"A group of researchers at Japan's Kyoto University and Central Glass Company have developed a 'memory cube', a sugarcube-sized piece of glass used as optical storage. The system works using femtosecond lasers to produce tiny bubbles within the glass. These laser produced extremely short bursts of light. The glass contains the element samarium and the resulting bubbles become luminous, enabling them to be read again. The bubbles are 400 nanometers in diameter and placed 100 nanometers apart. A cube with 2,000 layers has been produced capable of storing 1,000GB of data. The technology has reportedly reached the point when development can begin on a possible commercial version. The possibilities for mass storage are incredible, complete libraries you can lose behind the back of the sofa! It remains to be seen if the extensive technology used can be made commercially viable." The first disc drive I ever saw had a massive capacity of 120MB and was fitted to a HP3000 Series III. Don't remember the model number but think they were referred to as 'wash tubs' because a) they were that size and shape, and b) the disc pack could be removed via a flap in the top. Wonder how many of these "sugarcube's" would fit in a casing that size? As a deceased relative of mine used to say "How about the size of them apples!!!!" regards, +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |Robert W.Mills (Systems Development Manager) | |Windsong Services, St. Mary Cray, ENGLAND | |Tel : +44 (0)1689 870622 x3005 | |Fax : +44 (0)1689 899026 | |Email: [log in to unmask] | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ * To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, * * etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *