Microsoft Project Silica stored the 1978 “Superman” in glass

Millions of films that production studios have in their warehouses are at risk over time. Films wear out and are flammable, and even the transition to hard drives has its risks since they often present problems. But Microsoft has created a tool that promises to safely store data for centuries.

As Variety reveals , Warner Bros. saved the 1978 Superman movie on a Microsoft glass slab called Project Silica . Project Silica was launched in 2016 with the goal of creating the ideal solution for long-term storage. The glass media measures 7.5 x 7.5 x 2mm and has 75.6GB of storage. As technology evolves, it will provide more and more space.

Microsoft teams tested the durability of the media by placing them in an oven, submerging them in boiling water, heating them in a microwave oven and scraping them with metal objects. In any case, the data remained unchanged and could be read.

Project Silica uses lasers to etch glass shapes containing multiple bits of information, instead of the folds of optical discs containing zero and one. In addition, the glass medium may contain multiple layers and the medium in the case of Superman has 74. The data is read by illuminating the glass with light and analyzing the reflections under a microscope. An inspection of the bits showed that the film was perfectly copied on the glass media.