How Does the Internet Work? - Glad You Asked S1

Summary

This video script explores the physical infrastructure behind the internet, revealing how data travels through cables, routers, and even across oceans via undersea cables. It delves into the surprising fragility of this technology, the challenges of providing global access, and the innovative efforts to bridge connectivity gaps, such as high-altitude balloons and space-based systems. The script underscores the internet's evolution from a novelty to an essential part of modern life, highlighting its physicality and the ongoing work to improve and expand it.

Takeaways

• 🌐 The internet is both a virtual and physical entity, with its infrastructure impacting how we use it today and who benefits in the future.
• 🌏 Undersea cables are crucial for global internet connectivity, with most internet traffic across oceans traveling through such cables.
• 📷 The process of sending an email involves breaking it down into packets, assigning headers, and converting it into binary data that travels through various mediums.
• 📶 Wireless technology, such as Wi-Fi and cell service, relies on radio waves to send and receive signals from the internet.
• 🌟 The internet's 'last mile' refers to the connection from the internet backbone to the end-user, which includes Wi-Fi routers and cell towers.
• 🔋 The conversion of data into radio waves involves encoding binary information into different frequencies, a process known as frequency modulation.
• 🚀 Companies like Loon are exploring alternative methods to provide internet access to remote or under-connected areas, such as using high-altitude balloons.
• 🌌 The internet's backbone is a complex network of cables and hubs that facilitate data transfer between different networks and across the globe.
• 💡 The physical infrastructure of the internet, including undersea cables, is susceptible to damage from human activities such as fishing and anchoring.
• 📈 The availability and cost of internet access vary greatly around the world, with companies often prioritizing urban and affluent areas over rural and low-income regions.
• 🚀 Emerging technologies like 5G and satellite internet aim to improve connectivity but may also widen the gap between those with and without access to high-speed internet.

Q & A

What is the physical component of the internet that carries data across the ocean?

The physical component of the internet that carries data across the ocean is a cable, which is typically much smaller than people expect.

What is the 'last mile' in the context of internet connectivity?

The 'last mile' refers to the final leg of the internet connection that brings data from the internet service provider to the user's home or device. It includes Wi-Fi, routers, and cell service.

How is data sent from one device to another over the internet?

Data is sent over the internet by breaking it down into packets, each with a header that includes information about the source and destination. These packets are then converted into binary, transmitted as radio waves or laser light pulses, and routed through various networks to reach the destination.

What is the basic unit of data in the context of the internet?

The basic unit of data on the internet is a bit, represented by a one or a zero. Eight bits make up a byte.

How does frequency modulation work in the context of transmitting binary data?

Frequency modulation for transmitting binary data involves assigning different frequencies to represent a zero or a one. The receiver detects the frequency to determine the binary value.

What is an internet hub and what is its purpose?

An internet hub is a central point where various networks connect and exchange data. It is responsible for routing data to its next location efficiently.

What is the 'internet backbone' and how does it relate to long-distance internet connectivity?

The 'internet backbone' refers to the high-speed network of data routes that connect different parts of the internet, including undersea cables that facilitate long-distance connectivity.

What are the two basic types of undersea internet cables?

The two basic types of undersea internet cables are lightweight cable, used in the middle of the ocean, and the heavier cable used for burial with a plow.

How do undersea cables transmit data?

Undersea cables transmit data by sending light waves through fiberglass wires, which are a continuous strand of glass about the size of a human hair.

What are some of the challenges faced in maintaining undersea internet cables?

Challenges in maintaining undersea internet cables include physical damage from fishing activities, anchors, and drilling, as well as the complexity of repairing cables laid on the ocean floor.

What is the significance of the 'first and last mile' in terms of internet access disparities?

The 'first and last mile' signifies the initial and final stages of internet connectivity. Disparities in this area can lead to unequal access to high-speed internet, particularly affecting rural and low-income areas where laying cables may not be economically viable for companies.

What is 5G and how does it differ from current internet connectivity technologies?

