Never worry about losing your files again with this 15TB cloud backup subscription
Take care of your data responsibly with Degoo's automatic backups and bank-level encryption.
11 November, 2020
- You can now get more backup space than Dropbox, OneDrive, and Google Drive combined.
- A subscription to the Degoo Premium Mega Backup Plan can provide you with up to 15TB of data under ultra-secure 256-bit AES encryption.
- 15TB is equivalent to 15,000GB. That's about 58 iPhone 11s with the most storage possible.
<script async="true" src="https://widgets.stackcommerce.com/js-deal-feed/0.1/widget.js" type="text/javascript"></script><p>
Between photos, documents, music, and more, your computer can only hold a certain amount of storage. Unless you want to grab a hard drive or pay for extra storage on iCloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, or Google Drive, you should consider a lifetime subscription to Degoo—which is
<a href="https://shop.bigthink.com/sales/degoo-premium-mega-backup-lifetime-subscription-15tb?utm_source=bigthink.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=degoo-premium-mega-backup-lifetime-subscription-15tb&utm_term=scsf-366575&utm_content=a0x1P000004NCE5&scsonar=1" target="_blank">on sale for only $149.99</a> for a limited time.<br>
</p><p>
The premium subscription gets you 15TB of supremely secure backup space with high-speed transfers that allow you to store, re-experience, and share it all from your phone, tablet, or web browser.
</p><p>
In terms of size, this subscription delivers more storage than all the leading platforms combined, so you'll be able to have copies of everything without ever worrying if you have enough space. To put it into perspective, 15TB is equivalent to 15,000GB. That's about 58
<a href="https://bigthink.com/coronavirus/smartphone-coronavirus-exposure-notification" target="_blank">iPhone 11s</a> with the most storage possible.
</p><p>
Degoo automatically performs backup sweeps from all your devices. And thanks to file change detection, all your documents and files will stay up to date. Additionally, you'll be able to easily send files via an email or link, making it easy to share photo albums with friends and family or share important documents with your coworkers.
</p><p>
Take advantage of this platform and see how much easier it is to keep track of not only what lives within your computer, but all of your devices across the board.
</p><p>
Originally, the subscription is worth over $4,300, so the
<a href="https://shop.bigthink.com/sales/degoo-premium-mega-backup-lifetime-subscription-15tb?utm_source=bigthink.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=degoo-premium-mega-backup-lifetime-subscription-15tb&utm_term=scsf-366575&utm_content=a0x1P000004NCE5&scsonar=1" rel="noopener" target="_blank">discounted price of just $149.99</a> is quite the steal. There are 25TB, 35TB, and 50TB options available as well for a discount if 15TB is not enough.
</p><p>
<em>Prices subject to change.</em>
</p><script type="text/javascript"> (function (s,o,n,a,r,i,z,e){s['StackSonarObject']=r;s[r]=s[r]||function(){
(s[r].q=s[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},s[r].l=1*new Date();i=o.createElement(n),
z=o.getElementsByTagName(n)[0];i.async=1;i.src=a;z.parentNode.insertBefore(i,z)
})(window,document,'script','https://www.stack-sonar.com/ping.js','stackSonar');
stackSonar('stack-connect-p', '393');
</script><p>
<em><em><em><em><em>W</em><em>hen you buy something through a link in this article or from <a href="https://shop.bigthink.com/" rel="dofollow" target="_self">our shop</a>, Big Think earns a small commission. Thank you for supporting our team's work.</em></em></em></em></em>
</p>
Keep reading
Show less
Become a data science pro with this Excel course
This eight-course bundle is your deep dive into PivtotTables, Power Query, and so much more.
05 November, 2020
- While traditionally considered boring, spreadsheets are one of the most powerful data analytics tools around.
- Microsoft Excel has greatly expanded to become an essential visualization platform.
- In an era in which data is king, this realm of data processing has never been so important.
