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Rampant Fungus Destroying Old VHS Video Tapes


Oh, gross! This story sounds like it came from The Onion, but be afraid: The UK Guardian's Observer newspaper said it, and so it must be true. Turns out a devastating virus, or "Tape Mould" as the Brits are calling it, is ravaging VHS tapes from the '80s and '90s all over the United Kingdom. ('Girls Just Wanna Have Fun'! 'Desperately Seeking Susan'! 'Degrassi Jr. High'! -- all gone!)

More troublesome than the destruction of our fave '80s hits, which are mostly available on DVD anyway, is the mold's desecration of families' precious memories and historical footage. Families with infected tapes may sit down with their popcorn to watch a recording of little Stevie's bar mitzvah or the funny one where Fluffy falls in the bathtub, only to find them unwatchable.

Unusually high humidity has meant that the mold has already scourged thousands of miles of AV tape throughout the UK, not counting tons of tape that are probably rotting in storage. And it's spreading, says the Observer,"at an alarming rate."

If you have the mold, which looks like " a fine white dust," then quarantine the infected tape ASAP. Spores will spread like the bubonic plague, and one moldy tape can ruin your whole archive.

So far, the problem doesn't seem to be too epidemic here in the States, but in case you're worried, you should take a look at this bit of advice from the British Library Sound Archive, which advises that tapes should be kept in the dark, away from heat sources. Moisture is also an enemy of tapes and breeds mold, so keeping tapes in a dry place is advised. [Source: The Guardian]

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