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People have been sharing information for thousands of years, etching stories, records, and traditions into stone walls, wood, or clay. Despite humanity's technological progress, however, much of its digital culture and media could be lost to future generations. This is because the physical media currently used to store modern music, movies, and games will eventually degrade until it becomes completely unusable.

There may be an alternative, though: M-DISC. These may not look particularly interesting, but they're rated to survive up to 1,000 years, meaning they far exceed the lifespan of a typical DVD or Blu-ray . It's not just the creators saying this, either; in 2009, the US Department of Defense subjected a variety of archival DVDs to extreme temperatures, humidity, and light exposure. Only the M-DISCs made it through the testing with no data degradation.…