The article explores whether the internet has mass, contrasting different methods for calculating its weight. Originally estimated at 50 grams based on energy powering servers, newer considerations suggest it may weigh closer to just 5 millionths of a gram when looking at the weight of encoded data. Experts, including Christopher White and Daniel Whiteson, challenge outdated perceptions, advocating for more nuanced calculations. This inquiry highlights that while the physical components of the internet have weight, the data itself is far lighter, prompting reflections on the nature of digital information's existence.
"Fifty grams is just wrong," says Christopher White, president of NEC Laboratories America, challenging the outdated calculation of the internet's weight from 2006. New methods could yield different numbers.
Using the electron weight to capture the data on the internet, Discover magazine estimated the internet weighs a mere 5 millionths of a gram, likening it to a squeeze of strawberry juice.
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