What is the Internet?

The internet is basically a huge network that allows computer networks all around the world owned and run by companies, governments, universities, laboratories etc to communicate with each other. 

Created to withstand a nuclear attack

The initial version of the internet- ARPANET was actually developed by the US Department of Defence during the Cold War. Their target was to develop a network that could withstand a nuclear attack and still preserve information.

How big is the Internet?

The amount of information transmitted through the internet is about five exabytes per day. You could download 40,000 standard definition two-hour movies per second with that amount of data.

Where are all the wires?

You may not believe it but the internet does take some wiring up. In fact, hundreds of thousands of kilometres of cables criss-cross countries, laid along sea floors that connect islands and continents. About 300 submarine cables, spread-out around the globe, constitute modern internet as we know it. 

The submarine cables range from Dublin to Anglesey connection (80 miles in length) to the Asia-America Gateway (12000 miles). These cables link California to Singapore, Hong Kong and other places in Asia. 

How much energy does the Internet use?

According Huawei Technologies the ICT industry will end up using 20% of global electricity and emit about 5% of global CO2 emissions by 2025.

Does google show all the webpages?

When you search 'puppies' on google, your browser only links you to web pages that are logged into its search index. But that only scratches the surface of the web. More than 95% of the webpages are unindexed and invisible to the standard users. 

How many layers of web are there?

You can think of the web as having three layers, namely, surface web, deep web and the dark web. 

Deep web constitutes a mass of pages that are not indexed, pages hiding behind passwords- the kind found on the office intranet. 

Buried deep withing the deep web is the dark web. To access the dark web, you need special browsers like Tor. Although the dark web has its use for legitimate purposes; like protecting the identity of journalists, whistle-blowers, it is also being used for criminal activities.