5G is the next generation of mobile networks promising significantly faster internet speeds. It uses higher frequency waves to pack more information into each wave but requires more physical infrastructure due to the waves' susceptibility to obstruction.

What are some of the initiatives to provide internet access to unconnected or under-connected areas?

Initiatives like Loon, Project Kuiper, and Starlink aim to provide internet access to unconnected or under-connected areas using high-altitude platforms or near-space systems that broadcast radio waves to deliver internet service.

How do Loon's internet-providing balloons work?

Loon's balloons are sent into the stratosphere where they use stratospheric winds to navigate. They communicate with ground stations and other balloons via radio waves, and then relay signals down to users' devices.

What impact did the hurricane Maria have on internet connectivity in Puerto Rico, and how did Loon respond?

Hurricane Maria caused a significant disruption to internet connectivity in Puerto Rico. Loon responded by deploying balloons that provided internet access to about a quarter million subscribers within a couple of weeks.

Outlines

00:00

🌐 The Physicality of the Internet

This paragraph introduces the surprising physical nature of the internet, often perceived as a virtual entity. The host expresses amazement at the small size of the undersea cable responsible for carrying internet traffic across oceans. The script discusses the internet's evolution from a non-essential novelty to a critical component of modern life, impacting everything from job applications to emergency communications. The host's curiosity is piqued about the internet's inner workings and future developments, setting the stage for an exploration of its physical infrastructure.

05:03

📶 Dissecting Internet Connectivity: From Binary to Light Waves

This section delves into the technical aspects of internet connectivity, starting with the transmission of binary data via radio waves. The host consults with Sundeep Rangan, a computer engineering expert at NYU, to understand how binary information is carried on waves through frequency modulation. The conversation covers the basics of how a cell phone functions as a radio and the transformation of data into electrical pulses or laser light for transmission through cables. The script also explains the concept of 'packets' and 'headers' in data transmission, likening them to envelopes in a postal system, and touches on the conversion of data into binary and its subsequent transmission through various mediums.

10:03

🚢 The Undersea Cable Network: Laying the Internet's Foundation

The host visits SubCom, a leading submarine cable provider, to learn about the infrastructure behind long-distance internet connectivity. The narrative focuses on the physical process of laying undersea cables, from the engineering and material science involved to the actual deployment of cables using specialized vessels. The script describes the types of cables used, their strength and delicacy, and the continuous efforts to increase data capacity. The segment also highlights the labor-intensive nature of installing these cables and the global network they create, emphasizing the internet's reliance on this vast, yet vulnerable, infrastructure.

15:04

🌍 Bridging the Digital Divide: Challenges and Innovations in Internet Access

This paragraph addresses the issue of unequal internet access, particularly in rural and low-income areas. The script uses maps to illustrate the disparity in internet backbone coverage across the United States and the economic factors influencing the deployment of fiber optic cables. It introduces 5G technology and its potential to offer faster internet speeds but also acknowledges the challenges in reaching remote or underprivileged regions with this technology. The segment concludes with an overview of alternative connectivity solutions like Loon's high-altitude balloons, which aim to provide internet access to unconnected areas, and the broader efforts by companies to expand global internet coverage.

Keywords

💡Internet

The Internet is a global network of interconnected computers that use the Internet protocol suite to communicate. In the video, the Internet is portrayed as both a virtual and physical entity, with a focus on its physical infrastructure, such as cables, that enable global communication. The script discusses the Internet's evolution from a novelty to an essential part of modern life.

💡Cable

A cable, in the context of the video, refers to the physical wires that carry Internet traffic, particularly undersea cables that connect different continents. The script emphasizes the surprisingly small size of these cables, which contrasts with their critical role in global Internet connectivity.

💡Last Mile

The 'last mile' is a term used to describe the final leg of the network connection from the service provider to the consumer's home or office. In the script, it is mentioned as the outer ring where Wi-Fi and cell services connect users to the Internet, highlighting the importance of this final connection for Internet accessibility.

