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Ingenious ice-bubble coding could put data in long-term cold storage
The ice that makes up glaciers isn't 100% solid – it's actually full of air bubbles, some of which formed centuries ago. Inspired by this fact, scientists have developed a method of using bubbles to store coded data in ice. The technology could actually have some practical applications.
The scientists thus proceeded to assign different combinations of bubble shape, size and depth to different English letters and Arabic numerals in Morse, binary, and codes. The researchers envision the technology being used to record, store and read messages in very cold, remote regions such Antarctica, the Arctic, or even other planets, where electricity and electronic equipment would be in short supply. Looking beyond its data storage applications, the bubble-manipulating tech might also be useful for tweaking the strength of ice structures, developing aircraft de-icing systems, or studying how bubbles form in harder-to-image materials such as aluminum.
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