Researchers at Cornell have developed a “time telescope” from silicon waveguides that work like the two lenses of a telescope (or microscope) to compress and decompress data. Using the method, they were able to shift a 24-bit light pulse from 2.5 nanoseconds to 92 picoseconds in length without losing any information — delivering the it to its destination 27 times faster than traditional fiber optics. Of course, the current 24-bit limit is too small for real world use, but it is a begin — and since this uses industry-supported fabrication technology, there’s a chance that we might actually get our hands on one of these things in the not-too-distant future. Insert your own Marty McFly joke here.

[Via Slashdot]