How do you think about the internet? What does the word conjure up? Maybe a cloud? Or the flashing router in the corner of your front room? Or this magic power that connects over 5 billion people on all the continents of this planet? We might not think of it at all, beyond whether we can connect our phones to it. Another chance to hear one of our favourite episodes, inspired by a question from CrowdScience listener Simon: how much does the internet weigh? First of all, this means deciding what counts as the internet. If it is purely the electrons that form those TikTok videos and cat memes, then you might be surprised to hear that you could easily lift the internet with your little finger. But presenters Caroline Steel and Marnie Chesterton argue that there might be more, which sends them on a journey. They meet Andrew Blum, the author of the book Tubes – Behind the Scenes at the Internet, about his journey to trace the physical internet. And enlist vital help from cable-loving analyst Lane Burdette at TeleGeography, who maps the internet. To find those cables under the oceans, they travel to Porthcurno, once an uninhabited valley in rural Cornwall, now home to the Museum of Global Communications thanks to its status as a hub in the modern map of worldwide communications. With the museum’s Susan Heritage-Tilley, they compare original telegraph cables and modern fibre optics. The team also head to a remote Canadian post office, so correspondent Meral Jamal can intercept folk picking up their satellite internet receivers, and ask to weigh them. A seemingly innocuous question becomes the quest for everything that connects us... and its weight! Producer: Marnie Chesterton Presenters: Marnie Chesterton & Caroline Steel Editors: Richard Collings & Cathy Edwards Production Coordinators: Jonathan Harris & Ishmael Soriano Studio Manager: Donald MacDonald (Image: Blue scales with computer coding terms. Credit: Alengo via Getty Images)
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So a neutron star is kind of about the size of Chicago.
Unexpected Elements from the BBC World Service.
Search for unexpected elements wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
Hello, CrowdScience listeners.
Caroline here and Marnie.
And here's another chance to hear one of our favourite episodes from the last.
Year in which we tried to weigh.
The Internet, which was, I'd say difficult, I mean, impossible.
And we fundamentally disagreed, but it was.
A lot of fun and we did actually come up with an answer, which I still quote down the pub.
Two answers, Two answers.
One which was right and one which was Marnie's.
Anyway, I think it's worth a listen, so enjoy.
This is Crowd Science from the BBC World Service.
I'm Caroline Steele.
And I'm Marnie Chesterton.
And we're stood outside what looks sort of like a house, but something's not quite right.
So the windows aren't proper windows, they're ventilation slats.
And then another big clue is all the security cameras on every single corner of the building.