Different-shaped beams could increase fibre-optic capacity, easing Internet congestion. Twisty beams of light could boost the traffic-carrying capacity of the Internet, effectively adding new levels to the information superhighway, suggests research published today in Science1. Internet traffic is growing exponentially and researchers have sought ways to squeeze ever more information into the fibre-optic cables that carry it. One successful method used over the last 20 years essentially added more traffic lanes, using different colours, or wavelengths, for different signals2. But to compensate for the added lanes, each one had to be made narrower. So, just as in a real highway,...