Zippier Internet
Researchers at the California Institute of Technology have developed a method of speeding up data rates on the Internet. The current technology used is called TCP/IP, and was developed in the early 1970s. Through some clever tweaking, they have modified it into what they call Fast TCP. In tests, they were able to transfer data at rates up to 8.6 gigabytes per second. (That’s fast enough to download an entire DVD in less than five seconds, which is why companies like Disney are negotiating with them for the rights to use the technology.) The most interesting part is that it will work over the existing Internet infrastructure.
You can read more about it at New Scientist online (worth visiting anyway, if you like science stuff!) at http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993799.