<script async="true" src="https://widgets.stackcommerce.com/js-deal-feed/0.1/widget.js" type="text/javascript"></script><p>Since its original release as a spreadsheet program called Multiplan in 1982, Microsoft Excel has become the world's premier business software. If you think that it's only good for spreadsheets, you haven't been paying enough attention. <br></p><p class="p1"><strong>The Complete Excel Excellence Bundle</strong> brings you up to date with the incredible range of services Microsoft's flagship program offers. And for a limited time, this eight-course, 422-lesson bundle is yours <a href="https://shop.bigthink.com/sales/the-complete-excel-excellence-bundle?utm_source=bigthink.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=the-complete-excel-excellence-bundle&utm_term=scsf-442917&utm_content=a0x1P000004YajKQAS&scsonar=1" target="_blank">for just $39.99</a>. </p><p class="p1">Learn all about the specific functions, formulas, and tools that Excel offers to help conduct business or data analysis. Excel's powerful forecasting sheets and reports will help you keep a step ahead in whatever industry you work in.</p><p class="p1">Excel newbies will get a solid grounding in the basics of Excel 2019 and Excel 365. The advanced course offers an in-depth education on Excel features that delve into high-level consolidation, analysis, and reporting of financial information.</p><p class="p1">PivotTables are an essential analytic tool. In this course, you'll slice, dice, and filter data with ease. You'll also be able to quickly group values, enable multiple filters, and define custom sort lists. As more companies require data science, this is an invaluable skill set to have in your toolbox.</p><p class="p1">Mac users even gain access to a specially designed five-hour course that will show you every feature and shortcut you need to know to excel in Excel on your operating system.</p><p class="p1">Valued at $648, the<a href="https://shop.bigthink.com/sales/the-complete-excel-excellence-bundle?utm_source=bigthink.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=the-complete-excel-excellence-bundle&utm_term=scsf-442917&utm_content=a0x1P000004YajKQAS&scsonar=1" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong> Complete Excel Excellence Bundle</strong></a> is on sale now for only $39.99—a 93% discount from the list price.</p><div data-react-checksum="1129065726" data-reactid="1" data-reactroot="" style="position: relative;"><a data-reactid="2" href="https://shop.bigthink.com/sales/the-complete-excel-excellence-bundle?utm_source=bigthink.com&utm_medium=referral-cta&utm_campaign=the-complete-excel-excellence-bundle&utm_term=scsf-442917&utm_content=a0x1P000004YajKQAS&scsonar=1" rel="noopener" target="_blank"> </a>
<div data-reactid="3" style="border: 1px solid #000000; padding: 35px 10px 35px 35px; text-decoration: none; display: flex; align-items: center;">
<div data-reactid="4" style="flex: 30%;"><img data-reactid="5" src="https://cdnp0.stackassets.com/a68534c498e1b691e7e4c434a7c7db7618260e6c/store/d98b95032984643f3ecec8fc77b05f6763ea52a9f3dd7fdb80a3cb127b76/sale_46558_primary_image.jpg"></div>
<div data-reactid="6" style="padding-left: 2.5vw; flex: 70%; justify-content: space-between;">
<div data-reactid="7"><strong data-reactid="8">The Complete Excel Excellence Bundle - $39.99</strong><br data-reactid="9"><br data-reactid="10"><a data-reactid="11" href="https://shop.bigthink.com/sales/the-complete-excel-excellence-bundle?utm_source=bigthink.com&utm_medium=referral-cta&utm_campaign=the-complete-excel-excellence-bundle&utm_term=scsf-442917&utm_content=a0x1P000004YajKQAS&scsonar=1" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Master Excel Today!</a></div>
</div>
</div>
</div><p class="p1"><em>Prices subject to change. Software not included. </em></p><script type="text/javascript"> (function (s,o,n,a,r,i,z,e){s['StackSonarObject']=r;s[r]=s[r]||function(){
(s[r].q=s[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},s[r].l=1*new Date();i=o.createElement(n),
z=o.getElementsByTagName(n)[0];i.async=1;i.src=a;z.parentNode.insertBefore(i,z)
})(window,document,'script','https://www.stack-sonar.com/ping.js','stackSonar');
stackSonar('stack-connect-p', '393');
</script><p><em><em><em><em><em>W</em><em>hen you buy something through a link in this article or from <a href="https://shop.bigthink.com/" rel="dofollow" target="_self">our shop</a>, Big Think earns a small commission. Thank you for supporting our team's work.</em></em></em></em></em></p>
Keep reading
Show less
Catching serial killers with an algorithm
This week, Big Think is partnering with Freethink to bring you amazing stories of the people and technologies that are shaping our future.