💡Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi is a technology that allows electronic devices to connect to the Internet or communicate with one another wirelessly within a local area. The video script describes Wi-Fi as part of the 'last mile' of Internet connectivity, using routers to send signals into and out of the Internet.

💡Router

A router is a device that forwards data packets between computer networks, creating an overlay network. In the video, routers are depicted as essential components that facilitate the transition of data from wireless signals to wired cables, directing Internet traffic to its next location.

💡Internet Backbone

The Internet backbone refers to the primary high-capacity connections between different networks that form the core of the Internet. The script introduces the Internet backbone as the 'cable highway' that carries data over long distances, emphasizing its importance for global connectivity.

💡Submarine Cable

Submarine cables are undersea cables laid on the sea bed to transmit telecommunication signals across long distances. The video script discusses the manufacturing and deployment process of these cables, which are vital for connecting different parts of the world to the Internet.

💡ISP (Internet Service Provider)

An Internet Service Provider is a company that provides customers with access to the Internet. In the script, ISPs are mentioned as the entities responsible for determining the most efficient routes for Internet traffic and managing the infrastructure that connects users to the global network.

💡5G

5G is the fifth generation of mobile networks, designed to increase speed and reduce latency. The video script discusses 5G as a potential game-changer for Internet connectivity, with the potential to be significantly faster than current networks, but also notes the challenges of infrastructure deployment.

💡Loon

Loon is a project by Alphabet that aims to provide Internet access to remote and under-connected areas using high-altitude balloons. The script highlights Loon as an innovative solution to bridge the digital divide, providing examples of its use in disaster-stricken areas like Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.

💡Digital Divide

The digital divide refers to the gap between those who have access to modern information and communication technology and those who lack it. The video script touches on the issue of the digital divide, illustrating the disparities in Internet access and the efforts being made to connect the unconnected parts of the world.

Highlights

The internet relies on undersea cables for transoceanic data transmission, which are surprisingly small in size.

The internet's physical infrastructure is crucial for its current use and future benefits.

The 'last mile' of internet connectivity involves wireless technologies like Wi-Fi and cell service.

Data packets are sent with headers containing information about their origin and destination, following set protocols.

Binary data is translated into radio waves and then into laser light pulses for transmission over fiber optic cables.

Internet hubs, once telegraph operator centers, now serve as critical junctions for data exchange between networks.

Submarine cable installation involves complex engineering and material science, with light transmission as the core process.

Undersea cables are delicate, with fibers made of continuous strands of glass about the size of a human hair.

The physical labor involved in laying undersea cables demonstrates the tangible effort behind the virtual internet.

Approximately 400 undersea cables form a web around the Earth, facilitating global internet connectivity.

Sharks and human activities, such as fishing and drilling, pose threats to undersea internet cables.

The internet infrastructure's importance is highlighted by incidents like the one in Tonga, where a cable cut caused a national crisis.

Access to high-speed internet is influenced by population density and income levels, with rural and low-income areas at a disadvantage.

5G technology promises significantly faster internet speeds but requires extensive infrastructure, potentially exacerbating the digital divide.

Projects like Loon, Starlink, and Project Kuiper aim to provide internet access to underserved areas using high-altitude platforms or satellites.

The internet is not a luxury but a necessity, integral to global community participation and daily life.

The physical connections of the internet are very much a work in progress, reflecting ongoing developments in technology and infrastructure.

Transcripts

( music playing )

Wait. That's the cable?

I was expecting something so much bigger.

That's the internet.

To get across the ocean, nearly all internet traffic

has to use a cable like that one.

- It's tiny. I'm so surprised. - You're actually surprised.

I know, I could tell. Love it.

All right, let's go get some hard hats.

Cleo: If you're watching this YouTube video

anywhere outside of the United State,

this is probably how it's getting to you.

For most of us, the internet is virtual.

It's made of Instagram posts and e-mails and YouTube videos.

