South African tech company workers proved in 2009 that a carrier pigeon carrying a four-gigabyte thumb drive was substantially faster than their local broadband internet service.

A closer look

South African tech company workers proved in 2009 that a carrier pigeon carrying a four-gigabyte thumb drive was substantially faster than their local broadband internet service. A bird named Winston flew 60 miles and successfully delivered the data in two hours, while the broadband connection had only managed to transfer four percent of the exact same file in that timeframe. Despite billions of dollars poured into fiber optic infrastructure, satellites, and cellular towers, a literal flying rat with a flash drive taped to its leg humiliated modern telecommunications. This delightful piece of history serves as a constant reminder that no matter how advanced our routing protocols become, you can never truly defeat the bandwidth of a physical object being hurled through the air by a highly motivated avian courier