The weird waves of wi-fi

Discovery

BBC

Science

4.3 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 9 May 2022

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We use wi-fi every day, but do you know how it works? “Is it waves and science or just some mystical magical force?” wonders listener Abby.

Well, our science sleuths are on the case. To help them navigate the strange realm of electromagnetic waves they are joined by Andrew Nix, Professor of Wireless Communication Systems from the University of Bristol. He explains why your wi-fi router won’t heat up your baked beans, but your microwave will.

Andrea Goldsmith, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Princeton University, also joins to reveal how these waves are crammed full of 0s and 1s- whether that's a pic of your pets or a video chat with pals.

And finally, how do you get the best wi-fi at home? Dr Rutherford, it turns out, has made some rookie errors. Listen out for our top tips so you don't make them too!

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's International Podcast Day. To celebrate, we want to tell you about some amazing BBC
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0:20.7	Open wide, please. That'll be £300, please.
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0:28.4	Listen on BBC Sounds. I had this secret. I wrapped banks in my spare time.
0:36.3	Live's less ordinary from the BBC World Service. This is not a good thing to do,
0:42.0	because police are after you. Find out more at the end of this podcast.
0:48.4	Hello and welcome to the curious cases of Rutherford and Fry on Discovery for the BBC.
0:53.5	This is the programme where you send us in the queries, questions and conundrums
0:58.0	that you are curious about. And we will look into them on your behalf using the power of science.
1:03.6	So please do send us your questions, curious cases at bbc.co.uk and on with the show.
1:15.8	A technological curious case today, the story of something we've become almost entirely
1:20.7	reliant on without even noticing. Yes, Abbey wrote into us asking to investigate,
1:25.6	and I quote, something that we all know very well and probably use every day of our lives.
1:30.4	But I reckon the majority of us would be hard pressed to explain how it actually works.
1:35.3	Is it waves in science or just some mystical magical force?
1:39.2	Well, Abbey, I suspect I'm in the mystical magical force category there.
1:42.7	She is, of course, talking about one of the wonders of the 21st century,
1:47.0	wiffy. Wiffy, don't look at me like that. You know, when you connect your phone to the internet
1:52.4	without wires. I think you mean Wi-Fi, I don't know. Well, my mother-in-law called it wiffy once,
	...

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