Scientists at the University of Sydney have developed a switch that would allow the internet to become 60 times faster than current networks.  What's the secret? The switch apparently uses scratched glass. Yes, I said scratched glass. The switch using a small scratch on a piece of glass. The scratch will mean almost instantaneous error free access to the internet anywhere in the world. Woot!? :-)

Using photonic technology that has terabit per second speed, the circuit uses the scratch as a guide or a switching path for information. Similar to when trains are switched from one track to another, this switch takes only one picosecond to change tracks. Therefore in one second the switch is turning on and off about one million times.

With the current prototype proving to achieve speeds 60 times faster than current Australian networks, the development team is confident that with further work the future of the technology looks promising. As we move towards faster and faster networking there will be ever higher demand for instant web gratification and photonic technology might be the way towards delivering those needs.

Additional information on the new scratch switches can be obtained at the University of Sydney's website.