# Longest lasting data medium?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-data-medium/184271>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 25, 2003, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-data-medium/184271 "2003-06-25T12:05:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-data-medium/184271/61 "2016-02-21T22:01:40Z")

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It’s unavoidable that you’ll have some nonzero rate of copying errors. But there are mathematical tricks (most of them fairly simple) you can use to get that rate as arbitrarily low as you like, at very low cost. And even petroglyphs have some unavoidable failure rate: What if your cave collapses in an earthquake, or is flooded with water that corrodes away the rock?

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**Author:** ![albino\_manatee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/albino_manatee/32/2_2.png) [@albino\_manatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/albino_manatee)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-lasting-data-medium/184271/62 "2016-02-21T23:50:08Z")

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> [@albino\_manatee](#):
>
> _… just last week was watching one documentary on how extremists in iraq are demolishing any and every relic. so … that there is one scenario … paranoia and extremism can quickly sabotage even the most secure faculty …_

found out, just now, the above mentioned documentary was hosted on **discovery’s** science-channel series **“what on earth”** … specific episode being **“secret of doomsday mountain”**.

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