07 October, 2020
- There are over 250,000 unsolved murder cases in the United States. Thomas Hargrove, cofounder of Murder Accountability Project, wants that number to be as close to zero as possible, and he has just the tool to help.
- Hargrove developed an algorithm that, through cluster analysis, is capable of finding connections in murder data that human investigators tend to miss.
- The technology exists, but a considerable roadblock that the project faces is getting support and cooperation from law enforcement offices.
<p><br></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UConJDkGk921yT9hISzFqpzw?sub_confirmation=1" target="_blank"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQ2MzQyNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMTQwOTA3NX0.rXGXbzof1ph8fRnrmGpq4cys1YizZqWZD71E1e-Sp0w/img.jpg?width=980" id="0a0d0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d8f806065b0d82ef2e333d4d550e36e7" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt=""></a>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit..."><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UConJDkGk921yT9hISzFqpzw?sub_confirmation=1" target="_blank"></a></small>
</p><p>At Big Think, we share actionable lessons from the world's greatest thinkers and doers. This week, we're partnering with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UConJDkGk921yT9hISzFqpzw?sub_confirmation=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Freethink</a> to bring you amazing stories of the people and technologies that are shaping our future, from neuroscience breakthroughs to bionics and justice. Catch Freethink's documentary-style videos here and on our YouTube channel this Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.</p>
Keep reading
Show less
How cybercrime has evolved since the pandemic hit
Opportunistic agility is running rampant among hackers and scammers.
06 October, 2020
Credit: John Schnobrich on Unsplash
- McAfee's user base has been seeing an average of 375 new threats per minute during the pandemic.
- Once everyone got situated in their home offices and their company's security teams started taking the appropriate measures, how did the attackers adjust?
- Ransomware on cloud servers, hijack attempts on IoT gadgets and business email compromise (BEC) attacks increased in volume as well as sophistication over the course of Q3 2020.
<p>From a meta-historical perspective, crime waves have a tendency to rear their heads at times of societal chaos, and the sudden arrival of the coronavirus pandemic brought chaotic conditions that were particularly ripe for cybercrime. </p><p>In most companies, cybersecurity was a little-noticed casualty in the rush to transform digitally, support remote working, and keep customer-facing apps and services running as the new normal set in. Understandably, organizations prioritized keeping the lights on. Millions of people moved online, including individuals without much experience of working or shopping through the internet, and with equally poor cybersecurity awareness. </p><p>There's no debate about whether hacking and other malicious cyberattacks have increased. McAfee alone <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200721005195/en/McAfee-Report-Shows-Threat-Actor-Evolution-Pandemic" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reports that malware grew 1,902 percent</a> over the past four quarters, and the company's user base has been seeing an average of 375 new threats per minute during the pandemic. It's clear that <a href="https://bigthink.com/politics-current-affairs/profiting-from-coronavirus" target="_self">cybercrime is flourishing</a> in these conditions. </p>
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQ3MDcxOS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1ODE0ODI3OH0.pLcM4D5-g8kRefXXwlnq5f7WpKywX19WRXJoGXcyP4U/img.png?width=980" id="4c94b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8ed7d90ff3b7126abc9af85fd78ff06e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Credit: McAfee
<p>But beyond the many reports that cybercrime has surged, there's been proportionately little talk about how it's changed. Once everyone got situated in their home offices and their company's security teams <a href="https://bigthink.com/technology-innovation/work-from-home-cybersecurity" target="_self">started taking the appropriate measures</a>, how did the attackers adjust?</p> <p>Here are four ways that cybercrime has visibly adapted to the changing conditions of 2020. </p>Deploying pandemic-related attack strategies
