analog would be a really good, possibly electron, microscope.  Hopefully, electron microscopes, or something with similar functionality, will be available then.  It's not the "flashlight and magnifying glass" of microfilm, but it is relatively stable as a medium.

As far as I know, etching analog in hard metal is the best hope we have of labeling the above-ground, dry cask, nuclear waste storage containers our power companies are creating.  The dangerous half-life of the spent plutonium fuel rods is around 10,000 years, according to usually reliable sources.

Looking forward to seeing y'all in Chicago,

Gordy
Gordon E.J. Hoke, CRM
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Gordon E.J. Hoke, CRM

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