Innovation: Light Speed

Format: VHS Runtime: 60 minutes Series: Innovation Closed captioned: No Described Video: No

In 1970, three researchers at Corning Glass made a discovery that would revolutionize the way we communicate. Their development of a fiber optic cable was the culmination of hundreds of years of research and experimentation in surprisingly diverse fields of study. It is a technology that nearly outgrew itself, but one that is now an almost omnipresent element of modern communication. Virtually every international phone call we make relies on fiber somewhere along the way, and newly developed high-bandwidth cables have even allowed scientists to re-create the sense of touch via the Internet and perform remote tele-surgery across continents. Light Speed profiles the brilliance, foresight, challenges and serendipity that have led to the proliferation of the worldwide network of fiber optic cables and the revolution of the global communication system.