That information leaves the phone traveling as a light beam moving through fiber optic networks.

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To activate the altered neurons, they usually use a laser tuned to the proper wavelength and pipe the beam through a fiber-optic cable implanted in the brain tissue.

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And since fiber-optic cables are typically run right along with utility pipes--neither phone nor gas companies want to have their lines cut--it's easy to connect a fiber backbone to the gas pipes at the neighborhood level, and beam a signal the final few feet to each home.

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Unlike previous one-way demonstrations, the LCDD uses an infrared beam -- in the same way that many land-based fiber networks do -- that can be received on Earth by one of three telescopes located in Mexico, California or Spain.

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