But it's also a physical thing,

and what it's made of and where it goes matters

for how we use the internet now

and who will be benefit in the future.

So I want to know how does our internet really work

and what comes next?

( music playing )

( music playing )

The decade I was born, people were still learning about the internet,

and they didn't exactly consider it crucial.

But, you know, I think about this.

What about this internet thing?

What the hell is that exactly?

And they call it the World Wide Web.

You can e-mail anyone.

What the hell is e-mail?

Man: Can you believe what's possible these days?

Conversations through your computer.

Cleo: But now it seems we can't even function without it.

Jobs require online applications.

Parents around the country know

that their kids can't get an adequate education

without internet access.

I mean, people tweeting that they needed

to be rescued and a boat came in.

It's truly been life saving.

The internet has become essential to us,

but a lot of us still don't know how it works.

Okay, I need you to close your eyes.

- All of us? - Just trust me. Just close your eyes.

Yeah, for real. I'm serious. Close your eyes.

What's the craziest thing she could show us

- when we open our eyes? - ( laughs )

- I hope it's kittens. - Okay, now you can open them.

( screams )

- Joss: Tiny people! - Alex: They're us.

Christophe: It's tiny us.

So I know that there are three major parts of the internet.

We are on this outer ring. They call it the last mile,

but really it's the first and last mile.

So it's the texts we send,

the notifications we receive, the apps we use.

Everything we do to connect or receive information from the internet

happens in this first and last mile.

And we are inside...

the Vox office.

Also out in this outer ring are houses.

- You guys wanna help me put these down? - Yes.

- Trees. - So all of the--

all of the trees and all of the houses,

all Wi-Fi, which uses routers

somewhere in our office or somewhere in your home,

and all cell service,

which means that you're paying a cell tower

a little bit further away,

but still pretty close by.

All this wireless technology uses radio waves

to send signals into and out of the internet.

I'm gonna show you how this works.

But first, I'm gonna take a selfie.

Perfect. Okay.

So this is our selfie. I-- ( laughs )

- Joss, you've nailed that face. - Yeah, it's my go-to.

So I'm just gonna send this to you via e-mail.

- Typical e-mail. - Typical e-mail.

- There it is. - Boom.

- Ta-da. - So my goal is to figure out

how my e-mail got from my phone to yours.

In order for my e-mail to get from here to here,

my phone takes that photo

and cuts it up

- into more manageable packets. - No!

- We've been decapitated. - Just--

- Christophe: Just me. - Just you.

- So, imagine each packet like a letter in an envelope. - Uh-huh.

So, each envelope gets a header,

which is a little bit more information that includes--

- Christophe: Where it's from. - Where it's from and where it's going to,

and a bunch of other things that we're not going to talk about.

So the format of each header follows a set of rules,

and you can think about these rules

like the rules of the online postal system.

How everything is packaged and sent and received on the internet.

So you've probably heard people say that everything that happens

in our computer is ones and zeros.

- Right? Binary. - I have. Yeah.

Cleo: Which we can think of

as a kind of Morse code your computer understands.

And everything that you send over the internet

- is also binary. - Mm-hmm.

Christophe: ( gasps ) What?

- Ta-da! - When did this happen?

- What? - I do magic now.

- Okay. - Incredible.

So, each one or zero is a bit

and eight bits is a byte.

So, if this photo was 1.1 megabytes

that's 8,800,000 ones and zeros.

So, somehow these binary ones and zeros

have to get onto radio waves to be transported

- to the router, right? - Exactly. Yes.

- Okay. - And that's where I got stuck.

So, I called up Sundeep Rangan,

who specializes in computer engineering at NYU.

How does a wave carry binary information?

Ah, that is a very good question.

So, the simplest thing you could do

is every time you want to transmit, say, a zero,

you could transmit one frequency.

And every time you want to transmit a one,

you transmit a different frequency.

And then as long as the receiver can detect

which frequency it is, it can know it's a one or zero.

That's actually called frequency modulation.

