Prominent physicists have tried to answer the question: can the internet have weight? Using a variety of methods to estimate the mass of digital information – from the energy of servers to futuristic ideas about storing data in DNA – scientists suggest that the weight of the internet could range from a fraction of a gram to heavier than a car.
The internet seems intangible, but if data is stored and transmitted using energy, which Einstein believed had mass, then it could theoretically be weighed. While physical server farms and fiber optic cables certainly weigh a lot, the problem is the sheer mass of information and data circulating in cyberspace. WIRED magazine examined how to calculate the weight of transmitted information and whether it is even possible to do so.
In 2006, Harvard physicist Russell Seitz attempted to calculate this weight
He concluded that, given the mass of energy powering the world's server racks, the weight of the Internet is approximately 50 grams. Although this figure has not caused much controversy until now, with the advent of Instagram, the iPhone and artificial intelligence (AI), it is clear that a different approach will now be needed.
The second method was first proposed by Discover magazine: it is based on the weight of the electrons needed to encode bits of information. Discover estimates that in 2006, Internet traffic was 40 petabytes, equivalent to a fraction of a gram or the size of a drop of strawberry juice.
Both methods are questionable, however
NEC Laboratories America President Christopher White believes that Seitz's calculations are incorrect, a claim partly supported by physicist Daniel Whiteson, who likened the method to trying to determine the price of a doughnut by dividing the world's GDP by the total number of doughnuts.
The Discover method is also not perfect, as it describes data transfer, not data storage, and assumes a fixed number of electrons per bit of information, although in reality this figure depends on the specific chips and circuits.
White proposed a third approach
imagine all the data on the Internet being stored in one place and calculate how much energy it would take to encode it. In 2018, experts estimated the volume of data at 175 zettabytes (1.65 × 10²⁴ bits). Using the formula for the minimum energy to represent one bit and Einstein's equation E = mc², scientists calculated the weight of the Internet at 53 quadrillionths of a gram.
This result would seem disappointing, since in everyday life the Internet feels much "heavier". White generally notes that the network is so complex that it cannot be measured with absolute precision. However, scientists continue to look for new approaches - for example, they are considering the possibility of storing data in DNA molecules.
If the Internet were really encoded in DNA,
it would weigh just over 960 kilograms - this is the equivalent of ten adult men or 64,000 strawberries. This method of storing information remains hypothetical for now, but it could become a reality in the future.