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Earth's Genetic History Gets Pressed onto a Colorful Coin

The Cook Islands' new coin features a nanochip with pictures and text that summarizes the story of life on Earth.

All 542 million years of life on Earth can now be stored on one side of a coin. Well, sort of. A tiny nanochip hidden on this new Cook Islands currency stores pictures and text that summarizes the whole story, from protozoans to the present day. The face value for eons of evolutionary history is only about $10, though the limited 1,000 unit release may drive the price up to something more worthy of its genetic treasure trove.

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