A new method of storing data magnetically has just been discovered by a multinational team of researchers and it's apparently hundreds of times faster than the current read/write rate in hard drives. York physicist Thomas Ostler explained that "This revolutionary method allows the recording of terabytes – thousands of gigabytes – of information per second, hundreds of times faster than present hard-drive technology."

Traditionally, data gets stored on a spinning hard drive by applying an external magnetic field which inverts the polarity of the media; a single bit gets recorded each time the external field is introduced. The recently discovered method however makes use of a laser that fires for just 1/10.000 of a nanosecond and produces just enough heat to change the media's polarity.  Dr.
Alexey Kimel from the Institute of Molecules and Materials said that for centuries, it was believed that such technology would be virtually impossible, because heat would destroy the magnetic order, but this recent discovery proves that mere heat energy is a sufficient stimulus for the recording of information on a magnetic medium.

If this technology ever hits the consumer market, computers will be a lot more energy efficient than they are today.