Index – Science – After we die, a memory crystal can bring us back to life

If humanity were to die, a coin-sized crystal would help those who come after us in our resurrection, because the entire human genome has been condensed into a single crystal. And in a few million or even billion years, when we disappear from the face of the Earth according to optimistic science fiction scenarios, a new species will emerge that we cannot yet imagine. However, whoever they are, they do not have to imagine much if they want to know what the people who lived before them were like, because they can create us.

Scientists at the University of Southampton in England have managed to extract our genetic information from 5D quartz. Memory Crystal To enter. Peter Kazansky, lead researcher in the development at the University of Southampton’s Department of Optoelectronics (the science of light-emitting electronic devices and light regulation), said that 5D memory crystals are capable of incredibly durable and high-density storage for billions of years. According to him, reconstructing a human being with the help of technology and genetic engineering is no longer just a dream, it is definitely so. Information immortality, Which can protect one's identity in the future.

super material

In 2014, quartz won the Guinness World Record for the most durable data storage material, and no wonder: it can store up to 360 terabytes of information (the equivalent of 72 million photographs) for billions of years, even under favorable conditions. Not ideal.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the crystal remains stable at room temperature for billions of years. Kazansky and his colleagues encoded human genome information on it using ultrafast lasers: the data is encoded in two optical dimensions and three spatial coordinates, i.e. in the fifth dimension.

Visual key helps researcher

A “visual key” is engraved on the crystal, which contains hydrogen, oxygen, carbon and nitrogen atoms, the shape of the DNA double helix and four types of nucleotide bases, as well as the breakdown of the molecular structure of a chromosome. Kazansky said that the visual key written on the crystal explains what data it contains and how it can be used. Naturally, this would be of great help to the non-human race that finds the quartz. Of course, we still have no idea what kind of intelligent species (?) or machine will find the memory crystal in the future and whether they will be able to read it.

The development is huge, but some people are skeptical about its practicality. Thomas Haynes, a data scientist at Imperial College London, expressed his doubts to CNN. I wonder how whoever finds it will know how to read the crystal, whether they will have the means to do so, and whether they will actually survive the many ordeals that will surely precede our extinction.

At the moment, genetic information alone is not enough for reproduction, but the development of synthetic biology gives hope to those who believe in it. They are always looking for ways, and the crystal was created primarily to preserve the genomes of endangered plant and animal species. Thus, extinct species can be brought back again. But there have already been attempts to store frozen animal cells in lunar craters.

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