Folks, it's the... WEIGHT of the INTERNET!

[Zirngibism]

That's right, ladies and gentlemen, the internet does have a tangible weight! It's 0.2 millionths of an ounce (or the width of the smallest grain of sand: 2 thousandths of an inch across).

Of course data (0s and 1s) are magnetism, and magnetism induces current, and current (voltage in circuits) has some mass because hey- electrons DO have mass right? Of course, that's only half the data (the 0s aren't charged).

So be estimating how many 1s run through the internet with file sharing, e-mail, etc... and knowing that the total estimated internet traffic is about 40 X 10^15 bytes ("petrabytes" :D) -(and this is how much is "assembled" in a computer's memory when it receives a file)-, and knowing what an electron-volt is, well... that's how it's done.

I'm not gonna look at a grain of sand again! :tihi: I just had to share this. Now I wonder what the weight of all the electricity that flows through the world in a day would be...

[Hanuka]

that's just about the nerdiest thing i've heard in a while. i applaud you.


kinda cool.

[joelhinxman]

thats cool but i kinda hope that they didnt spend alot of grant money to find that out

[Zirngibism]

thats cool but i kinda hope that they didnt spend alot of grant money to find that out

Haha, I don't know. Discover magazine compiled it, but they got a lot of help from people who were most likely getting grant money, so offhand yeah they did spend some along the line.

[Rhynome]

The thing is that's just the electrical weight, no?

What about the magnets and other gubbins that actually make it work?

A server weighs a hell of a lot more than 0.2 millionths of an ounce.

[Zirngibism]

The thing is that's just the electrical weight, no?

What about the magnets and other gubbins that actually make it work?

A server weighs a hell of a lot more than 0.2 millionths of an ounce.

Yeah, but those are just mediums for the internet-- like if the internet was a person, then the servers are the chair the person is sitting in. So even if the person is touching the chair, and relying on it to remain in their position, the chair isn't part of the person.

Though it would be interesting to find out how much all that computer equipment weights.

[DeadlyFreeze]

It might not be a part of it but it relies on it completely to be there. If a person was the internet then the server would be its life support.

[wiggum]

This kind of reminds me of those guys who spend millions of dollars and thousands upon thousands of man hours working out what the billionth decimal place of the number pi would be, even though 3.1415 is all the accuracy anyone would ever really need!
When you leave scientists to their own devices you can find out some cool stuff, but you can also waste a lot of time and energy.

[0kelvin]

I think a more accurate analogy would be that the servers are the neurons in the person's brain, and the actual data is the electrical energy passed between them.



Eric

[Craig D]

even though 3.1415 is all the accuracy anyone would ever really need!


You want to bet?

[DavePalumbo]

When you leave scientists to their own devices you can find out some cool stuff, but you can also waste a lot of time and energy

I think wasting massive amounts of time and energy are the necessary risk of scientific exploration, and I have no doubt that many incredible scientific discoveries can be traced back to or boiled down to some massive "waste of time and energy" someplace. Just my thoughts on modern scientific research :)

[Snarfevs]

I highly doubt anyone got a grant for this, or indeed spent more than 30 minutes researching and calculating the figure. It's quite quite meaningless.

You want to bet?

I second that! If my memory serves me correctly, about 40 digits of pi is the most you will need for all real civil engineering applications. This corresponds to an accuracy within the radius of a hydrogen atom for a circle the radius of the observable universe. Of course, pi crops up in many many natural systems and I can imagine that accuracy to a very large number of sig. figs. would be often necessary for real applications of (for example) dirac's constant. But yes, 4 dp is very inadequate.


Ugh, I'm such a killjoy

[archipelago]

did anyone weigh the series of tubes though? what about them?
...

and what about the google? surely that has to weigh quite a bit

...

al gore too!

[Rhynome]

Ah, yes, the tubes, and did they make sure to weigh all the internets or is that just for one?

Sure, the gubbins may be just that, gubbins, but without the engine in the car the person ain't gonna be able to drive from A to B. They could be a lovely fellow in a lovely car, but they still need the ****ing engine.

I know what they meant, but it's just... wrong.

[JAG.]

bet they forgot to weigh the cat though..

http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/3474/tubeblockeres3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

- JAG

[DeadlyFreeze]

eww you have a furry in your tube

[Bowlin]

I bet that 0.19 millionths of an ounce of it is porn.

[Justin.]

and the other 0.01 is myspace.

[wiggum]

I highly doubt anyone got a grant for this, or indeed spent more than 30 minutes researching and calculating the figure. It's quite quite meaningless.



I second that! If my memory serves me correctly, about 40 digits of pi is the most you will need for all real civil engineering applications. This corresponds to an accuracy within the radius of a hydrogen atom for a circle the radius of the observable universe. Of course, pi crops up in many many natural systems and I can imagine that accuracy to a very large number of sig. figs. would be often necessary for real applications of (for example) dirac's constant. But yes, 4 dp is very inadequate.


Ugh, I'm such a killjoy

I was just trying to point out that you don't need a billion digits. But I was clearly mistaken in my first reply, I stand corrected :bow:

[Noë]

even though 3.1415 is all the accuracy anyone would ever really need!
Quite untrue :P I have to use a more accurate pi in school already, so I can only imagine how much numbers scientists who work with large numbers would need (yup I know :P the same amount of numbers as the smallest number they're working with :P)
Ah well :P a billionth number is a bit much tho.

Love
Marleen

[corky13]

this sounds so interestingly philosophical. The last fortress for free speech known to mankind is not more then a grain fo sand in the oceons of our world...

who cares ? xD