Undersea data monster.

When a new undersea communications cable becomes operational late this year, it will break the record for a key metric: data rate times distance. In a single second, its six fiber-optic pairs, stretching roughly 13,000 kilometers (8,000 miles) between Hong Kong and Los Angeles, will be able to send some 144 terabits in both directions. That's as much data as you?d find in several hundred Blu-ray discs. The cable's main purpose is to connect Facebook and Google data centers in East Asia with those in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]