Since the 1850s, we've been laying cables across oceans to become better connected. Today, there are hundreds of thousands of miles of fiber optic cables constantly transmitting data between nations.

Fiber is also used to replace copper cable for LAN backbones. An optical fiber is constructed of a transparent core made of nearly pure silicon dioxide (SiO2), through which the light travels.

Every time we perform this ritual, I can’t help but wonder about all the gear that makes it possible, including the fiber optic cables running beneath the Atlantic Ocean. Undersea communications ...

An curved arrow pointing right. Computer science Professor Paul Barford and a team of researchers recently published the first publicly available map of the US's long-haul fiber-optic cable network.

DURHAM, N.C. -- 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 ...