Santa Cruz

Long-term storage and recovery of digital information is something that everyone -- from governments and businesses to home computer users -- is struggling with today. Even as more and more information goes digital, there is currently no sure-fire way to ensure that such data will be accessible in the future. According to a Science Daily report, University of California-Santa Cruz (UCSC) scientists are working on a solution.

Edd Hifeng barely merits a second glance in Second Life. A steel-gray robot with lanky limbs and linebacker shoulders, he looks like a typical avatar in the popular virtual world.

But Edd is different.