How big is your iPod? Bet it’s not 500 terabytes, but it soon could be, thanks to researchers at the University of Glasgow.
The clever Scots have created new nanotechnology that’ll cram 500,000 GB (or just under 500 terabytes) onto a single chip just one inch square.
That’s enough space to store a mind boggling 127 million songs on a device as small as an iPod shuffle.
Explaining the science behind it all, Professor Lee Cronin said: “What we have done is find a way to potentially increase the data storage capabilities in a radical way. We have been able to assemble a functional nanocluster that incorporates two electron donating groups, and position them precisely 0.32 nm apart so that they can form a totally new type of molecular switching device.
“Molecule sized switches would lead to increasing data storage to say 4 Petabits per square inch… The fact these switches work on carbon means that they could be embedded in plastic chips so silicon is not needed and the system becomes much more flexible both physically and technologically.”
There’s no word on when (or even if) the new technology will go into production, but you can bet Apple’s already eyeing it, along with armies of other tech firms. Watch this space.
