Eight things you didn't know about the internet

THE INTERNET

It was born 40 years ago, in a lab at the University of California, Los Angeles. Today it wraps the entire planet and features in the daily routine of more than 1.5 billion people.

Of course, it's easy to take the internet for granted and forget that it's very much a work in progress.

So what forces are shaping it, how big has it grown, and will it ever evolve a mind of its own? To find out, New Scientist posed eight simple questions

1.

Unknown internet 1: Who controls the internet?

The official answer is no one, but that’s a half-truth that few swallow…

2.

Unknown internet 2: Could the net become self-aware?

It is easy to draw parallels between the human brain and the internet’s complex network of nodes, so could conciousness be the next step?

3.

Unknown internet 3: How big is the net?

In 2008, Google announced that its systems had registered a trillion unique pages – but even this might represent only a fraction of what is out there

4.

Unknown internet 5: Is there only one internet?

The internet is a disparate mix of interconnected computers, many of them on large networks run by universities, businesses and so on – so what unites them, if anything?

5.

Unknown internet 4: Did the credit crunch hit the web?

Real-estate prices crashing, a big drop in growth, the threat of infrastructure collapse, and authorities printing more money to stave off disaster – and that’s just the online world

6.

Unknown internet 6: Where are the net’s dark corners?

There are plenty of places online that you would do well to steer clear of

7.

Unknown web: Is the net hurting the environment?

Sending an email across the Atlantic Ocean does not burn any jet fuel, but the internet is not without its own, huge carbon footprint

8.

Unknown internet 7: Could we shut the net down?

When even the biggest cyber-attacks have failed to bring down the web, governments might not fare much better

ADVERTISEMENT

GALLERY

Exploring the exploding internet

These maps show just how much the internet has grown and explain how the phenomenal growth has been possible

INTERNET FACTS

Greenland has the most connected population: over 92% have internet access (Source: ITU)

210 billion emails per day were sent in 2008 (Source: The Radicati Group)

Online advertising spend topped $65 billion globally in 2008 (Source: IDC)

1.58 billion internet users in 2008 (Source:InternetWorldStats.com)

• Canada’s huge wildfires may release carbon locked in permafrost

• Having an overactive immune system may prime you for depression

• Ice core reveals how lush Antarctica changed to icy desert

• Cycling for more than five hours a week in Delhi is bad for you

• Quick $2 test reveals if you caught a superbug in hospital