<p>One of the notable ways that attacks were especially effective at the start of the pandemic was the manner in which they directly took advantage of the confusion caused by the situation. COVID-19 related phishing emails <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/hackers-cyber-attacks-now-evolving-faster-ever-subex-063924287.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">raised phishing attacks overall by 68 percent</a>. There was also a marked uptick in business email compromise (BEC) attacks, where the criminal masquerades as a legitimate company and attempts to convince the victim that the coronavirus chaos forced them to change their banking details. </p><p>Cybercriminals have adjusted their targeting and tactics to follow the spread of COVID-19, with the spike beginning in Asia before shifting to Europe and the U.S. Now, as people are returning to work, phishing emails and malware have switched gears. Instead of claiming to educate you about the virus, they are disguised as guides to helping workers return safely to the office. </p><p>"What's clear is that hackers are hoping to capitalize on public fear," <a href="https://www.techradar.com/news/how-cybercrime-has-changed-in-the-wake-of-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">says Dr. Alex Tarter</a>, Chief Cyber Consultant and CTO at Thales. "As a global population we have proactively sought out as much information as we can find to help inform our day-to-day lives, but also make us feel safe. Many of instances of cybercrime in the wake of COVID-19 have been designed with this fear in mind." </p><p>In this vein, malware, mobile malware and fileless malware have skyrocketed, using pandemic-related topics to play on people's fears and lure them to malicious URLs. Tarter estimates that half of all COVID-19-related domain names created since December 2019 were set up with the purpose of injecting malware, with many of these domains spoofing content from genuine websites in order to mask their intent.</p>Aiming at broader targets
<p>Another distinct trend is the shift to a broader attack surface. As work moved out of "on-premises" network environments, bad actors have followed us onto the cloud, so cloud-related breaches have increased. Protecting your server isn't sufficient; you need to connect all the dots and cover every connected device, because your cloud-connected printer is the backdoor to your entire organization. </p><p>Cybercriminals have long since woken up to the fact that IoT devices are often the weakest links in any system. IoT-focused attacks have grown in number and in impact, with a <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/hackers-cyber-attacks-now-evolving-faster-ever-subex-063924287.html" target="_blank">46 percent rise</a> in the number of attacks on smart homes, smart enterprises, and control systems that are connected to critical infrastructure.</p>Taking advantage of urgency and pressure
<p>Cybercriminals are taking advantage of the pressure that organizations are under to remain operational by expanding ransomware attacks, which doubled from <a href="https://ciso.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/cyberattacks-get-more-nuanced-as-covid-drags-on/77816357" target="_blank">200,000 in Q1 2020 to 400,000 in Q2</a>. Health centers are a popular target, because hackers know that they are overwhelmed with critical patients and can't afford the time it will take to resolve the attack, so they are more likely to give in and pay the ransom than struggle to combat and cure it.</p> <p>A few weeks ago in Germany, a patient was unable to receive care when a ransomware attack on Düsseldorf University Hospital disrupted the emergency care unit, forcing them to transfer her to another hospital to receive critical care. <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/09/18/1008582/a-patient-has-died-after-ransomware-hackers-hit-a-german-hospital/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The patient died</a> during the journey, a cybercrime first. </p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQ3MDcyNS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyODIyMzQ4MX0._hRX0TVcGldSP5VnhjMjrq-X6KrN9KZ6Wmx80hXt65Q/img.png?width=980" id="f5576" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7c4edb5c1c9200233b186f7bfb6e8f64" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Credit: Trend Micro
<p>New ransomware families are emerging, using more sophisticated, phased attack strategies that are more difficult to rectify. Trend Micro has identified <a href="https://documents.trendmicro.com/assets/rpt/rpt-securing-the-pandemic-disrupted-workplace.pdf" target="_blank">a 36 percent jump</a> in new ransomware families, compared with the same period in 2019. Hackers know that IT and security teams are operating remotely, without access to their usual tools and processes and often without experience in dealing with an attack remotely, which handicaps their ability to resolve it quickly. </p>Exploiting remote work vulnerabilities
