Physicists Discover How to 'Twist' Light Waves, Cram Message Between Islands

It appears scientists have finally found a way how to "twist" light waves. Two laboratories have used laser light and twisted it to send a message in between two islands. The new discovery can have unprecedented effects on data transfer technology, as they can now cram more information in light than ever before.

Everyone who uses the internet may have heard or read that phone calls or internet browsing make use of fiber optics. This transfers billions upon billions of bits every second.

However, recent experiments have shown scientists "bending" light waves, cramming more information than normal fiber optics. They were even able to send a "Hello World" message between two islands.

In fact, we have been using light waves to communicate way back. Radio is the form of light like lasers in fiber optics. We can use the amplitude or the frequency of the wave (AM and FM radio), or even the phase and polarization (like in fiber optics).

However, realizing that we can only use the four features to encode information can limit just how much we can put in a photon. According to Scientific American, a team from the University of Vienna tries to circumvent the problem by using another feature called the angular momentum.

If successful, they may be able to send information to another place. In their trial, the used two observatories around 142KM apart in the Canary Islands - and apparently it worked.

Light has angular momentum, as in photons "twist" and revolves around something as it moves. Mario Krenn, one of the lead authors of the two studies, explained that if we use angular momentum, not only does it increase the available media (or "degrees of freedom") to five, but also can transfer information five times as fast.

The researchers thought a message couldn't be transmitted through the atmosphere because the angular momentum may be sensitive to light's refractive index -- something that can change easily with pressure and humidity.

Apparently not, as the receiver on the other end still picked up the signal. The researchers are still clarifying just how this new mode works, but it can open an entirely new innovation in the field of communications.