* Astronomy

Scientists have created a tiny cable - much thinner than a human hair - through which they can transmit visible light, potentially paving the way for improvements in solar energy, computing and medicine.
The achievement, described in research published on Monday in the journal Applied Physics Letters, involves a re-imagining of the coaxial cable - that commonplace conduit of cable television, telephone and Internet service - on a minuscule scale.
Coaxial cable has been around for decades, prized for its enormously efficient transmission qualities.
It has an inner wire surrounded by an insulator and then another metal sheath. This enables the cable to carry electromagnetic signals with wavelengths bigger than its own diameter.

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