Scientists from the University of Southampton have developed a groundbreaking method to potentially bring humanity back from extinction, and it involves a revolutionary storage technology: the 5D memory crystal. This ultra-durable data storage device could preserve vital genetic information for billions of years, offering a blueprint to restore life in the distant future.
The team successfully encoded the entire human genome onto a 5D memory crystal, which has now been placed in the Memory of Mankind archive, a time capsule located in a salt cave in Hallstatt, Austria. The 5D crystal is made of nanostructured glass and is capable of surviving extreme conditions, including temperatures up to 1,000°C, freezing, and high-impact forces.
First developed in 2014, the 5D crystal has been recognized as the most durable digital storage medium in the world. It can store up to 360 terabytes of data and remain stable for 300 quintillion years at room temperature, effectively outlasting the age of the universe. The crystal’s data is inscribed using ultra-fast lasers that create nano-structured voids within silica, encoding information in a way that includes both optical dimensions and spatial coordinates—hence the “5D” designation.
While it is currently not possible to synthetically create humans using genetic information alone, the stored data offers the potential for future researchers to explore genetic restoration when science allows. The crystal contains a visual key that explains the structure of DNA and how genes are positioned, providing instructions for any future intelligence—human, species, or machine—that may find it.
This remarkable advancement opens the door to preserving not just human genomes but also other complex organisms like plants and animals. Should the technology to revive life forms from genetic data emerge in the future, the 5D crystal could serve as an everlasting repository of life, ensuring the continuity of humanity, even in the face of extinction.
