I have to speak up here. In addition to microscopy, I
also do planetary spectroscopy. A student of mine
is working on infrared reflectance spectra from Mariner
6 and 7, which flew by Mars in 1969. The original data was
lost in the early 70s; she discovered the original 7-track
tapes with the spectra and calibrations, has recovered most of
them, and is finding much more in those spectra than was ever
originally thought of. Granted, this is a unique case and a
unique data set. But I would not discard old data merely
because it was old.
  Allan Treiman
Lunar and Planetary Institute
3600 Bay Area Boulevard
Houston, TX  77058-1113
 (281) 486-2117
 [log in to unmask]

>----------
>From:  robert palmer[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
>Sent:  Sunday, April 19, 1998 8:41 AM
>To:    [log in to unmask]
>Subject:       Re: CONFOCAL Digest - 16 Apr 1998 to 17 Apr 1998
>
>And to all this, I would ask if anyone can provide me with an example of
>someone wanting (or should I say, really needing) to examine raw data from
>even five years ago?  Perhaps some legal types can make a case for this
>"need" (i.e., my client gets off if they can't produce the original data),
>but I challange those from the ivory towers to document going back to data
>acquired more than five years ago and really making something out of a
>reanalysis.  My philosophy is that data is NOT like wine - you use it
>within a relatively short time frame or you forget about it.  It does not
>become better or more informative with age - in fact, just the opposite.  I
>don't save string or rubber bands either...
>Rob Palmer
>CEB/UT
>
>>At 12:07 AM 4/18/98 , Doug Cromey <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>"Digital information lasts forever, or five years -- whichever comes
>>>first,"
>>>says a senior computer scientist at RAND Corp.  The problem is that
>>>computer
>>>experts are finding out that under less-than-optimal conditions, digital
>>>tapes and disks, including CD-ROMs, can deteriorate in as little as five to
>>>10 years.  And the decay, although it happens gradually, isn't evident
>>>until
>>>it's too late, says the founder of Voyager Co., which makes commercial
>>>CD-ROM books and games.  "CDs have a tendency to degrade much faster than
>>>anybody, at least in the companies that make them, is willing to predict."
>>
>>I'm not a data storage expert, so take this for what it's worth, but I've
>>been hearing about the imminent decay of CDs periodically since I worked at
>>a radio station almost 15 years ago. I have yet to see even one documented
>>case of a CD or CD-ROM where the data decayed because of age or "bit rot".
>>I'm sure they don't last forever, but so far they seem to be hardier than
>>the experts keep saying.  (Tapes and disks are a different story, of
>>course.)
>>------------------------------------------------------------------
>>Jeff Metzner ([log in to unmask])     Universal Imaging Corporation
>>Product Manager, MetaMorph          502 Brandywine Parkway
>>http://www.image1.com               West Chester, PA 19380-4292
>