How the Internet Crosses the Ocean (Rick & Morty)

Morty thinks a video from America comes down from a satellite. Rick shows where it really travels: along the bottom of the ocean.

Almost all data between continents runs through undersea cables, over a million kilometers of them, enough to wrap around the Earth 25 times. In the deep sea they're about as thick as a garden hose; near the coast they get steel armor. Inside: hair-thin glass fibers carrying laser light, kept inside by total internal reflection, many colors per fiber, hundreds of terabits per second per cable. Repeaters every 50-100 km boost the light, powered with up to 15,000 volts from shore. Europe to New York takes about 35 ms one way, 70 ms there and back, while a geostationary satellite needs about half a second. Plus: Starlink, cable ships, sharks vs anchors, backup routes, repair ships, who owns the cables, the first Atlantic cable of 1858, landing stations and why popular videos are copied to servers near you.

0:00 Satellite? No, the sea floor
0:16 A million km of cable / Garden hose vs steel armor
0:36 Glass fibers and laser light
0:46 Total internal reflection
1:00 Many colors, hundreds of terabits
1:14 Repeaters / 15,000 volts from shore
1:33 Europe to New York: 35 ms
1:48 Why satellites lag
2:02 Starlink
2:13 How cables are laid
2:26 Sharks, anchors and nets
2:36 Backup routes
2:47 Repair ships
2:57 Who owns the cables / The first cable, 1858
3:18 Landing stations
3:30 Popular videos are copied near you / Recap

Numbers: light in glass is about 200,000 km/s, so 7,000 km take 35 ms. Geostationary orbit 35,786 km: up, down and back = 4 x 35,786 km at the speed of light = about 477 ms. 200 Tbit/s / 5 Mbit/s per HD stream = 40 million streams. About 150-200 cable faults a year, mostly fishing and anchors. Simplified drawings, not to scale. Original Motion Canvas whiteboard animation, no background music.

Want more of this? Subscribe to SysInsight for more "how tech really works" videos.

Disclaimer: This channel, SysInsight, is a pure fan project and an unofficial parody. The characters, visual style, and AI-generated voices used in these videos are intended solely for educational, satirical, and entertainment purposes to explain technology concepts. This channel is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Adult Swim, Warner Bros. Discovery, or the original voice actors of Rick and Morty.

#UnderseaCables #Internet #RickAndMorty #SysInsight