Is it also fair then to say

that at its most basic, a cell phone is a radio?

Sundeep: It is a radio.

It is absolutely a radio.

Okay, so waves with binary information

have to get from my phone to the router.

But then at the router, they have to be turned into something else

that can go out the back of that device

along cables to get to their next location.

Depending on what the wire is made of,

it's either gonna be pulses of electricity

if the wire is copper, or pulses of laser light.

Sundeep: So, it's a laser and it just turns on

when there's a one, it turns off when it's zero.

So, faster than this.

- A little bit faster than that. - Faster than this?

So our photo went from binary to radio waves

- to little flashes of laser light, right? - Yes.

Where does it go after that?

We're about to find out,

but I'm gonna take Alex.

- You're not taking me? - No.

It's his turn. I gotta go.

Ooh.

So, the wires out of the back of our router

connect to other wires inside out office,

which are owned by our internet service provider

- or ISP. - Alex: Okay.

And they're responsible for looking at the header

of each of those envelopes

and figuring out the most efficient route

to get to its next location, which is an internet hub.

- Alex: And where would that be? - Cleo: Right there.

That's an internet hub.

- Alex: This old building? - Cleo: Yeah.

- All right, let's go. - It looks just like every other

office building I've ever seen.

Greg Sisk: Well, it started as Western Union's headquarters.

So, it supported telegraph operators back in the day,

and it's migrated to today

where it's supporting the internet

- here in lower Manhattan. - That's poetic.

So all those wires all need to come to a place like this

to connect between networks.

So, for our example, our ISP in the office has a network.

And AT&T, which is Christophe's cell provider, has a network.

And in order for my e-mail to get from my phone

into Christophe's phone,

all of those networks have to send those ones and zeros

across those wire pathways.

There's so much that happens

in that split second that you connect.

So there's really no such thing as a cloud

or any type of magnanimous--

- The cloud is a marketing term. - Yeah.

Cleo: The thing that I find really amazing is that,

like, my e-mail is one of the millions of messages

flowing through these cables.

That feels really abstract, but it's actually--

there's a message to somebody's mom

and there's a college application

and there's a job offer.

And there's a dank meme in here somewhere.

( music playing )

Okay, so my e-mail became a series of waves of light

that travels over the tubes of the internet.

But what if I wanted to send it somewhere really far away?

Somewhere on the other side of the world?

We're in Newington, New Hampshire, to go to a factory

that's gonna show us how the internet works at long distances.

We're headed into the third layer, the internet backbone.

Oh, that's the cable highway.

What's the cable highway?

Cleo: That's where the cables go

from the factory down to the dock.

The company we're gonna go see,

SubCom, is one of the top four submarine cable providers

in the world.

There's the ship.

- All right. - Hi.

- Hi. I'm Alysia. - Hi. I'm Cleo.

- So nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you.

Alysia: This is the SubCom Decisive.

She is a custom-built cable installation

and maintenance vessel.

She's 139 meters long,

which is about 450 feet.

- Wow. - Yeah.

Cleo: The engineering and material science at work here

are incredibly complex.

But the basic process is actually really simple.

Light goes in on one side of the ocean

and comes out on the other.

So, as the Decisive moves across the ocean,

the internet cable is gonna come out the back

and be laid down behind it.

And sometimes it's gonna be buried in the ocean floor

by that machine right there.

But most of the time it's just gonna lay there

on the bottom of the ocean.

So, these are the two types of cable that we have, the two basic types.

So this one, this is called lightweight cable.

So that's the one that we would use in the middle of the ocean.

And then this piece is the stuff that we use

the plow to install and actually bury.

And the cable is engineered to be super strong in a lot of ways,

but it is also very delicate in a lot of other ways.

Cleo: The wires that carry the light waves themselves

are typically made of fiberglass,

literally just a continuous strand of glass

about the size of a human hair.

Why is it that there are so few fibers?

We're working on trying to put more fibers inside the cable

to get more data into each fiber to make it

so that we can send more information than what we already have.

