Hard disks and recording media to store data are great and all, but especially for sensitive information (such as corporate data) longevity and reliability are major problems. The usual recording media existing on the market last for a few decades max, but now Japan tries to develop a device that stores data for a thousand years.

The project is led by Professor Kuroda from Keio University (which yours truly attends, too) and researchers from Kyoto University and Sharp. In the experiments conducted so far, the team used a semiconductor chip as the storage medium and wireless communication technology to read data.

And this is possible at a high speed already. Reportedly, two hours of video can already be transferred onto the prototype in a split second. The researchers hope to have a practical version of the memory device ready by 2018. (There are no pictures of the prototype available anywhere on the web, that’s why you can see Kuroda-san’s face up there.)

Via Nikkei [registration required, paid subscription]