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Reel to Reel Tape Degradation
David Phelps
Apparently tapes degrade over time (Who knew?) and some research has been done to see what happens and what can be done about it.  Phys.org published an article on it today (8-APR-2020):

https://phys.org/news/2020-04-unwinding-mystery-degraded-reel-to-reel-tapes.html

Informative and not too technical.
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David Phelps
More information on this and the Library of Congress' approach to it was published here:

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/04/the-chemistry-of-why-baking-degraded-reel-to-reel-tapes-can-reverse-damage/
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