<p>Hackers have been quick to respond to the sudden rush to remote working. In the urgency of the moment, many companies implemented <a href="https://neilpatel.com/blog/best-vpn-services/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">trusted VPN services</a> for employees working from home, or set up a remote desktop, without configuring them properly, thereby opening the doors to hackers. In March, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) <a href="https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/alerts/aa20-073a" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">alerted businesses</a> to elevated risks of VPN abuse.</p> <p>A number of cloud tools are poorly protected. Zoom, for example, has become a lifeline for businesses and schools, but it has serious security vulnerabilities. It's no coincidence that individuals and educational organizations have been the targets of so many cyber attacks during the pandemic; they are (rightly) perceived as the most vulnerable. </p> <p>Shadow IT use rose when employees sent home from the office had no choice but to use their personal laptops for sensitive work-related tasks, but these devices are rarely protected as well as an office computer. </p> <p>Phishing attacks rose in part because many employees switched to work remotely almost overnight, without any training to independently recognize phishing scams. The average employee isn't equipped to deal with them, and at home there's no security team on hand to immediately respond to questions and defuse the threat.</p>Cybercrime adapted quickly to COVID-19 chaos
<p>The coronavirus pandemic increased chaos in the world, and that presented a golden opportunity to malicious actors and hackers of all types. COVID-19 saw cybercrime shift to cynically exploit fears about the pandemic, take advantage of hasty shifts to remote working, attack overstretched critical infrastructure like health industries, and aim at broader targets across organizations. IT teams can't afford to fall behind as the ongoing struggle with cybercrime enters a new phase. </p>
Keep reading
Show less
Information itself may be what ends the human race
"We are literally changing the planet bit by bit, and it is an invisible crisis."
17 September, 2020
Credit: Charles Deluvio on Unsplash
- IBM estimates that humans produce 2.5 quintillion digital data bytes daily.
- We'll one day reach a point where the number of bits we store outnumber the entirety of atoms on Earth.
- In the most severe scenario, it takes just 130 years for all the power generated on Earth to be sucked up by digital data creation and storage.
<p>Although many places in the world are currently preoccupied by the COVID‐19 pandemic, most infectious disease experts believe that a pandemic is<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/06/infectious-diseases-extinction/487514/" target="_blank"> unlikely to end the human race</a>. The Black Death of the 14th century was probably the worst case in history. It eliminated <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2002527/" target="_blank">one‐third</a> of Europe's population, which ironically, lead to higher wages—due to a lack of workers, a distrust of authorities who could not protect the people against the disease, and a reinvestment in humanity, all of which lead to <a href="https://theconversation.com/this-isnt-the-first-global-pandemic-and-it-wont-be-the-last-heres-what-weve-learned-from-4-others-throughout-history-136231" target="_blank">the Renaissance</a>.</p><p>If anything is to end the human race, it'll be <a href="https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/ga12131.doc.htm" target="_blank">climate change</a>. The iconic <a href="https://thebulletin.org/2020/01/press-release-it-is-now-100-seconds-to-midnight/" target="_blank">Doomsday Clock</a> was moved ahead from two minutes to 100 seconds to midnight, in January of this year. The clock has been moved ahead each year for the last four years. What's more, this is the closest it's ever been to midnight since its inception in 1947. <br><br>We've got about a decade to turn things around before the damage becomes <a href="https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/ga12131.doc.htm" target="_blank">irreversible</a>. The situation is so disheartening, that at least one group of <a href="https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/ast.2017.1671" target="_blank">scientists</a> speculates the reason we don't see a universe replete with alien civilizations is that it's hard for species to survive the climate change advances in technology inevitably cause.</p>
Will data do us in?
