Secure Data Storage... On Your Fingernails 331
opticsorg writes "Secure optical data storage could soon literally be at your fingertips thanks to work being carried out in Japan. Yoshio Hayasaki and his colleagues have discovered that data can be written into a human fingernail by irradiating it with femtosecond laser pulses. Capacities are said to be up to 5 mega bits and the stored data lasts for 6 months - the length of time it takes a fingernail to be completely replaced."
Fingernails (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Fingernails (Score:5, Funny)
Johnson: "Sure do boss, it's right here!" *waves middle finger*
Re:Fingernails (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Fingernails (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Fingernails (Score:3, Funny)
Demon With a Glass Fingernail? (Score:2)
But what if (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:But what if (Score:3, Funny)
The dog ate my finger!
Re:But what if (Score:3, Funny)
the new hotness is "I lost my finger while cooking in a restaurant and some lady is using it as evidence to sue my boss."
Re:But what if (Score:2)
Re:But what if (Score:3, Insightful)
Obviously, your data is screwed.
If there were a pressing need to store data physically on something the size of my thumbnail, why not store it on - something the size of my thumbnail? I mean you could burn it on the back of a watch, or jewellry. You could even set it up so the surface you're writing to is better protected than my thumbnail and easily replaceable.
Just because we can do something doesn't make it a good idea. I'll keep my usb thumb drive, thanks.
Re:But what if (Score:2)
Re:But what if (Score:3, Funny)
- 9 active devices
- 1 hot spare (your left hand thumb)
article text, you know it might go down! (Score:4, Informative)
Secure optical data storage could soon literally be at your fingertips thanks to work being carried out in Japan. Yoshio Hayasaki and his colleagues have discovered that data can be written into a human fingernail by irradiating it with femtosecond laser pulses. Capacities are said to be up to 5 mega bits and the stored data lasts for 6 months - the length of time it takes a fingernail to be completely replaced. (Optics Express 13 4560)
Fingernail storage
"I don't like carrying around a large number of cards, money and papers," Hayasaki from Tokushima University told Optics.org. "I think that a key application will be personal authentication. Data stored in a fingernail can be used with biometrics, such as fingerprint authentication and intravenous authentication of the finger."
The team's approach is simple: use a femtosecond laser system to write the data into the nail and a fluorescence microscope to read it out. The key to reading the data out is that the nail's fluorescence increases at the point irradiated by the femtosecond pulses.
Initial experiments were carried out on a small piece of human fingernail measuring 2 x 2 x 0.4 mm3. The writing system comprises a Ti:Sapphire oscillator and Ti: Sapphire amplifier. Pulses of less than 100 fs at 800 nm are then passed through a microscope and focused to three set depths (40, 60 and 80 microns) using an objective lens.
Each "bit" of information has a diameter of 3.1 microns and is written by a single femtosecond pulse. A motorised stage moves the nail to create a bit spacing of 5 microns across the nail and a depth of 20 microns between recording layers.
An optical microscope containing a filtered xenon arc lamp excites the fluorescence and reads out the data stored at the various depths. "We regulate the focus with the movement of the microscope objective," explained Hayasaki. "The distance between the planes is set to prevent cross-talk between data stored at different depths."
Hayasaki adds that the same fluorescence signal is seen 172 days after recording.
Although the initial experiments have concentrated on small pieces of nail, the team is now developing a system that can write data to a fingernail which is still attached to a finger. "We will develop a femtosecond laser processing system that can record the data at the desired points with compensation for the movement of a finger," said Hayasaki.
Author Jacqueline Hewett is technology editor on Optics.org and Opto & Laser Europe magazine.
Re:article text, you know it might go down! (Score:2, Funny)
Data backup: save your clippings.
The new dumpster dive: behind the nail salon.
what jokes did I miss?
Re:article text, you know it might go down! (Score:2, Funny)
Raid 5: webbed feet
While we're at it: If you thought it was hard to type with one hand.. what'll you do when you've stored all your pr0n on your fingertips?
Link to actual scientific paper (Score:3, Informative)
Re: scientific paper (opticsexpress.com) (Score:2)
Re: scientific paper (opticsexpress.com) (Score:2)
Re:article text, you know it might go down! (Score:2)
Isn't it cool when an entire article and all of its comments can fit on your fingernail without a Continued On Next Finger at the end of it?
