Internet, features and articles | Educational Science

Feb 18, 2016

The Human Brain's Memory Could Store the Entire Internet

The human brain may be able to hold as much information in its memory as is contained on the entire Internet, new research suggests. Researchers discovered that, unlike a classical computer that codes information as 0s and 1s, a brain cell uses 26 different ways to code its bits. They...

Mar 18, 2016

How Big Is the Internet, Really?

The Internet is a busy place. Every second, approximately 6,000 tweets are tweeted; more than 40,000 Google queries are searched; and more than 2 million emails are sent, according to Internet Live Stats, a website of the international Real Time Statistics Project. But these statistics only hint at the size...

Jun 16, 2016

ISIS Plays 'Evolutionary Game' to Avoid Online Shutdown

Researchers have created a computer model to figure out the savvy ways that the terrorist group called ISIS has managed to grow its members online. The results could help to thwart future attacks. The researchers identified three behavioral patterns of online ISIS supporters that allowed the groups to adapt and...

Jul 27, 2016

Facebook's Internet-Delivery Drone Completes First Test Flight

Facebook recently completed its first test flight of a solar-powered drone that is designed to beam down internet access to remote areas of the world. The Aquila drone is being developed to broaden the scope of internet connectivity around the globe. New technologies like Aquila have the potential to bring...

Oct 21, 2016

How a DDoS Cyberattack Caused Widespread Internet Outage

If you were trying to catch up on the latest news or check out what was trending on Twitter this morning, you might have received a message that said that your browser couldn't connect to the server. Twitter, Reddit, Spotify and even news sites such as CNN experienced a widespread...

Jan 10, 2017

Building a Google for the Deep, Dark Web

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. In today's data-rich world, companies, governments and individuals want to analyze anything and everything they can get their hands on – and the World Wide Web has loads of...

Feb 14, 2017

Should Cybersecurity Be a Human Right?

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Having access to the internet is increasingly considered to be an emerging human right. International organizations and national governments have begun to formally recognize its importance to freedom of...

Apr 10, 2017

Why Hidden 'Darknets' Are More Resilient to Attacks Than the Internet

Darknets — the often seamy counterparts of the internet that are accessible only through special programs that help to ensure privacy and anonymity — may be far more resilient to attack than the internet, a new study finds. Darknets are computer networks of hidden services. The most popular darknet, and...

May 22, 2017

How the Net Neutrality Debate Affects Your Internet

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted last week to start dismantling 2015 rules that regulated internet service providers the same way as utilities. So what does that mean for your internet access? The answer to that question will take months to hash out. The debate swirls around two related issues:...

Dec 5, 2017

Smile (or Not): Photos Can Be Animated to Show Expressions

With the help of an actor and some high-tech motion-capture techniques, computer scientists can now take a still photo of a person's face and animate it. The photos can be animated to express emotions such as happiness, anger or surprise. They can even include details such as teeth when the...

Jan 8, 2020

How to turn off web notifications for Google Chrome and macOS

Hey, science fans! If you're a science geek like me and the writers here, it's possible you've signed up to receive notifications from your favorite science news websites. Maybe even from ? (If so, we thank you.) While it may be helpful to receive news and updates from those notifications,...

Sep 3, 2020

Quantum internet breakthrough could help make hacking a thing of the past

The advent of mass working from home has made many people more aware of the security risks of sending sensitive information via the internet. The best we can do at the moment is make it difficult to intercept and hack your messages — but we can't make it impossible. What...

Feb 17, 2022

The Internet: Do you know how it works?

The Internet is one of the greatest inventions in human history, revolutionizing communication and changing the world forever. This vast network connects computers across the world via more than 750,000 miles of cables running under land and sea. It’s our fastest method of communication, making it possible to send a...

Mar 15, 2022

The internet: History, evolution and how it works

The internet is a vast network that connects computers across the world via more than 750,000 miles (1,200,000 kilometres) of cable running under land and sea, according to the University of Colorado Boulder. It is the world's fastest method of communication, making it possible to send data from London, U.K....

Apr 1, 2022

Latency: Definition, measurement and testing

Latency is the technical word that describes how long it takes data to get from one place to another. You can measure it with a ping. Your computer sends a small packet of data to a server, the server sends it back again, and you time how long it takes....