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Pneumatic Tube Communication In Hospitals
blee37 sends along a writeup from the School of Medicine at Stanford University on their pneumatic tube delivery system, used for sending atoms not bits. Such systems are in use in hospitals nationwide; the 19th-century technology is enhancd by recent refinements in pneumatic braking. "Every day, 7,000 times a day, Stanford Hospital staff turn to pneumatic tubes, cutting-edge technology in the 19th century, for a transport network that the Internet and all the latest Silicon Valley wizardry can't match: A tubular system to transport a lab sample across the medical center in the blink of an eye."
How do you figure? How much information is coded in a blood sample, for instance, if you count all the DNA/RNA sequencing? For that matter, how much information can you send if you load up a 16-Gb USB drive (or a few) and send them off in a tube?
No, the bandwidth here is just fine.
Modding "-1, Troll" is not a proper response if you disagree with me. Try reason.