Already got lah (Score:3, Funny)
It generally tells me I've been rolling around in the dirt, scratching myself, and have had an inability to touch anyone of the opposite sex.
would be a good idea except (Score:5, Funny)
Imagine losing your data when you hit your thumb with a hammer.
Re:would be a good idea except (Score:2)
One way to be sure it's secure (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:One way to be sure it's secure (Score:5, Funny)
"completely replaced" (Score:3, Interesting)
i admit i didn't read the article, but what about when the nail is partially being replaced?
Where's Keanu Reeves? (Score:2)
Re:Where's Keanu Reeves? (Score:2)
A modal dialog?
-Laxitive
Identity Theft (Score:3, Funny)
Not so funny... (Score:2)
Lost Data (Score:2)
Pretty nifty idea though.
Toes (Score:2)
Breaking a nail (Score:3, Insightful)
Damn it! I broke a nail. There went my passwords!
I love how they reported the results in megabits. So is that 5000000 bits? Whee! I usually do my data in bytes.... Divide by 8, no?
Re:Breaking a nail (Score:5, Funny)
I'm going to do mine in nibbles [wikipedia.org] if it's stored on my fingernails.
Hmmm (Score:2)
Maybe it's just me, but seems like a bit of a sketchy idea.
femtosecond (Score:2, Informative)
femtosecond - one quadrillionth of a second; one thousandth of a nanosecond.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/femtosecond [thefreedictionary.com]
Re:femtosecond (Score:3, Informative)
1 femtosecond in seconds
which returns: 1 femtosecond = 1.0 × 10-15 seconds
So instead of stealing your wallet..... (Score:2)
Good move guys!
Ouch! (Score:2)
Re:Ouch! (Score:2)
Pulling off nails is just data retreival. Nothing to get all concerned about, especially if its done in the name of national security.
*Alberto Gonzales:
According to Newsweek, the memo "was drafted after White House meetings convened by George W. Bush's chief counsel, Alberto Gonzales, along with Defense Department general counsel Will
Re:Ouch! (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Question is: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Question is: (Score:3, Funny)
Bill Gates (Score:4, Funny)
Long Nails (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Long Nails (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Long Nails (Score:2)
Re:Long Nails (Score:2)
Very, very ouch.
Re:Long Nails (Score:2)
No, wait... not that one... I'm right-handed.
Interesting Consequences (Score:3, Insightful)
Girls break a nail, loose last month's vacation pictures!
Would you back up some of your nails on others? Perhaps you could use your toenails as "offline storage"
Sounds like fingernail polish would "erase" the storage. So then could you write to them again? Are nails only WORMs?
What would the readers look like? Would you stick your hand inside your computer? Gee. Hope there isn't any moisture in there.
Long Distance Tax Overturned. You May Be Due a Refund. But Good Luck Getting It. [whattofix.com]
mp3 player (Score:2, Funny)
And with no display, could Apple sue for prior art with the Shuffle?
Re:mp3 player (Score:2)
this is interesting proof of concept, but with so many variables in writing to a biological substrate, this is where implants come in. I'm so surprised that no one has started doing ports yet - meaning body modifications for things like data storage, etc.
Someone will put a 12 gauge ring through his face but not augment with an upgradeable bluetooth flash drive? Interesting times we live in.
Well, I'll google body mods to see if someone's doing it. somebody
Re:mp3 player (Score:2)
Re:mp3 player (Score:2)
I'd actually consider implanting a weatherproof/body-proof storage mod. 4 gigs and up - small form factor... replaceable once a year? I'd do it if it existed.
suddenly that "total recall" scene makes sense (Score:2)
what she was doing to her fingernails?
broke a nail? (Score:3, Funny)
Tin Foil Gloves (Score:2, Funny)
"Why are you biting your nails?" (Score:3, Funny)
Great, my data lasts until I work on my car (Score:3, Insightful)
Will this survive being GoJo'ed after I change my oil? Or being scraped up working in the yard?
What will the bit error rate be after I've painted the fence and scrubbed the paint off my hands?
So now I'll have to wear gloves anytime I do anything remotely physical? Better hope I don't break down and don't have my gloves with me.
