The
human brain can store approximately 2.5 petabytes of information, which is
equivalent to a storage capacity of 2.5 million gigabytes. When you convert
this archive into programs broadcast on television, it is equivalent to 300
years of broadcast programs.
The
ability to store information is the result of structures called synapses that
enable neurons to send electrical or chemical signals to other neurons. In
simple words, we can say that synapses are responsible for sending messages
between nerve cells.
The
average brain consists of 86 billion neurons that make up more than 100 billion
connections. In other words,
each neuron is capable of forming at least a thousand connections that can
understand the signals of a thousand synapses. There are approximately 125
billion synapses in the brain. Each synapse can store up to 4.7 bits of
information.
Scientists
believe that using this knowledge, it is possible to create computers that run
on a small amount of energy and that rely on super-intelligent and artificial
neural networks to store and exchange information. Storing information is not
limited to the brain. In fact, our DNA can also store material. DNA can store
all the material in the world in one room, proving it to be a powerful way to
store information in the future.
One
gram of DNA can store as much as 215 petabytes of material, which is roughly
equivalent to 21 million gigabytes of material. Scientists are now able to
convert digital content into information that can be stored in DNA. In recent
studies, researchers have coded the 52,000-word book in thousands of pieces of
DNA. They first changed the book to binary meaning zero (0) and one (1) and
then used the four DNA letters A (A), G (G), T (T) and C (C) to Save this
information.
