Offering a glimpse of a faster digital future, researchers announced they have set a new Internet speed record.
Scientists at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center used fiber-optic cables to transfer 6.7 gigabytes of data -- the equivalent of two DVD movies -- across 6,800 miles in less than a minute.
The team was able to transfer uncompressed data at 923 megabits per second for 58 seconds from Sunnyvale, California, to Amsterdam, Netherlands. That"s about 3,500 times faster than a typical Internet broadband connection.
Scientists were able to get 93 percent efficiency out of their record-setting connection because they didn"t have to share bandwidth, they received donated equipment in excess of $1 million and they changed the setting of Internet protocols (Internet 2) to allow faster data transfers, Newman said.
On average, the amount of information that can be transferred over the Internet has doubled every year since 1984, scientists said. That trend is expected to continue.