In research, all kinds of instruments and tools are used for observations and measurements of all kinds. For example, to gain new insights into Earth to win, there are satellites in orbit or excavations and drilling are carried out. For a new project, however, one wants to eavesdrop on the planet extensively from below the surface. For this one wants to fall back on an already extensively available technology.
Eavesdropping on the earth: fiber optic cables should make it possible
Norwegian researchers have in a new Study made this unusual suggestion. In order to be able to study the earth and the oceans extensively, the many fiber optic cables that have already been laid are to be used. These are primarily used for telecommunications such as the Internet, but could also be misused for science.
A total of around 1.2 million kilometers of fiber optic cables are said to have already been laid in the ground and seas worldwide. On the one hand, these could themselves provide many new insights. In addition, there is also the possibility of combining them with satellites and other equipment, for example, in order to be able to monitor the entire globe in real time.
That way, storms and earthquakes could be better registered and tracked, as well as the travel routes of ships or whales. Defective pipelines could also be located in this way.
Also exciting: By the way, the earth’s core is hidden deep inside, which actually rotates slowly but steadily. Now researchers have found that the earth’s core has apparently come to a standstill.
Special glass fiber properties should make it possible
Fiber optic cables not only ensure the fastest Internet. The material also has properties that are perhaps not very well known. In fact, it can pick up acoustic signals. Every little kink and every little bend in the cable, caused by acoustic as well as actual waves, can be detected and interpreted.
There was one just last year investigation, in which whales were located using a single cable about 120 kilometers long. A total of 800 whale songs were recorded in this way – and a storm that raged 13,000 kilometers away.
Fiber optic technology is not yet perfect for science
There are still one or two obstacles standing in the way of the all-encompassing eavesdropping of science on earth. This includes, among other things, that the results of the cables alone can also contain many disturbing by-products that make it difficult to extract the exact data from them. Therefore additional means such as satellites can provide additional information.
Nevertheless, work is already being done to solve this and other problems. In any case, the potential for unique research is given due to the immense presence of cables and many new discoveries are possible as a result.
Quellen: „Sensing whales, storms, ships and earthquakes using an Arctic fibre optic cable“ (Scientific Reports, 2022), „Eavesdropping at the Speed of Light: Distributed Acoustic Sensing of Baleen Whales in the Arctic“ (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2022)
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