Challenges

143 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

How to Preserve Documents: A Short Meditation on Three Themes

by Jan Petr, Václav Ranc, Vítězslav Maier, Pavlína Ginterová, Joanna Znaleziona, Radim Knob and Juraj Ševčík

Challenges 2011, 2(1), 37-42; https://doi.org/10.3390/challe2010037 - 2 Mar 2011

Viewed by 6257

Abstract

The capability to present electronic media that can preserve information is highly restricted to few decades (e.g., a lifetime of DVD media does not exceed 100 years), and therefore the question of how to preserve documents for more than thousands or millions of years presents a challenging task. In this article, we discuss three thinkable possibilities for long-term data storage: (i) self-assembly systems, (ii) chirality, and (iii) nucleic acids. These systems have, in our opinion, added-value regarding functionality and storing capability. Self-assembly systems form 3D structures, which could reflect any information more precisely than a 2D structure, and therefore they could be used as a training information package. Chirality provides the next added value in the possibility of using an interval of for storing the data (fuzzy logic) and could be also interesting in increasing the storage capacity if using compounds with more chiral centers, such as polysaccharides. Finally, nucleic acids represent a method of storage in which the reading step is developed and probably will be still active if people inhabit the Earth, which will realize the whole process of writing/storing and reading easier. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human Document Project)

222 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Long-Time Data Storage: Relevant Time Scales

by Miko C. Elwenspoek

Challenges 2011, 2(1), 19-36; https://doi.org/10.3390/challe2010019 - 7 Feb 2011

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 8324

Abstract

Dynamic processes relevant for long-time storage of information about human kind are discussed, ranging from biological and geological processes to the lifecycle of stars and the expansion of the universe. Major results are that life will end ultimately and the remaining time that the earth is habitable for complex life is about half a billion years. A system retrieved within the next million years will be read by beings very closely related to Homo sapiens. During this time the surface of the earth will change making it risky to place a small number of large memory systems on earth; the option to place it on the moon might be more favorable. For much longer timescales both options do not seem feasible because of geological processes on the earth and the flux of small meteorites to the moon. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human Document Project)

► Show Figures

162 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Using a Mobile Laboratory to Study Mental Health, Addictions and Violence: A Research Plan

by Samantha Wells, Andrea Flynn, Kathryn Graham, Jürgen Rehm, John Cairney, Nick Kates, James L. Kennedy, Daniela S.S. Lobo, Michael Chaiton, Peter Menzies, Rachel F. Tyndale and Zulfikarali Verjee

Challenges 2011, 2(1), 1-18; https://doi.org/10.3390/challe2010001 - 19 Jan 2011

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 9950

Abstract

This paper describes an innovative new research program, Researching Health in Ontario Communities (RHOC), designed to improve understanding, treatment and prevention of co-occurring mental health, addictions, and violence problems. RHOC brings together a multi-disciplinary team of investigators to implement an integrated series of research studies (including pilot studies and full studies). The project involves use a mobile research laboratory to collect a wide range of biological, behavioral and social data in diverse communities across Ontario, Canada, including remote and rural communities, areas experiencing poverty and social disorganization, urban areas, and Aboriginal communities. This paper describes the project background and research plan as well as the anticipated contributions of the project to participating Ontario communities and to broader scientific knowledge. Full article

► Show Figures

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Challenges, Volume 2, Issue 1 (March 2011) – 3 articles , Pages 1-42

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI