Asynchronous channels are communication pathways that allow data to be sent and received independently of the sender and receiver's timing. This means that a sender can transmit a message without waiting for the receiver to be ready, enabling more efficient use of resources. This is particularly useful in systems where tasks can occur simultaneously, such as in computer programming or network communications. In asynchronous communication, messages are often stored in a queue until the receiver is ready to process them. This decoupling of sender and receiver helps improve performance and responsiveness, especially in applications like web servers or multithreaded applications, where multiple operations can occur at once without blocking each other.