To understand how we will be exploiting holographic technology for data
storage, we have to understand how this technology works in the first
place. I claim to be no expert on this subject, just a student who's
read too many books for his own good (so says my high school
administration). If I make any mistakes, please correct me - I don't
have my copy of The Holographic Universe with me to work from.
Take a holographic plate. Physically it looks almost like x-ray film,
with concentric circles all over it in what are known as "interference
patterns". Like CD technology, we cannot access the data on the physical
object without the use of a laser. This is the part that my mind gets
fuzzy on without the help of the book... The laser beam is fired, then
split in two. One part of the beam goes through two or three refracting
mirrors, and shines on the plate at a certain angle (and angle is what's
important in this multi-phase technology). The other part of the beam
goes through the same process but in a different direction - perhaps going
through some sort of filter...I can't remember. Both beams converging on
the same spot to create a 3d image floating somewhere around the plate
(depending on the angle I suppose).
If that was incomprehensible, it's because I'm [trying] to put to words a
diagram I've seen in a few books.
Now, this conversation can go many ways... I'll just ramble on in no
particular order and hopefully make sense.
Data Storage:
It was quoted in The Holographic Universe, a quote that I'll always
remember, that one square inch of holographic plating can store as much
data as what's in 50 bibles. When you transfer the data onto the
holographic plate, it's broken up into those concentric circles or
"interference patterns"...shining the laser through puts the information
back together. Something analogous to cryptography one might assume.
One attribute, however, that scientists have found most interesting, is
that the "microcosm is the macrocosm" - that is, each part of the
holographic plate holds the same amount of data as the whole thing. That
is to say, if you broke one in half, you'd have two plates that would each
on their own give you the same result as the first full plate.
Information as it portains to the human brain:
We can then apply this last fact to the brain holographic. This is how
Talbot first drew parallels between holography and the way the human brain
works. I believe it was a series of tests called "Shufflebrain" in which
they took some sort of rodent or reptile, and well, shuffled it's brain
around. Slicing and dicing, mincing and whatnot...then replacing it to
see the damage caused. I do believe that this study ended up disproving
the psychological theory of locality in the brain...at least for that
specific rodent.
What are "they" doing with the knowledge?
As for governments, I'm not entirely sure. I've heard no word on the
matter. If you did a search on "IBM" and "Holography", you'd come up
with some interesting results. IBM is incredibly interested in this
subject anhas been pursuing development of this since the late 80's. As
my roommate informed me last night, this is what brought around DVD
technology - to be used with the PC as well as the Nintendo64. (Hey, some
of us kids still like our games!)
Clarification:
Earlier I mentioned how the microcosm is the macrocosm... I forgot to
mention that there will be some distortion involved. You can't just break
a plate into a million pieces and expect each one to retain full
information. It's best illustrated in the book, along with most of the
ideas I'm trying to portray - and I seriously suggest it's reading - even
if Michael Talbot himself is a bit far-gone.
In closure, I'd like to apologize for any incorrect statements I might
have made - and once again, please correct me. I'm not a scientist or a
buisnessman, just a 17 year old freshman at Simon's Rock College. If
you have children, you should probably look into this small college
(www.simons-rock.edu) - it lets a child begin attending college after the
completion of tenth grade.
the child :: byteboy
http://www.teknopia.org/byteboy