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The third industrial revolution has brought mankind into the information age. The development of information storage materials has played a key role in this transformation. Such materials have seen use in many application areas, including computing, logistics, and medicine. Information storage materials run the gamut from magnetic information storage media to molecular-based information storage materials. Among these, fluorescent-based information storage materials are of particular interest due to their unique properties, including an ability to store information with high levels of security, maintain mechanical stability, and respond to appropriately chosen external stimuli. In this review, we focus on recent advances involving the preparation and study of fluorescent materials-based information storage codes. For organisational purposes, these codes are treated according to the dimensionality of the code system in question, namely 1D-, 2D-, and 3D-type codes. The present review is designed to provide a succinct summary of what has been accomplished in the area, while outlining existing challenges and noting directions for future development. 

The dynamic behavior of a macroscopic adhered hydrogel stabilized through controllable dynamic covalent interactions is reported. These interactions, involving the cross‐linked formation of a hydrogel through reaction of a diacylhydrazine precursor with a tetraformyl partner, increase as a function of time. By using a contact time of 24 h and different compounds with recognized aggregation‐induced emission features (AIEgens), it proves possible to create six laminated acylhydrazone hydrogels displaying different fluorescent colors. Blocks of these hydrogels are then adhered into a structure resembling a Rubik's Cube, a trademark of Rubik's Brand Limited, (RC) and allowed to anneal for 1 h. This produces a 3 × 3 × 3 block (RC) wherein the individual fluorescent gel blocks are loosely adhered to one another. As a consequence, the 1 × 3 × 3 layers making up the RC can be rotated either horizontally or vertically to produce new patterns. Ex situ modification of the RC or application of a chemical stimulus can be used to produce new color arrangements. The present RC structure highlights how the temporal features, strong versus weak adhesion, may be exploited to create smart macroscopic structures.