Data & DNA?

Hi guys. Here are a few snippets from an interesting article...

Global data storage calculated at 295 exabytes
By Jon Stewart Presenter, BBC World Service

Stack of books The world's data would be the equivalent of 13 layers of books over China

Mankind's capacity to store the colossal amount of information in the world has been measured by scientists.

The study, published in the journal Science, calculates the amount of data stored in the world by 2007 as 295 exabytes.

That is the equivalent of 1.2 billion average hard drives.

The same information stored digitally on CDs would create a stack of discs that would reach beyond the moon, according to the researchers.

Other results from the global survey show that we broadcast around two zettabytes of data (a zettabyte is 1000 exabytes). That's the equivalent of 175 newspapers per person, per day.

These numbers may sound large, but they are still dwarfed by the information processing and storage capacity of nature.

"The Human DNA in one single body can store around 300 times more information than we store in all our technological devices" according to Dr Hilbert.

This study looked at the world as a whole, but the scientists say that it does show that the "digital divide" between rich and poor countries is growing. Despite the spread of computers and mobile phones, the capacity to process information is becoming more unequal.

In 2002 people in the developed world could communicate eight times more information than people in the developing world. Just five years later, in 2007, that gap has nearly doubled, and people in richer countries have 15 times more information carrying capacity.