However, two experiments carried out in the past few weeks have shown that it works with free-space optics.

ECONOMIST: Optical communications: Cutting the cable | The

Free-space optics would have the odd drawback, such as flocks of birds, showers of snowflakes or banks of fog interrupting the beams.

ECONOMIST: Optical communications

Free-space optics suffers from none of these problems.

ECONOMIST: Optical communications: Cutting the cable | The

Photoelectric cells and lasers, nuclear power and fiber optics, space travel, and even semiconductors all trace back to his theories.

NPR: Einstein: Relatively Speaking, a Complicated Life