Swiss Bunker Stores DNA of Data Formats
One of the fears regarding a possible global cataclysm in 2012, beyond the loss of life and livelihood, is the loss of knowledge. We are well aware of how little knowledge from ancient cultures has survived through to today – that great libraries have disappeared or been destroyed. And of the documents that have been recovered, some have yet to be deciphered.
With so much information stored digitally these days, there is a strong likelihood that post-2012-event cultures will take a very long time to recreate the devices needed to read the digital information of today. And if they do manage to build the devices, it would be extremely useful to have an understanding of how the data is stored on CDs, DVDs and Blu-Ray disks.
A time capsule now stores such information, a kind of DNA for each data format, and has been placed in a vault.
The capsule is the culmination of the four-year “Planets” project, which draws on the expertise of 16 European libraries, archives and research institutions, to preserve the world’s digital assets as hardware and software is superseded at a blistering pace.
The vault is within ultra-secure facility known as the Swiss Fort Knox, near the slopes of ski resort Gstaad in Switzerland. This is an amazing pair of bunkers, built in partnership with the Swiss military. Although they are 10km apart, they have an underground connection. Here’s a schematic for one of the bunkers, and it has me drooling!
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Amazing, I would love to go see that in person.