The Internet seems to be everywhere, thanks to the wonders of Wi-Fi: the home office, the local coffee shop, even aircraft cruising at 30,000 feet. Yet the largest technological construction that people interact with on a daily basis has its limits. It is, after all, a network of parts and pieces, from dusty desktop routers and squirrel-gnawed phone lines to transoceanic cables and enormous data storage centers.
Inspired by an Internet outage in his neighborhood one cold winter day, science writer Blum embarked on a journey to visit the invisible realm beyond his computer screen. His expedition took him from the equipment beside his couch to a battleship-gray junction box on a telephone pole behind his apartment building and beyond.
Log in
Subscribers, enter your e-mail address for full access to the Science News archives and digital editions.