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Articles for Category Tag - Science

Scientists Create Wood Based Bio Degradable Fibre Optic Cables

5th December, 2019 (3 Comments)

Well this is an odd but interesting one. A team of VTT scientists from Finland have successfully transmitted light over a new type of wood-based optic fibre cable, which has a core that is made from cellulose and this has the added advantage of being biodegradable.

Kepler’s Nano LEO Satellite Delivers Ultrafast Broadband to Arctic

8th November, 2019 (4 Comments)

Canadian company Kepler Communications has successfully deployed two tiny Nano Satellites’ – no bigger than a breadbox in your kitchen – to help deliver low latency “ultrafast broadband” (100Mbps+) speeds to the polar (Arctic) regions from Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The spacecraft are now being used by maritime vessels and researchers.

Scientists Use Software Tweak to Boost WiFi Range by 67 Metres

24th October, 2019 (8 Comments)

At present most of today’s WiFi wireless networks, which usually come from your broadband ISP router, tend to require extra hardware (extenders or mesh repeaters) in order to boost their coverage around your home. But scientists in the USA have found a way to significantly improve wireless reach via software, albeit with a catch.

Loon’s 4G Broadband by Balloon Project Moves to Commercial Trial

3rd July, 2019 (0 Comments)

Google (Alphabet) has announced that Loon, which is a long-running project that aims to distribute mobile broadband (4G / 5G) connectivity from High Altitude Platforms (stratospheric balloons), will in a few weeks time see its first commercial trial take place in Kenya (Africa).

SSE Enterprise Telecoms to Launch Jisc’s Janet South Fibre Network

30th April, 2019 (2 Comments)

Fibre optic comms provider SSE Enterprise Telecoms has been chosen by Jisc to launch the Janet South network. The rollout will see 7 more BT exchanges unbundled and will utilise 4 existing Points of Presence (PoPs) to provide improved connectivity to 11 UK universities and 80 local colleges.

Broadband from Hot Air Balloons – Loon Secures £97m Investment

25th April, 2019 (10 Comments)

After several years of development Alphabet’s (Google) Loon project, which hopes to distribute mobile broadband (4G / 5G) connectivity from High Altitude Platforms (stratospheric balloons), has just secured an investment of £97m ($125m) from SoftBank’s HAPSMobile in order to help support their commercial roll-out (due to begin this year).

VIDEO OneWeb Successfully Launch First 6 LEO Broadband Satellites

28th February, 2019 (0 Comments)

British registered space company OneWeb, part of a joint venture with Airbus, last night succeeded in launching the first six (OneWeb F6) of their compact low-latency ultrafast broadband satellites into circular Low Earth Orbit (LEO) around the earth at 1000km (close to their operational orbit).

pureLiFi to Unveil Gigabit Speed Visible Light Network for Consumers

6th February, 2019 (2 Comments)

A developer of the new Visible Light Communication (VLC) based networking technologies, pureLiFi, has announced that they’re about to demonstrate the first “consumer ready” Gigabit speed Light Fidelity (LiFi) kit. The new technology has also been miniaturised so that it can fit inside of a Smartphone.

Trial of 1Gbps 5G Mobile Network for UK Autonomous Vehicles to Start

4th February, 2019 (2 Comments)

The AutoAir project, which is supported by a £4.1m Government grant, has confirmed that the UK’s first independent 5G enabled trial of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) will go live this month at the Millbrook Proving Ground (Bedfordshire). Mobile broadband speeds of up to 1Gbps are expected.

ITU Standard Could Make Fast Home VLC Visible Light Networks a Reality

22nd January, 2019 (19 Comments)

The International Telecommunication Union is close to giving its final approval to a new standard (G.9991 / G.vlc), which could finally help to turn secure high-speed indoor Visible Light Communication (VLC / LiFi) networks into something that you can buy instead of WiFi.

ITU Touts Low Cost Fibre Optic Cable for Rural DIY Broadband Builds

12th January, 2019 (6 Comments)

A series of new ITU standards promise to help encourage the ‘Do-It-Yourself‘ generation to build their own Terabit capable remote broadband networks. The standards propose a cheap, tough and lightweight optical fibre cable that can be laid on the grounds surface, underwater, aerially or shallow buried with hand tools.

5G Mobile Trial in Japan Delivers Broadband Speeds of 27Gbps

22nd November, 2018 (3 Comments)

A joint outdoor field trial by Mitsubishi and NTT DOCOMO in Japan appears to have achieved a “world’s first” by pushing the future 5G mobile network technology to deliver maximum throughput speeds of 27Gbps and 25Gbps (communication distances of 10m and 100m respectively) via one mobile terminal in the 28GHz band.

RIP Sir Charles Kuen Kao – The Father of Fibre Optic Technology

24th September, 2018 (2 Comments)

We’re saddened to report that Nobel Prize winner Sir Charles Kuen Kao (aka – “Father of Fibre Optics“), whom was jointly awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics for “ground-breaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibres for optical communication“, passed away yesterday at 11:45am in Hong Kong.

Does Having Fast UK Broadband Mean You Lose More Sleep? Hmm

8th August, 2018 (7 Comments)

A recently published study from researchers at the University of Pittsburgh (USA) and Bocconi University (Italy) attempts to “identify the causal impacts” of “high-speed internet” on sleep duration and sleep satisfaction. The results, they claim, suggest that those with good broadband tend to sleep 25 minutes less than those without.

Scientists Stuff 661Tbps Down a Single Optic Fibre at High Efficiency

3rd August, 2018 (23 Comments)

A team of scientists from Japan and the EU have found a way to replace the use of many parallel lasers with a single frequency comb source, which has enabled them to push data at a speed of 661Tbps (Terabits per second) down a single-mode 30 core optical fibre cable.

Rising Sea Levels Put Submarine Fibre Optic Cables At Risk – No Really

18th July, 2018 (1 Comment)

New research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison has warned that rising sea levels will soon threaten the land-based stations for undersea fibre optic cables, as well as data centres and other vital international telecoms infrastructure situated in or around low lying coastal areas.

Scientists Use Fibre Optic Broadband Cables to Detect Earthquakes

5th July, 2018 (0 Comments)

Underground optical fibre networks aren’t just brilliant at delivering ultrafast broadband ISP speeds to UK homes. A team of German scientists have found that they can also be used to detect Earthquakes, as well as other seismic signals from hammer shots, passing cars or wave movements in the ocean.