The highest capacity we've heard of for current optical storage media is the Blu-Ray disc, whose double-layer format comes in at a monstrous 50GB capacity. That just might change in the next few years, as an ongoing research project has found a way to cram three times that capacity (150GB) into a DVD-sized disk, with plans to pump it up to a further 500GB by 2008.

The program, dubbed the Microholas Project, is under the supervision of the Institute of Optics and Optical Technologies at the Technical University of Berlin. The project team, under the direction of Dr. Susanna Orlic, managed to pull off this engineering feat by a process called microholographic recording, which they described as such on their home site:

On a microholographic disk the pit-land structure of a CD or DVD is replaced by microscopic volume gratings. These "microgratings" are holographically induced in the focal region of two counter propagating, highly focused laser beams: one beam is focused into the photosensitive layer and reflected back. The interference pattern of the incident and reflected beam results in a grating-like modulation of the refractive index of the storage medium.

In layman's terms, microholography recording creates three-dimensional holographic grids within the disk's nanostructure for storing and reading data. In comparison, traditional CD/DVD recording techniques use a two-dimensional pit-land structure that only uses the disc's surface for recording data.

Don't start turning in your HD-DVD/Blu-Ray players, though, as the Microholas Project's 150GB disk mentioned earlier is just a demonstrator of things to come. The team expects to have an even bigger 1 Terabyte disk out by 2010, with an expected read speed of 250 Mbits.

Damascus swords, whose construction dates back to the 8th century AD, were the Ginsu knives of their day. Legends hold that they can cut through a blot of silk dropped on its edge, or slice through hard rock without losing its sharpness and cutting power. The technique to forge Damascus swords (and their material, Damascus steel) have been lost to antiquity, so scientists have turned to studying surviving antiques to discover the secret behind their Ginsu properties.

Guess what it is: it's probably nanotubes. IN THE EIGHTH CENTURY AD?!

As reported by National Geographic, scientists at the Technical University in Dresden, Germany using electron microscopes have discovered carbon nanowires and nanotubes within the molecular structure of a Damascus sword. Just like the steel ribs of reinforced concrete, the researchers theorize these nanowires provide stiffness to the relatively softer steel. These are also the first nanotubes ever found in steel, the researchers add.

Besides adding stiffness, they may also contribute to the sword's cutting power. Part of the process of creating a Damascus sword involves etching with acid. Because the carbon nanotubes are resistant to acid, at the end of the acid etching, these tubes would stick out like microscopic saw teeth. Nanotube action for smooth, close shave - of your head from the neck up, it seems.

Metallurgists remain skeptical that the Dresden team "cracked the secret"of the Damascus sword, however. One metallurgist from Iowa, himself involved in replicating the forging process of Damascus steel, opines that these nanotubes could also pop up in normal, not-so-legendary steel products. In any case, several researchers are pressing for further study into nanomaterials. First one to benefit's probably Gillette.