Fiber-optic cables stretch across oceans and wind their way underground to handle our communications systems, and scientists think that this vast network of infrastructure could be put to another use: observing Earth’s surface from below.
Specifically, the 1.2 million kilometers (more than 745,000 miles) of existing fiber-optic cable could be combined with satellites and other remote sensing instruments to monitor the entire globe in real time.
Storms and earthquakes could be tracked in this way, the team behind the idea suggests, as well as ships and whales passing through the seas. The network might even have the potential to be used to spot broken pipelines.
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