Wireless

5 cards. Each one is a 40-second story with a five-minute read behind it.

1. The microwave sweet spot: balancing distance with data capacityWhy do we use microwaves for everything from satellite phones to your home Wi-Fi? It is a matter of physics. Super high frequency (SHF) waves occupy a unique spectral niche where …
2. The $1 million smartphone breathalyzer that failed the ultimate testImagine a keychain device that turns your phone into a sobriety test. Breathometer promised a revolutionary way to measure blood alcohol content on the go, backed by a massive Sha…
3. The invisible trade-off between hands-free convenience and digital privacySmart speakers have transformed our homes into interactive hubs, responding to simple wake words to manage everything from lights to calendars. But as these microphones remain per…
4. Your smart speaker is secretly building a neighborhood-wide mesh networkAmazon Sidewalk isn't just a feature; it is a massive, crowd-sourced wireless infrastructure. By turning your Echo devices into invisible bridges, Amazon has created a sprawling m…
5. Hedy Lamarr co-patented frequency hopping, but she didn't invent it.In 1942 the film star Hedy Lamarr and the composer George Antheil patented a way to stop enemies jamming radio-guided torpedoes: hop between 88 frequencies, synchronised like a pi…

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