The Rosetta Wearable Disk has over 1,000 different languages stored on it for long-term preservation

If you fear about end of world scenarios, this new piece of jewelry might be perfect for you. The Rosetta Wearable Disk has more than 1,000 different languages compressed on to a one-inch wide pendant. It’s the brainchild of the Long Now Foundation’s goal to preserve different cultures and languages for generations to come. Given that National Geographic estimates that a language dies off every 14 days, there could be some real inherent value to this necklace.

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So how does it work? Well, over 1,000 pages have been shrunk down and printed on the nickel surface using a unique nano-technology. It contains over 700 basic vocabulary collections and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in some 320 languages. There is also a diagram for the foundation’s clock that is designed to run for over 10,000 years. You’ll just need an admittedly powerful microscope to access this data. Interested? Well, it’s going to cost you. The foundation is requiring a pledge of $1,000 to pick one of these up. But hey, it’s sure to be the most unique Valentine’s Day this year.

The Rosetta Disk fits in the palm of your hand, yet it contains over 13,000 pages of information on over 1,500 human languages. The pages are microscopically etched and then electroformed in solid nickel, a process that raises the text very slightly – about 100 nanometers – off of the surface of the disk. Each page is only 400 microns across – about the width of 5 human hairs – and can be read through a microscope at 650X as clearly as you would from print in a book. Individual pages are visible at a much lower magnification of 100X. The outer ring of text reads “Languages of the World” in eight major world languages. We have now engineered a special numbered edition of the Rosetta Disk, shown in the image below, that can be yours as a gift for joining The Long Now Foundation as a Lifetime Member. Proceeds support the Rosetta Project and our work to build the largest open, publicly accessible collection of resources on the world’s languages.

Source: The Rosetta Project

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