Cables made out of nanowires could be just as efficient as the copper cables we’ve been using for more than a century, but at a fraction of the weight, according to a new paper. Braiding billions of carbon nanotubes into a nanowire cable can efficiently replace copper in a light bulb circuit.

Traditional cables are made by braiding or twisting together two or more wires or optical fibers, usually metal or silicon, to carry a current or signal. In a new study, Rice University researchers instead used double-walled carbon nanotubes, made of concentric rolled-up sheets of graphene.