Fearful of digital decay, a ceramicist wants to return data storage to a more lasting medium: clay [theatlantic.com]. In Hallstatt, Austria, a picturesque village nestled into a lake-peppered region called Salzkammergut, Kunze has spent the past four years engraving images and text onto hand-sized clay squares. A ceramicist by trade, he believes the durability of the materials he plies gives them an as-yet unmatched ability to store information. Ceramic is impervious to water, chemicals, and radiation; it’s emboldened by fire. Tablets of Sumerian cuneiform [ancient.eu] are still around today that date from earlier than 3000 B.C.E.