This chip transmits an internet’s worth of data every second

Scientists from universities in Sweden and Denmark transmitted nearly double an internet’s worth of data through a fiber optic cable in one second using a laser-powered chip — a world record. The chip achieved dizzying speeds by using a single laser and a specialized light-creating device to transmit data over fiber optic cables. The number of data researchers sent, roughly 1.84 petabytes, far exceeds the roughly 1 petabyte of data transmitted over the entire internet every second (A petabyte of data is roughly a million gigabytes). If commercialized, experts said, the chip could spark faster broadband speeds and computing power for consumers. Most notably, it would reduce the amount of energy it takes to run the internet, which accounts for roughly 10 percent of global electricity consumption and is growing. The chip tested by Scandinavian researchers would drastically help the amount of data the internet could transfer. The benefit is in the chip’s simple design. Along with a fiber optic cable that is specialized, but not incredibly hard to get, makes it possible for companies to use this method to transmit data in the future. However, the design is still in the research phase and could take years to become mainstream.