digital photo album

Digital Archives

A reader asks: Is it true that CDs can disintegrate after 20 years? How long will my digital photos last?

Yes, CDs sometimes disintegrate within a decade or two, but with proper handling and the use of higher-quality discs, your digital photo album should last a century. The breakdown of discs, known as CD rot, begins with poor care: scratches, bending the disc as you remove it from its case, damage to the edges. But these slight nicks and fractures don’t make rot inevitable. You can avoid it by using CDs coated with gold rather than the more common silver. The science involved here is simple.

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December 2009: Best of What's New

In our December issue, Popular Science names the 100 best innovations of the year: bombproof wallpaper, self-parking cars, the fastest helicopter, and 97 more. Plus inventor profiles and videos.

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