A pile of blue DVDs (graphicstock.com)

Scientists have reportedly found a way to create a DVD-sized disc that can hold 1,000 terabytes of data – enough to store 40,000 HD movies.

It’s all to do with using lasers in a way akin to a fine tipped pen rather than a felt-tip pen – the old way – to write information to the disc, apparently.

Two lasers have been used to massively increase the storage capacity of a DVD from 4.7 gigabytes. One beam partially blocks the light of the other, allowing all but a point of light just 9 nanometres (seriously small) in width to write information to the disc.

The breakthrough by a team at Swinburne University in Australia could spark a revival for the DVD, which has been challenged by the rise of the Blu-ray format and cloud storage.

Researchers from the university it seems are looking at using the technology to revolutionise data storage centres, which can be huge and use a lot of energy.

Tech news website Pocket-lint quoted team leader Dr Zongsong Gan as saying: “In my mind, I have an vision for our society in the future where everyone will have a databank account just like we all have a bank account today.

“We’ll save all of our data in the data bank. Everyone no longer needs the same things today as phones, iPads, or laptops. We only need a soft touch screen, any data processing, while storage is done remotely.”

Of course, you may find SD memory cards or USB flash drives more useful in your everyday life right now, with 7dayshop.com offering plenty of choice when it comes to memory cards!

Sources: Pocket-Lint, Daily Mail, Swinburne University

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