Tag Archives: Fibers

Revolutionary Optical Fibers Could Enhance Communication Capabilities

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In a departure from conventional solid glass cores, the innovative optical fibers now incorporate an air core encased in precisely crafted glass microstructures to guide light. This advancement boosts transmission speeds by 45%, enabling greater data transfer over longer distances before amplification is required.

Petrovich et al. We report microstructured optical waveguides with unprecedented transmission bandwidth and attenuation. Image credit: Gemini AI.

Optical fibers in telecommunications have typically relied on solid silica glass constructs, and despite extensive refinements, their signal loss remains a critical challenge.

This results in about half of the light traveling through the fiber being lost after approximately 20 km, necessitating the use of optical amplifiers for extended distance communication, such as intercontinental terrestrial and undersea connections.

Minimizing signal loss can be achieved within a limited spectrum of wavelengths. This has constrained the data capacity in optical communications over recent decades.

Francesco Poletti and his team from the University of Southampton developed a new type of fiber optic featuring a hollow air core surrounded by intricately designed thin silica rings to effectively guide light.

Laboratory tests revealed that these fibers exhibit an optical loss of 0.091 decibels per kilometer at the commonly utilized optical wavelengths in communications.

Consequently, optical signals with appropriate wavelengths can travel approximately 50% farther before needing amplification.

This configuration offers a broader transmission window (the range of wavelengths where light propagates with minimal signal loss and distortion) than previous fiber optic technologies.

While this novel optical fiber may demonstrate lower losses due to the use of larger air cores, further investigation is necessary to validate these findings.

“We anticipate that advancements in manufacturing, geometric consistency, and reduced levels of absorbent gases in the core will solidify these new fibers as essential wave guiding technologies,” Reservers remarked.

“This breakthrough could pave the way for the next major advancement in data communication.”

Their study will be published in the journal Nature Photonics.

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M. Petrovich et al. Broadband optical fiber with attenuation of less than 0.1 decibels per kilometer. Nature Photonics Published online on September 1, 2025. doi:10.1038/s41566-025-01747-5

Source: www.sci.news

Heart-shaped mollusks with window-like structures that function as optical fibers

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Hazard monkeys come in a variety of colors and harbor photosynthetic algae in their shells.

dakota mccoy

Heart-shaped mollusks have evolved tiny windows that function like fiber optic cables, the first known examples in nature.

Heart monkey (Corculum Cardissa) are bivalves that look a bit like shellfish and have a symbiotic relationship with the photosynthetic algae that live inside them. Algae have a safe home, receive light, perform photosynthesis, and provide nutrients to their hosts.

Unlike other bivalves, cockles do not open their shells wide, but they somehow concentrate light inside even though they remain closed.

now, dakota mccoy Researchers at the University of Chicago discovered that cockles have transparent calcium carbonate crystal structures inside their shells that act like bundles of optical fibers, trapping light inside and showering it on the algae. “If you don't have to open it and you have a clear window, it's a very safe way to irradiate algae,” McCoy said.

The researchers examined shell fragments of various heart monkeys and the transparent structures within them, as well as the intensity and color of the light that passes through them. The researchers discovered that the windows are made of long, thin fibers of a mineral called aragonite, a type of calcium carbonate, which allows twice as much light, useful for photosynthesis, to pass through as it does harmful ultraviolet light. “We wear sunscreen because ultraviolet light can cause mutations and cancer, and the cockles use this window as a sunscreen,” McCoy said.

If you shine a light on the heart monkey's shell from inside, you'll see transparent windows shaped like small triangles (left) or stripes (right).

dakota mccoy

Aragonite threads are similar to manufactured optical fibers, but they transmit light just as effectively, although they lack a protective insulating sheath called a cladding. This could be an inspiration for cladding-free fiber optic cables that are cheaper to produce.

Shells' natural UV-blocking properties could also be used to protect corals. Like cockles, corals harbor photosynthetic algae inside, but McCoy said they are susceptible to environmental stresses such as light and heat.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

The use of natural fibers in wet wipes can have damaging effects on soil and wildlife

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Fibers from wet wipes can get mixed into fertilizer if flushed down the toilet.

Linda Kennedy/Alamy

The natural fibers increasingly used in wet wipes can actually have a more negative impact on the environment than the synthetic fibers they are designed to replace.

Viscose and lyocell, made from wood cellulose, are often used in wet wipes and clothing as an alternative to fibers such as polyester, which are primarily byproducts of fossil fuels.

“These are in high street stores, so you can get them in the ethically conscious consumer sections of fast fashion stores,” he says. winnie courten jones At Bangor University, UK.

However, there is uncertainty as to whether they are truly better than alternative materials. “There's been a bit of a knee-jerk reaction to move away from traditional fossil fuel-based plastics and replace them with alternatives, and there hasn't been much testing of those other materials,” Corton says. Jones says.

To learn more, she and her colleagues tested the effects of viscose, lyocell, and polyester on the soil and some of the animals that live there. Wet wipes often end up in sewage treatment plants along with microfibers that fall off clothes in washing machines. These are accidentally spread into the soil through sludge from these plants, which is used as fertilizer.

The research team is a type of earthworm (Eisenia fetida) changes the concentration of viscose, lyocell, and polyester in the soil. Approximately 30 percent of people exposed to high concentrations of polyester died after 72 hours. In contrast, almost 60 percent of those exposed to lyocell and 80 percent of those exposed to viscose died.

When researchers tested it at lower concentrations that are more commonly encountered in the real world, they found that worms exposed to viscose or lyocell reproduced less than worms exposed to polyester. Ta. It is unclear why this occurs, but fibrous material, regardless of its composition, can be toxic to earthworms.

“Bio-based fibers are [be] “It's not fossil fuel-based, so it's great when it's produced, but we don&#39t have a clear vision of whether it's great when it&#39s broken down.” caroline goshott lindsay at the University of Glasgow, UK. “They still have a place because we still need to replace the fossil fuel industry. But it's important to know that the message is not that if they go into the environment it will be better.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com