Science & technology | From the archive

Webbed fingers

|

JUST when you had begun to get used to it, the Internet is disappearing. It is not that the mother of all computer networks is going away. On the contrary, Internet traffic is growing at 20-30% a quarter. But the 15m or so users around the world increasingly see just the information the net carries, and not the technology of the network itself—rather as drivers see roads as ways of travelling, not as lengths of tarmac (except when there are potholes). Chief among the systems that obscure the underlying network and smooth the traveller's way is the World Wide Web.

More from Science & technology

Drainage canals (linear features that drain into a small meandering river) seen from above.

A sophisticated civilisation once flourished in the Amazon basin

How the Casarabe died out remains a mystery

Three rotated avocados made from small numbers

Heritable Agriculture, a Google spinout, is bringing AI to crop breeding

By reducing the cost of breeding, the firm hopes to improve yields and other properties for an array of important crops


Boom Supersonic makes aviation history as XB-1 breaks the sound barrier.

Could supersonic air travel make a comeback?

Boom Supersonic’s demonstrator jet exceeds Mach 1


Should you worry about microplastics?

Little is known about the effects on humans—but limiting exposure to them seems prudent

Wasps stole genes from viruses

That probably assisted their evolutionary diversification

America’s departure from the WHO would harm everyone

Whether it is a negotiating ploy remains to be seen