Researcher builds absurd USB stick the size of a plate

Kevin Hofer

3-2-2026

Translation: machine translated

You think USB sticks can no longer surprise? Then you haven't heard of this project by a Japanese space researcher. He has built a USB stick that is the size of a plate but only stores 128 bytes. Why? Because he can.

The tech enthusiast @dyd_Nao on X set himself a special challenge: he combined ancient magnetic core memory technology from the 1950s with modern hardware. The result is a USB stick that is completely impractical, but nevertheless fascinating.

How the monster works

The archaic storage unit lies at the centre of the structure - a grid-like structure made of tiny iron rings wrapped in wire. The magnetised rings are either in a magnetic «north» or «south» state in order to store data. The hobbyist has installed modern components such as driver chips, amplifiers and LEDs around them. A Raspberry Pi Pico takes over the USB functionality and takes care of a special recovery process. Because here comes the catch.

Magnetic core memory has a curious property: reading it is destructive. As soon as you retrieve data, it is gone. The system then has to rewrite it immediately. The stored information is basically non-volatile - a plus point. However, the self-destruction during reading relativises this advantage considerably. What's more, the capacity of 128 bytes is ridiculously small.

An excursion into computer history

Magnetic core memory was used as RAM in the early days of the computer. It was first used by MIT's Whirlwind computer in 1953 and was the standard from 1955 to the early 1970s - despite considerable disadvantages: expensive, inefficient and not scalable, as it was partly woven by hand. Intel ended this era in 1970 with the 1103 DRAM chip, which was cheaper, faster and denser.

The huge USB stick with its tiny storage capacity has no practical use. And that's not the point. The project is about «Can I do that?» and not «Should I do that?». That's exactly what makes it great.

Kevin Hofer

Senior Editor

kevin.hofer@digitecgalaxus.ch

From big data to big brother, Cyborgs to Sci-Fi. All aspects of technology and society fascinate me.

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