Fiber Optic

Although fiber optic internet cable has many advantages over metal cable, it frequently has to be distributed underground – this limits its usability. Facebook, however, has developed a robot that could wrap the cable around existing power lines.

Although optical fibers are highly effective at data transmission, they're also relatively brittle. An experimental new type of optical fiber addresses that limitation, by incorporating a core made of liquid glycerol.

The record for fastest internet speed has been shattered with a data transmission rate of 319 Terabits per second through optical fibers. The record was set over more than 3,000 km of fibers, and is compatible with existing infrastructure.

Medical endoscopes may look small, but their tips are actually several millimeters wide, making them too big to image living cells within the body. A new system, however, lets users view images through a single ultra-thin strand of optical fiber.

A quantum internet could one day allow quantum computers to team up and tackle some gigantic problems. Researchers at Toshiba are a step closer, demonstrating quantum communications sent over a record-breaking 600 km (373 miles) of optic fiber.

Even though underwater remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) are getting smaller, their communications cables have remained relatively fat and hefty. That may about to change, though, thanks to a new fishing-line-based fiber optic tether.

Nokia and Vodafone have tested a new broadband technology that delivers a blistering 100 gigabits per second (Gbps). Conducted using the kind of network seen in the last mile between an ISP and a user, it could eventually be rolled out commercially.

Optical fibers are already used in many fields, but they would have even more applications if they could be manufactured faster and cheaper. An experimental new process is claimed to deliver on both counts, and it uses mostly existing technologies.

A new internet speed record has been clocked at an incredible 178 terabits per second (Tb/s) – fast enough to download the entire Netflix library in under a second. It's achieved by modulating light in new ways before beaming it down optical fibers.

An Australian/German team has developed the world's smallest imaging device, at the thickness of a human hair. It's capable of traveling down the blood vessels of mice, offering unprecedented abilities to 3D-scan the body at microscopic resolutions.

Some of the most useful tools are the ones that allow you to grab something. However, what if that "something" is very, very small? Well, that's where a new light-activated micro-gripper could come in – it's said to be the world's smallest.

A new record has been achieved for the fastest internet speed from a single light source – an absolutely astounding 44.2 terabits per second, 44,000 times faster than the highest speed connection. It was made possible by a new kind of optical chip.