<p>If we do get lucky enough to survive and steer clear of any other likely, apocalyptic scenario, say a thermonuclear war, the eruption of a <a href="https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/supervolcano-wipe-out-united-states-kill-billions?rebelltitem=1" target="_blank">supervolcano </a>or an enormous <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/07/here-s-how-world-could-end-and-what-we-can-do-about-it" target="_blank">asteroid </a>slamming into the Earth, we'll have about<a href="https://www.universetoday.com/18847/life-of-the-sun/" target="_blank"> five billion years</a> until the sun runs out of fuel. But between now and the death of our sun, there's another issue scientists weren't even aware of, until now. Information itself could thwart humankind. It isn't data per se but storing it. As societies increasingly rely on digital information and there's more and more of it, we'll one day reach a point where the number of bits being stored will <a href="https://publishing.aip.org/publications/latest-content/digital-content-on-track-to-equal-half-earths-mass-by-2245/" target="_blank">outnumber the atoms that make up our planet</a>. That's according to theoretical physicist and Senior Lecturer <a href="https://www.port.ac.uk/about-us/structure-and-governance/our-people/our-staff/melvin-vopson" target="_blank">Melvin Vopson</a> at the University of Portsmouth in the UK. A peer‐reviewed paper on his theory, called "The Information Catastrophe," was recently published in the journal <a href="https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/5.0019941" target="_blank">AIP Advances</a>.<br></p><p>"Currently, we produce ∼1021 digital bits of information annually on Earth," Vopson begins. This is based on an IBM estimate that humans produce 2.5 quintillion digital data bytes daily. With an assumed 20 percent growth rate, the number of bits we produce will outnumber the entirety of atoms on the planet in around 350 years. In a <a href="https://publishing.aip.org/publications/latest-content/digital-content-on-track-to-equal-half-earths-mass-by-2245/" target="_blank">press release</a>, Vopson said, "We are literally changing the planet bit by bit, and it is an invisible crisis."</p><p>There are a lot of variables to consider. For instance, the number of bits produced each year, data storage capacity, energy production and the size of the bit compared to the atom (mass distribution). There are human‐centered factors too, such as population growth and the rate of access to information technology in developing countries. "If we assume a more realistic growth rates of 5%, 20%, and 50%," the paper states, "the total number of bits created will equal the total number of atoms on Earth after ∼1,200 years, ∼340 years, and ∼150 years, respectively."</p>It could be worse than predicted
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="951cfbbb0298c36758141a8fe63d162f"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C2Ag1iQKWeM?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>In the most severe case, the 150‐year scenario, it would take approximately 130 years until all the power generated on Earth is sucked up by digital data creation and storage. In this version, by 2245, digital information's mass would equal half that of the Earth's. IBM states that 90 percent of the digital information we have today was only produced in the last ten years. "The growth of digital information seems truly unstoppable," Vopson said.</p><p>What's more, he believes his rates are conservative. He told me via email: "If we look only at the magnetic data storage density, it doubled every year for over 50 years." Not only might the generation of data increase at a faster clip, the estimate uses the thermodynamic energy limit for bit creation. This is the ideal case, the maximum possible efficiency, which we are miles away from, meaning the issue may arrive far sooner.</p><p>Dr. Vopson did offer one solution, using "non‐material media" to store information. He does not hold out hope for this, however. "I am more optimistic about the energy aspects as we will most likely master better ways of extracting energy from fusion (and) solar PVs to close to 100% efficiency." Quantum computing wouldn't be the answer, as quantum bits or q‐bits (bits in quantum superposition states) don't store data. Instead, storage happens using digital bits and classical computing.</p><p>Besides this theory, Vopson is the progenitor of the mass‐energy‐information equivalence, which states that information is an essential building block of the universe and it has mass. In this theory mass, energy, and information are all interconnected. Dark matter doesn't exist. Instead, the "missing" matter in the universe is the mass information itself contains.</p>
Keep reading
Show less
Popular
