How science created a backup plan for humanity in case of extinction

Made from a 5D memory crystal, equivalent to fused quartz, it has been designed to withstand extreme conditions such as cosmic radiation and varying temperatures from -262 to 1000 degrees Celsius. The crystal can store up to 360 terabytes of information and remains stable for 300 quintillion years, much longer than the current age of the universe.

Lead researcher Peter Kazansky used ultrafast lasers to encode the human genome into 20-nanometer nanostructures, translating the information into five dimensions: height, length, width, orientation and position. On the surface of the crystal, a visual guide was inscribed, including representations of atoms and the double structure of DNA.

However, there are concerns regarding the viability of this innovation. Experts point to uncertainty about who or what will discover the crystal in the future and whether they will have the means to read it. Currently, researchers cannot create life forms from genetic information alone, but advances in synthetic biology offer hope for the future.

The crystal is kept in the Memory of Mankind archive in Hallstatt, Austria, as a symbol of preparation for possible future catastrophes.