Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Corning Claims Fiber-Optic Breakthrough

In what can only be good news for broadband consumers, the next iterative leap forward in bandwidth tech has been made by Corning, working with Verizon. [Article]

Corning researchers say their newest breakthrough - optical fiber that can bend without significant signal loss - will greatly accelerate the expansion of fiber optic connections directly into homes, especially those of the nation's 25 million high-rise dwellers.

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Corning's researchers figured out a way to keep the light going as it turns corners - lots and lots of corners. We can't go too deep into the technical details - the company exhibits CIA-levels of paranoia about its inventions. But essentially Corning's technology infuses the cladding that surrounds the fiber's narrow core with microscopic guardrails called nanostructures. They help keep the light from seeping out of the fiber, even when it is wound around a pencil - treatment that normally would render it completely useless.

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