( music playing )

Whoa!

- So that's the cable tank. - Whoa.

Slow, slow. We got the pipe. We got the pipe.

Alysia: Work it over. Work it over.

What we're doing is we're loading it into the tank

in a continuous spool, right?

Is it, like, 10 tons, 50 tons?

Oh, we're loading ten tons in a day.

Cleo: Oh, my God. Cool.

Alysia: It's gonna end up being about 60 days of plowing.

- Wow. - Yeah.

Alysia: So, 70 days total to prep and install it.

Okay, on the highway you have two minutes until cable starts.

What do you want?

Cleo: What blows me away is just how much

hard physical labor is required to make the internet work.

Thank you.

The craziest thing is that this cable

is one of about 400 exactly like it

that create a web around the Earth.

- Oh. - Wow!

So we're just gonna lay down

the undersea cables of the internet

so that we can see where they go.

Christophe, you get Africa,

and I'll give you part of Europe.

Joss: I love the one that goes across the Great Lakes.

Cleo: You guys wanna see what the internet actually looks like?

- Yeah, totally do. - Okay.

- Whoa. - Wow.

- Whoa! - That's crazy.

Oh, there's, like, all this metal in here.

Seems like a shark could take a bite out of that pretty easily.

- I was gonna say the same thing. - I'm so happy you said that.

- Does that happen? - Yes.

So there's this video of a shark

biting a cable like this of the internet.

- Oh, there he is. - He's a big boy.

Big boy. Nom.

- Oh, doesn't taste good. - Oh, that probably hurt his teeth.

- I know, poor guy. - He didn't like it.

So, after that video went viral in 2014,

the Internet Cable Protection Committee,

released this report that has my favorite title of any report of all time,

which is "Sharks are not the Nemesis of the Internet."

The vast majority of faults are caused by human activity.

- It's, like, fishing, anchors. - Anchors.

- Drilling. Yeah. - Stuff like that.

Woman: The kingdom of Tonga

has faced a cell phone and internet crisis

after a fault in a fiber optic submarine cable

cut its main connection with the world.

Cleo: In January 2019, experts believe

that an oil tanker dragged an anchor across the seabed here,

which of course caused a really big problem for Tonga.

What is the problem? If it's in land,

when it's in land, it's all in land in Fiji, a quick fix.

But if it's in the water? Ooh-ya, ooh-ya, ooh-ya.

It's gonna take a long, long time.

And it took 13 days to get the internet back.

- 13 days. - Long days and nights.

That's a long time.

So if you live in one of these heavily connected places

like the United States or many, many other parts of the world,

it is very, very unlikely

that an anchor cutting a part of your internet

is gonna interrupt your service.

But what happened in Tonga does call attention

to how important this infrastructure is

and how much we rely on it.

I feel like, I mean, I've never lived in a time

when all of these tools were not part of my daily life.

It's kind of sad that it's not something that's available to everyone.

Yeah, exactly.

There are lots of people that still

don't have reliable internet access in the first place.

I wanted to find out more about how we could actually solve that problem.

( music playing )

So we're here in Nevada to see a company

that's helping more people get access to the internet.

But before we get there, I have some maps to show you.

This is a basic map of the internet backbone in the United States.

You can tell just by looking at this map

why it might be that some people have a hard time

getting low cost, high speed internet.

Companies aren't as incentivized to lay fiber optic cabling

where there are fewer people there to pay them for it.

The same applies to low income areas.

This map shows the areas that researchers call

uneconomic for companies in red,

meaning that the typical monthly costs

exceed the expected monthly revenue.

In many of these red areas, people only have one

or two options for internet service providers,

meaning that those service providers can jack up the costs.

The darker the country, the more people there

are paying for internet service.

So there's a lot of variety around the world

and even within countries in terms of who has access

to the internet and at what cost,

and that has a huge impact on people.

( music playing )

If you haven't heard about 5G,

get ready for a faster internet connection.

