Each week, we spotlight a cool innovation recommended by some of the industry's top tech writers. This week's pick is [X].
Researchers in Australia unlocked internet speeds high enough to download "more than 1,000 high-definition movies in less than a second," said BBC. Using a single fiber-optic wire linked between two campuses in Melbourne, the team "logged a data speed of 44.2 terabits per second," or roughly a million times faster than the average internet speed in the U.S.
They did it using a device called a micro-comb that replaces the 80 or so lasers in modern fiber-optic telecom equipment. While the technology is unlikely to boost our Netflix downloads anytime soon, that fact that such speed was achieved on existing internet infrastructure suggests the fibers "already in the ground" can continue to "be the backbone of communications networks now and in the future," one of the scientists said.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
