Going back to glass plates ...

At one stage not that long ago there was talk of bubble memory storage that was supposed to offer very long term storage potential. But unlike the above project it afaik was not intended for cloud based archival storage???
 
It sounds a bit like that wristwatch that was waterproof, antimagnetic, fireproof, scratchproof, heatproof, coldproof, solar flare poof, radiation proof, bombproof and shockproof... I lost it! ;)

Joking aside, I didn't read the whole thing but is there any mention about how that glass slide fares if it's dropped? Also, has anyone considered the possible effects of the etching effect lens fungus may have if they're storing them in archives?
 
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It sounds a bit like that wristwatch that was waterproof, antimagnetic, fireproof, scratchproof, heatproof, coldproof, solar flare poof, radiation proof, bombproof and shockproof... I lost it! ;)

Joking aside, I didn't read the whole thing but is there any mention about how that glass slide fares if it's dropped? Also, has anyone considered the possible effects of the etching effect lens fungus may have if they're storing them in archives?
I’m no expert but since size isn’t a problem they could be encased in some heavy duty protection. for fungus etc store in dry conditions or maybe immerse in preservative liquid. Liquid ... AKAIRemember glass is a supercooled liquid and may/does eventually crystallise, which may be a problem but I have a suspicion they could have thought of that ;).
 
I've seen Roman glass that has flowed, think very, very cold treacle or one of the world's longest experiments using pitch ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitch_drop_experiment ) . So any storage that relied on dimensional stability long term could run into problems.
Yes, I remember reading about Roman glass. This stuff is described as quartz glass (though the description is a bit vague) and Wikipedia says that is a form of amorphous pure silica so I guess it may be different from ordin glass which contains soda etc.
 
Yes, I remember reading about Roman glass. This stuff is described as quartz glass (though the description is a bit vague) and Wikipedia says that is a form of amorphous pure silica so I guess it may be different from ordin glass which contains soda etc.

Amorphous silica is in effect just very pure glass, to be transparent it has to be water free. I did my MSc thesis on the analysis of silica in the early days of optical fibres when one firm used to make water free amorphous silica boules by spraying liquid silcon tetrachloride through a hydrogen flame. As SiCl4 decomposes on contact with moist air to form dense white clouds of silica and hydrochloric acid (used to be used for white smoke screens) when the flame went out one day most of Wallsend vanished for a while.
 
Amorphous silica is in effect just very pure glass, to be transparent it has to be water free. I did my MSc thesis on the analysis of silica in the early days of optical fibres when one firm used to make water free amorphous silica boules by spraying liquid silcon tetrachloride through a hydrogen flame. As SiCl4 decomposes on contact with moist air to form dense white clouds of silica and hydrochloric acid (used to be used for white smoke screens) when the flame went out one day most of Wallsend vanished for a while.
Excellent! It’s all a bit beyond this biologist whose chemistry education ceased in 1961.
 
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