Transmitting data by laser is being touted as the next big thing; at what cost to health?

 Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is spinning off its laser-based internet company, Taara, from its “moonshot” experimental hub, X, to provide high-bandwidth services to hard-to-reach rural areas and compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink network of satellites.

Taara originated from the concept called Loon, which aimed to provide phone and internet services across remote areas using beams of light between thousands of balloons floating on the edge of space, but was wound up in 2021 due to regulatory hurdles and technical difficulties.

However, its lasers found a second life on Taara’s towers under engineer and general manager Mahesh Krishnaswamy, Financial Times reports.  He says that the company’s technology can offer 10 to 100 times more bandwidth to end users than a typical Starlink antenna, and at a fraction of the cost, making it a competitive alternative for connecting rural areas to the internet.

The company’s technology works by firing a beam of light the width of a pencil from one terminal to another, using a system of sensors, optics and mirrors to transmit data at 20 gigabits per second over 20km, extending traditional fibre-optics networks with minimal construction and lower costs...<<<Read More>>>...