Submarine cables carry by far most of the data between continents – internet, banking, military messages. According to US figures, satellites account for just 0.37 % of international capacity. Cables carry far more data at a fraction of the cost.
Submarine cables in cross-section: optical fibres in the middle, several layers of steel wire outside.Photo: Lonnie Hagadorn · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Original
Your guess
What damages submarine cables most often?
Not quite.
Fishing and anchors – they cause two thirds of all cable faults. Sharks have bitten cables, but they're not a real threat: between 2007 and 2014, statistics show not a single fault caused by fish bites.
A web around the world
1.5million kmof submarine cable in service
The first telegraph cable across the Atlantic went into service in 1858. Today TeleGeography counts more than 600 active and planned submarine cables. Out at sea, a cable is usually about as thick as a garden hose, around 25 millimetres. On average there are about 200 faults a year.
Fits with this
Nº 060 · Technology
The fax is older than the telephone.
Alexander Bain patented the principle in 1843 – 33 years before Bell's telephone. It wasn't ready for everyday use.
Illustration: European Patent Office · Public domain
Nº 036 · Technology
QR codes were invented for car parts.
Denso Wave developed them in 1994 to label vehicle parts. The code could be read faster than a barcode.
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