Tubular laser beams can create what amount to fiber-optic cables made of thin air, researchers report in a study to appear in Physical Review X. Laser-heated air can efficiently transmit light signals ...

A proof-of-concept study found that the same tech that carries high-speed internet might help track notoriously noisy insects. By Laura Baisas Published Nov 30, 2023 10:00 AM EST Get the Popular ...

Many of the world’s largest and most devastating earthquakes strike beneath the ocean, where the lack of sensors makes quick warnings difficult. Most monitoring stations are on land. “If we have a big ...

Since the first fiber optic cables rolled out in the 1970s, they've become a major part of everything from medical devices to high-speed internet and cable TV. But as it turns out, one group of marine ...

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 ...

Global warming has caused many large whales to move from warmer waters, increasing the risk of being struck by ships. Norwegian researchers have converted existing fiber-optic cables into hydrophones, ...

Now a new €5 million EU-funded project has begun work to allow fiber optic cable lines under roads, fields and seas to double up as sensors capable of spotting earthquakes, monitoring traffic, and ...

Fiber optic cables have powered global Internet traffic for decades. They carry vast amounts of data each second, connecting billions worldwide. But now, these same fibers are being tapped for a very ...