Man: 5G could end up being 100 times faster

than what we have now.

Instead of having a cell tower every few miles,

- Woman: Yeah. - 5G requires that we literally need

an antenna on every square block.

Okay, hold on.

What really is 5G and why would it be so fast?

Well, remember those radio waves?

One of the major innovations of 5G is the ability

to use higher frequency waves.

Because at higher frequencies, you can pack more information

into each wave. Here's the catch.

At higher frequencies, it's easier to block those waves.

I mean, visible light is very high frequency

and I can block it with my hand.

That's not a problem for fiber optic cables

because they're basically long glass laser light tunnels.

But 5G has to reach you wirelessly wherever you are,

so that would mean they would need a lot more

physical infrastructure.

Of course, new infrastructure costs money.

Companies have the same incentives

for where to put 5G that they had before.

Cities, not rural areas,

rich communities, not poor ones.

So 5G could be an exciting way to improve internet service

for people who have fast access already.

But the tech required means it's unlikely to help people who don't.

At least not any time soon.

( music playing )

Cleo: We're here to see Loon,

and what they do is they send balloons

into the stratosphere to provide internet access

to people below radio waves.

Loon is a connectivity company

that's really focused on the unconnected and the under-connected.

Cleo: Loon is owned by Alphabet, which also owns Google

and YouTube, who funded this show.

but Loon didn't have any say over our editorial.

So, they can't actually launch a balloon today,

because there was a huge storm yesterday,

which kind of also goes to show

how finicky a lot of this stuff is.

But what you have to imagine

is that there's a balloon in there

and then it launches from that large red thing up into the sky,

and it uses stratospheric winds

to navigate to its next location,

which could be on the other side of the world.

( music playing )

So, you can see a number of balloons over here

in South America, and you can see

what altitude they're at, like, at 60,000 feet,

and basically where they're flying.

( music playing )

This is the hatchery. This is where we build

and test all of our flight systems

before they go out to launch.

- So this is the balloon. - This is the balloon.

And then the part that flies with the balloon--

- It's this flight system here and the solar panels. - Got it.

And the brains of it are in that box...

- This box? - ...that's being cooled by those fans right now.

And so what we do is we put a ground station

in a point of vantage where it can see the sky.

And then from there, it can actually talk to one of our balloons.

Our balloons can talk to each other

and they're talking via radio waves.

And then from one of those balloons

that's over the top of your phone,

there's transmit and receive frequencies

that are going down to your phone.

What are some of the best examples

that you've been most excited about where--

Yeah, when Hurricane Maria

hit Puerto Rico and the Caribbean Islands,

we were able to fly balloons over the top of Puerto Rico.

And within a couple weeks, we were able to serve

about a quarter million subscribers.

- Wow. - And it's enough to know

that a user on the ground

was able to get out a text message or an e-mail

or a note to a loved one or something like that.

( music playing )

Amazon has Project Kupier and SpaceX has Starlink.

It seems like this is becoming something that more and more

- companies are focusing on. - Yeah, absolutely.

The more the merrier, because there's a lot of people to connect.

Cleo: These are all space or near space systems

that use radio waves to get people access to the internet.

And that's one reason why it's unlikely

that they're gonna replace good old cables.

Radio waves and laser light

and all of these different types of technology

that help us get access to the internet

all in the end need to work together.

We don't seek to replace fiber or replace satellites.

They're very complementary technologies.

Going into space is still a new thing.

I'm pretty confident about my job prospects

for at least the next while.

The internet isn't a luxury. We don't just want to connect.

We need to to be a part of this massive,

crucial, sometimes infuriating global community.

So as you check the news or message a friend

or watch a YouTube video, consider this,

our connections have never been virtual.

They're physical, and they're still very much a work in progress.

Hey. Want more episodes of "Glad You Asked"?

You can find them here,

and you can find more from YouTube Learning here.

"Glad You Asked," "YouTube Learning."

"Glad You Asked," "YouTube Learning."