Cable length (MAREA)6.6 million m
132 billionPlant cells
1.3 millionBalance beam lengths
6,600 km
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
Submarine Internet Cable (Transatlantic)
The physical backbone of global communication/Computing
About 99% of intercontinental internet traffic travels through submarine fiber optic cables on the ocean floor. A modern transatlantic cable like MAREA is about 6,600 km long and the diameter of a garden hose. It carries 200+ terabits per second. Sharks occasionally bite these cables, which is why they have armored sheathing.
Measurements
Cable diameter1.7 hundredths m
929 millionthsBowling lanes
4.9 millionthsMonaco lengths
17 mm at deepest sections
Total cable mass4.7 million kg
33.2Blue whales
66,429Average adults
Estimated
Capacity25 trillion B
13.3 millionSeconds of 4K Netflix
34,060CD-ROMs
200 Tbps throughput
Max ocean depth laid5,181 m
1,400Rowboat lengths
17,270Wine bottle heights
Signal speed in fiber200 million m/s
40 millionSkateboards
222,222Rifle bullet speeds
About 2/3 speed of light