A way to to store 1000TB on a CD

A young Victorian researcher has made a breakthrough in optical formatting that could significantly increase our data storage capacity.

Image: Nature Communications

Every day, humans are producing more data than ever before - around 90% of the world’s data was generated in the past two years alone - and there will come a point when our data storage centres and the cloud can no longer keep up.

But Dr Zongsong Gan, a researcher at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, has found a revolutionary way we can fit a whole lot more data onto traditional optical storage devices, such as CDs, and is now using that technology to help data storage keep up with demand.

In 2013, Gan and his colleagues found out how to fit 1,000 terabytes (TB), or 50,000 high-definition movies, onto a DVD - an increase from the 4.07 gigabytes they’re currently capable of storing. And he’s now been awarded one of 12 Victoria Fellowships in 2014, which will help incorporate his research into practical, mass storage devices.

Gan and his colleagues managed to increase DVD storage so significantly by using light to create extra small dots or ‘bits’ - the unit used to store information. This means they could write far more information than ever before onto discs the same size.

This advance required them breaking a physical barrier known as the diffraction limit of light. Light cannot be split any smaller than around 500 nanometres, and before their work it was thought that, because of this, light wasn't capable of writing bits of information smaller than 500 nanometres across. 

But by using two-light-beams with different abilities, the scientists managed to whittle down the point of light writing the data to just nine nanometres across, or one ten thousandth the diameter of a human hair. 

Image: Nature Communications

Both the beams used were 500-nanometres-wide, but one was for writing information (red), and the other beam (purple) blocked the first from writing information. By making the second one doughnut-shaped, they created only a small space that the first beam could write information through, as shown in the image above.

With the $18,000 fellowship, Gan will collaborate with industry and researchers around the world to work on new breakthroughs for data storage devices, and also see how his existing research can be used on a larger scale to rapidly improve the capacity of optics-based information technologies.

“The successful development of our technology will result in possible Victorian owned long-term patents and create a global role for Victoria, reinforcing the state’s profile of fostering high-tech industry and an innovative research environment, in particular in optics-based information technologies,” Gan explained in a press release.

Source: http://www.sciencealert.com.au/

Computer Runs Slow

Symptoms

Is your computer system taking its sweet time to load your desktop icons every time you turn it on? Your programs might also be running at a snail’s pace as well. Chances are that you have also come across your fair share of computer crashes. Other symptoms might display error messages that might indicate an infected system. For example –

• Hardware like printers and USB devices might not be responding to your commands

• The errors might not be letting you access files on your computer

• The sizes of your files fluctuate even if you are able to access them

There are many reasons why your system always keeps you waiting. Some of them are as follows –

Causes

Low hard Disk Space

This is one of the most common reasons that might make a computer system run slower than it normally does. A near full hard drive will eventually fill up as you include more digital content like pictures or videos in it. The more filled it is the slower will a hard drive be.

Viruses

This goes without saying. Your system can be attacked by viruses if you haven’t installed any protection. Malicious viruses can sometimes inflict irreparable damage on a system. Most of them are designed to steal valuable info like credit card information. Unfortunately viruses also have a tendency to bog down your system.

Spyware

Like viruses, malicious spyware will also cause your system to run slow. This is software that installs itself into a computer and enables information to be leeched to another source without the user’s knowledge. Hackers also use spyware to access private information like passwords and a user’s internet history this way.

How to Fix the Issue

All is not lost. Fortunately there are many digital software that you can use to free your hard drive from the extra space, get rid of any malicious viruses or malware that might have taken residence and make your system run faster –

Install Virus Protections and Anti-malware Software

Most computers are already equipped with anti-virus and anti-malware tools at purchase. If you haven’t activated or updated them in a while it is best that you do so now. Software that hasn’t been updated will not be able protect your computer against such threats efficiently. Once it is, your system should operate smoothly.

Always check whether your antivirus protection is running on a regular basis. If your system is infected it might also have deactivated your antivirus protection without your consent.

Optimize your PC through RegCure Repair Tool

You can also download RegCure Repair Tool to optimize your system. The tool cleans and fixes your system in order to make it capable of running at peak performance. It also repairs system errors, optimizes your PC’s memory, removes malware and deletes privacy files to make it more secure.

Now that you know what can cause your computer to stop working at its best it’s time that you get to it before anything else can get at it.

Download Now: Windows Repair Tool 
* RegCure Pro will scan your system & repair the issue 

• 3 Steps Fix

  
  Download & Install RegCure Pro for Free.
  
  
  Click the "Quick Scan" button.
  
  
  Click the "Repair All" button to repair your PC!

Source: Yahoo