Re:Great, my data lasts until I work on my car (Score:2)
Hey, waiter! (Score:2)
Ouch! (Score:2)
Huh. (Score:2)
Someone please pass me the nail file... (Score:4, Funny)
backups (Score:2)
I'm already carrying stuff... (Score:2)
To whit: Why can't I get a combination
When I'm driving in rush-hour traffic... (Score:3, Funny)
One finger conveys enough information already without laser etching or anything else.
Little creepy (Score:2)
Okay, that's just a bit Frankensteinian.
Old news (Score:3, Interesting)
Nine-dimensional space... (Score:2)
From TFA: Initial experiments were carried out on a small piece of human fingernail measuring 2 x 2 x 0.4 mm^3
That's 1.6 nontic millimetres. Plenty of data storage space there!
Obvious next step... (Score:2)
... is a Linux distro that fits on your thumbnail.
Think of what could come out of this invention! (Score:3, Funny)
or
Try our new nail polish colors. They won't currupt your data.
or even
Oh no, I broke a nail. Please help me find it because it wasn't encrypted.
Practical? (Score:2, Insightful)
has to be said (Score:5, Funny)
Because if you took it while I was alive, damn, that would just be torture.
Blade Runner Tech (Score:2)
Could be a useful and non-permanent way of providing identity or other pertinent info while keeping open the option to remove it if necessary (no, not by pulling the nail but rather by filing the top surface down a little).
intravenous authentication (Score:2)
- from the article [optics.org]
What the hell is "intravenous authentication of the finger" -- ?!
Scary!
-kgj
star trek (Score:2)
Quick Storage (Score:2)
Perfect Use for this. (Score:2)
I think I've come up with the perfect use for fingernail storage. Substitute it for passcodes, door codes and biometrics. This has all the advantages of biometrics and fewer drawbacks. Here's how it works:
Imprint a code onto a fingernail. At a secure door, you have a fingernail scanner. Insert finger. Code is read off the finger and processed much like a door code
Parole and Visa identification... (Score:2)
If you don't check in to renew your visa on time then leaving and re-entering the country becomes much more difficult. If you don't get re-etched every time you visit your parole officer it is obvious when you are next checked.
Put the etching closer to the tip for shorter periods of time.
Use it for "buy ten sandwiches, get the next free!" promotions.
Etch a new credit card number on every month - you know if someone physi
Lee Press On Nails (Score:2)
Vietnamese could make a killing in espionage... (Score:2)
Or worse yet -- waking up in a bathtub in Mexico filled with ice. A small note pinned to your shirt -- "Your toenails have been removed. Seek immediate medical assistance. Not for the toenails. We took a kidney too."
IronChefMorimoto
Imagine getting raided by the FBI and... (Score:2)
Size of a floppy (Score:2)
A Boon For Hollywood? (Score:2)
Imagine if Hollywood could charge you for burning DVDs onto your finger nail- In 6 months, your copy of the movie would automatically expire!
*mind explodes*
Great news for beauty salons! (Score:2)
Fingernail muggers strike again.... (Score:2)
And could you get L&I insurance or disability insurance claim for a torn fingernails now? =)
And a whole new movie plot method of hiding the secret informtaion....encode it on the parrot's toenail!!!!!
Re:6 months? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:6 months? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:6 months? (Score:2)
Re:6 months? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:6 months? (Score:2)
I'm thinking espionage. You can smuggle your secret spied data around, even past a full cavity search...
Re:6 months? (Score:2)
A better question, though, is how the data will actually hold up on an attached fingernail. Their tests were with a piece of fingernail, which was not changing in shape or undergoing any stress. We might learn something interesting and unexpected about how fingernails grow with this - perhaps it's not as uniform as one thinks. At the s
Re:Storing large amounts of data in a small place (Score:2)
Re:Storing large amounts of data in a small place (Score:2)
Parsec ~3 x 10^16
Nanometer = 1 x 10^-9
That gives around 25 decimal places between the two extremes, and each character takes 2 of them.
Re:Storing large amounts of data in a small place (Score:2)
Re:Technically, (Score:2)
5 Mb = 640 KB
5Mb =
625 MB = 5000 Mb
Re:corporate spying (Score:2)
No, it'll be like mobile phones with cameras in them. Your fingernails will have to be left at the front desk.
Re:In All Seriousness (Score:2)