New DVD to Protect Data for a Thousand Years or More

On 1 September, Millenniata, a start-up company based in Springville, will release a new archive disk technology to preserve data at room temperature for 1,000 years. It’s like writing onto gold plates or chiselling information into stone. Dubbed the Millennial Disc, it looks virtually identical to a regular DVD, but it’s special. Layers of hard, persistent materials (the exact composition is a trade secret) are laid down on a plastic carrier, and digital information is literally carved in with an enhanced laser using the company’s Millennial Writer, a sort of beefed-up DVD burner. Once cut, the disk can be read by an ordinary DVD reader on your computer