By Thomas Shaw
A
n amazing new breakthrough
known as Li-Fi may change how we
access the internet, and open the
door for new technology.
on quantum physics, looking up more efficient methods of farming, doing ones Extended Essay or trying to work out what in
God’s name the alphabet is doing in their
maths. Truly, both the amount and speed at
The internet has become a major part which information can be transferred is key
of all of our lives. Many of us have a device to the development of any country or indiwithin arms reach that can access the inter- vidual.
net at all times of the day. While many of us
use the internet for little more than sending Enter Li-Fi. Li-fi is a new, breakthrough interfunny pictures of cats to each other, or Snap- net delivery system, that instead on working
chats of ourselves with various bits of fruit on through radio frequencies, like Wi-Fi, works
our heads, the internet stands as the single through the far larger spectrum of light freentity that has defined the previous decade, quencies. Li-fi also promises to be cheaper
and stands to define the current decade.
and more energy-efficient.Professor Harald
Haas, creator of Li-Fi, said in his TED talk in
Despite the fact that many of us may take it 2011 that “one of the issues [with Wi-Fi] is
for granted, the internet can be an amazingly capacity. The way we transmit wireless data
powerful learning tool. Both in the developed is by using…radio waves. And radio waves are
world and the developing world, the internet limited. They are scarce; they are expenhas been a source of vast amounts infor- sive; and we only have a certain range of
mation, whether one is looking for a course it. And it's this limitation that doesn't
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