Comment by femto

> glass isn’t known for its ability to bend

Not quite true. Glass optical fibre is reasonably flexible. More so than many coaxial cables. Just don't go below its minimum bend radius, as it is brittle and will snap.

Glass insulated power cables might work, provided the glass layer is thin enough and its band radius isn't exceeded. One can imagine a cable insulated with many thin layers/strips of glass, which have some movement relative to each other. Multiple layers of insulation is normal practise with plastic insulation, as the failure mode is typically pinholes in the insulation and multiple layers reduced the probability of pin holes going all the way through.

Biggest problem might be a conductor with decent diameter will put a lot of stress on the interior and exterior of a bend. Some ides:

* A multi-standed conductor with each individual conductor insulated. Maybe have high voltage in the interior stands and have a radial voltage gradient (to zero) across the outer strands so no one thin layer of glass is taking the full electric field?

* Could a conductor be insulated with a woven/stranded insulating layer? One can imagine many layers of extremely fine glass fibre finished off with an enclosing layer of something else to keep everything in place. Sort of like a glass insulated coaxial cable.