Diver Checking Underwater Protection Cable, CBTBO, Wikipedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Diver_Checking_Underwater_Protection_of_Cable_-_Flickr_-_The_Official_CTBTO_Photostream.jpg
On November 13th, 1851, the first telegraph message was sent from London to Paris. The message was transmitted from Dover through a submarine cable laid on the bottom of the English Channel to Calais, where it was then relayed to Paris.
It was the first successful, commercial telegraph cable to be laid underwater. Other cables quickly followed it, connecting Great Britain with Belgium, The Netherlands, and Ireland. Those early cables consisted of a core of copper wiring, sheathed in iron and gutta-percha, a form of rubber harvested from gutta-percha trees.
Submarine cables still crisscross the sea beds of the world’s oceans, but today optical fibers are imbedded in polyethylene and transmit telephone, internet, and other digital data.
In T Spec Fiction’s Rebel Wave, the underwater world of Decapolis relies on technology like submarine cables to carry communications between the domed cities that are built on the seabed.
In a world where the ocean is continually attempting to press in and crush them, the people of Decapolis have to exercise extreme care to survive, and mistakes can cost lives.
Be sure to read the latest episode of Rebel Wave to see how close Ariana comes to such a fatal mistake.
Until next week, keep the spirit of adventure alive.