The Secret Life of the Cables That Run the Internet

Re:The Secret Life of the Cables That Run the Internet by kimburgess on Tuesday August 01, 2023 @09:06AM (#36955452)

You're right that it won't be the same - it has the potential to be faster.

Speed of light in a vacuum is higher than what can be achieved in a fiber-optic. Combine that with a more direct path than what can be achieved with an undersea cable and things start to get interesting.

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Re:The Secret Life of the Cables That Run the Internet by anotherboffin on Tuesday August 01, 2023 @09:31AM (#36955716)

Genuinely wondering why you mention “in a vacuum”, as the signal would have to go through the atmosphere.

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Re:The Secret Life of the Cables That Run the Internet by kimburgess on Tuesday August 01, 2023 @09:55AM (#36956002)

For the inter-satellite links. First and last hop still need to pass from the ground to LEO.

The obvious solution is to start yeeting compute and/or users into space.

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Re:The Secret Life of the Cables That Run the Internet by notakio on Tuesday August 01, 2023 @11:16AM (#36957069)

I vote for users. I'll stay down here with compute, I know how this ends.

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Re:The Secret Life of the Cables That Run the Internet by BenjiWiebe on Tuesday August 01, 2023 @01:43PM (#36959529)

Atmosphere is practically vacuum as far as speed of light goes.

Fiber optic: 0.67c Atmosphere: 0.9997c Vacuum: 1c

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