SSS 2011-05-23
时间：2018-12-24 作者：英语课 分类：Scientific American(五)月
This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata. Got a minute?
Whether it's for streaming Netflix or sharing files, we're gobbling up more and more data—and we want it faster. But even shooting data with lasers over fiber 1-optic cables has its limits. Because when you encode digital bits—ones and zeros—into an analog 2, optical signal, you're still limited by the bit-rate of your electronics. The standing 3 record is about 100 gigabits per second.
To get around that bottleneck 4, researchers skipped the electronic signal processing—and found a way to do it purely 5 optically instead. Using that method, they were able to send data over a 50-kilometer length of optical fiber at 26 terabits per second. That's like sending 700 DVDs a second—the fastest ever recorded for a single laser. The research appears in the journal Nature Photonics.
It is possible to transfer equivalent amounts of data with conventional technology, by bundling together hundreds of lasers—but doing it with a single laser is far more energy efficient. Of course, there's no telling when these transfer rates will make it to your living room. And whether they'll be fast enough for our future need-for-speed.
Thanks for the minute. For Scientific American's 60-Second Science, I'm Christopher Intagliata.
- The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。
- The material must be free of fiber clumps.这种材料必须无纤维块。
- The analog signal contains high-frequency video information,which helps make up the picture.模拟信号包括有助于构成图像的高频视频信息。
- The analog computer measures continuously,without proceeding step by step.模拟计算机不是一步一步地进行，而是连续地进行量度。
- After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
- They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
- The transportation bottleneck has blocked the movement of the cargo.运输的困难阻塞了货物的流通。
- China's strained railroads already become a bottleneck for the economy.中国紧张的铁路运输已经成为经济增长的瓶颈。