clhs sciblog

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Under the Sea!!

March 31st, 2010 by meyersrr · 1 Comment · Physics

Many people think that the Internet comes through satellites. Many people are also wrong. So how does the United States get information from Japan and Europe? Fiber optic cables running along the bed of the ocean. The myth that satellites are better quality and more high tech than cables is just that: a myth.

A standard fiber-optic cable can transfer about a terabyte of data per second. That’s 1 000 gigabytes and 1 000 000 megabytes. That’s a lot of bytes! This data is transferred by pulses of light. These light pulses travel thousands of miles across the world, being refreshed every once in while by another light transmitter. How do you think the internet at your house goes so fast?

Learn more here.

Q3-3

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One Comment so far ↓

  • sanchekn

    I had no idea that the United States gets information via cables from underneath the ocean. To recieve 1 000 gigabytes would be very useful and resourceful. In the article, is said that the info is getting refreshed every hundred miles or so by special amplifiers built into the cable system itself.

    The fact that this branching out and getting out to people could help situations all over the world. I had no idea about this way of communication. I thought satellites were the only things out there. Now I know there are many ways to transport information. Q4-1

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