DVD uses bug protein to store data

News in Science ^ | 7 July 2006 | Anna Salleh

[annie laurie]

Not sure if this is pingworthy for the entire list, but it might interest you.

[cripplecreek]

Professor V Renugopalakrishnan

I'm afraid to ask what his first name is.

[Redcloak]

Vic.

[phoenix0468]

WOW, that's cool.

[Gay State Conservative]

One would think that the folks at Harvard Medical School would be better suited to finding cures for disease.Let HP and Sony do the IT research.

[Enterprise]

What a coincidence. Bug scientists just discovered that a layer of human protein also has great potential for data storage. The bugs just can't get enough so they have embarked on a cultural exchange program to obtain more.

[GoldCountryRedneck]

Hmmmm....just smashed a fly with a DVD here. Now it won't even play let alone store anything......

;)

~GCR~

[VOA]

Maybe the bug proteins will end the times I say
"This disk drive CRAWLS!"

[William Terrell]

Hmmmm....just smashed a fly with a DVD here. Now it won't even play let alone store anything......

Probably would have if you'd smashed a firefly.

[Tiny]

Has PETA released a statement yet on how unacceptable it is to exploit microbes in this manner? If not, expect one soon.

[Grut]

I'm afraid to ask what his first name is.

Venkatesan. Honest!

[Echo Talon]

Professor V Renugopalakrishnan

OMG.. whats his first name? Vinny? :)

[AntiGuv]

Thanks for the ping! I found it of interest but it doesn't quite meet the criteria I try to stick to for the list. It's just too purely speculative and a lot of these things, while intriguing, you never hear about again. If it were about, say, Sony engaged in R&D that's one thing, but if it's some idle theorizing by a random science dude that's quite another!

[AntiGuv]

You know, on second thought I'll ping it. It seems a bit out there to me, but hey, why not! We're intrigued so I'm sure there'll be others too.

FutureTechPing!

An emergent technologies list covering biomedical research, fusion power, nanotech, AI robotics, and other related fields. FReepmail to join or drop.

[coconutt2000]

Great!

Well, now when you say your system has a bug... you won't be lying.

[Truth29]

Yep. There's interest. The article indicates that the research team has produced a prototype device.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

In conjunction with NEC in Japan, Renugopalakrishnan's team has produced a prototype device and estimate a USB disk will be commercialised in 12 months and a DVD in 18 to 24 months.

Now that is not theorizing.

"It ain't bragging if you can do it." - Y. Berra

Can they do it? Time will show - but a prediction of commercialization in a year's time is not exactly "global warming is happening because it's hotter today than it was yesterday, and in 20 years the sea level will rise 30 feet!"

[strategofr]

"He says that the protein layer, made from tiny genetically altered microbe proteins, "COULD" allow DVDs and other external devices to store terabytes of information.

Professor V Renugopalakrishnan of the Harvard Medical School in Boston reported his findings at the International Conference on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in Brisbane this week.

"What this "WILL" do eventually is eliminate the need for hard drive memory completely," he says. "

Notice the 2 words I have made all caps & in quote. Tense is important. The article is nonsense.

But noteworthy. The level of nonsense in science is increasing.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

a prediction of commercialization in a year's time is not exactly "global warming is happening because it's hotter today than it was yesterday, and in 20 years the sea level will rise 30 feet!"

Still, for a technology with which they propose to replace the hard disk, access speed claims are conspicuous by their absence.

And OTOH they do not actually claim archival storage capability, only "several years."