Get me a frikken lazer beam! - Intel step it up a notch with 50gbp/s data speeds.

The future is here, well nearly here.... we'll on the verge of nearly being here. Years of R&D Intel have come up with a fancy new thing call "Silicon photonics". What this means to you and me is 50gbp/s data transfer speeds using a two tone laser that pulses the 0's and 1's across a fiber optic network and it will be the only way to send your data around in 5 years. To put that into perspective that's an entire HD Blu-ray disc moved in under a second (or as Gizmodo puts it "Now imagine transferring the entire printed catalogue of the Library of Congress in a minute and a half."). And this is only the beginning... check it out.

Explanation Video



From Intel:
Today computer components are connected to each other using copper cables or traces on circuit boards. Due to the signal degradation that comes with using metals such as copper to transmit data, these cables have a limited maximum length. This limits the design of computers, forcing processors, memory and other components to be placed just inches from each other. Today's research achievement is another step toward replacing these connections with extremely thin and light optical fibers that can transfer much more data over far longer distances, radically changing the way computers of the future are designed and altering the way the datacenter of tomorrow is architected.

"Tomorrow's datacenter or supercomputer may see components spread throughout a building or even an entire campus, communicating with each other at high speed, as opposed to being confined by heavy copper cables with limited capacity and reach," according to Intel's press release.

Such quantitative increases in the power of data transmission could lead to qualitative changes in the way we use computers and the web. From telepresence to large data set distribution and analysis, the use cases are only beginning to be imagined. "At these data rates, one could imagine a wall-sized 3D display for home entertainment and videoconferencing with a resolution so high that the actors or family members appear to be in the room with you," Intel said.

Wow.... how cool is all that and the world doesn't even have it's hand's on it yet. Exciting, but nerdy stuff.