Microsoft researchers have discovered a way to store massive amounts of data inside small glass plates — and those plates could last more than 10,000 years. The project, called Project Silica, addresses the "bit rot" problem where hard drives and magnetic tapes gradually deteriorate and need replacing every 5 to 10 years. A study published in Nature explains that scientists used powerful femtosecond lasers to create tiny permanent marks called voxels inside specially made glass. Rather than storing data on a surface like CDs or DVDs, information is written across hundreds of layers deep inside the glass. A glass plate roughly the size of a drink coaster can store up to 4.84 terabytes of data — equivalent to about 2 million printed books. To read the data, a microscope uses machine learning to interpret the patterns of voxels. Glass-based nano-storage systems could preserve critical information for hundreds of thousands of years without requiring electricity, cooling, or regular maintenance, and could significantly reduce the energy consumption of data centers.