FD Insights Issue 8 | Page 22

Hair - Strands of human hair would be good media for storing data. Data could be etched into the hair strand using a laser. Skin - Micro-tattooing technology, or perhaps by ‘dying’ the tissue with a memory-bearing dye, perhaps one that is infused with micro-crystalline storage particles of some sort. Quantum Storage Possibly the most far-out concept so far involves quantum mechanics and computing. Although the theory behind quantum computing is complex, quantum storage basically boils down to the storage medium being so small that not even a microscope would be able to see it. According to Mozy, by EMC, a single bit of information could be encoded on a quantum mechanical system - the spin of an electron for example. This could then be read and deciphered by a quantum computer. As with most new technologies, there are difficulties involved. Alex Knapp writes for Forbes that “unlike a regular bit on the computer you’re reading, which can either exist as either a 1 or a 0, a quantum bit (“qubit”) can exist in a quantum superposition – meaning it exists simultaneously in all of its possible states until it’s observed. As a result, information stored as qubits has a tendency to develop errors and degrade in fract [ۜ