Crazy news tidbit of the day: German researchers have found a way to encode wireless internet (WIFI) signals into the visible lightwaves of LED lights. Now, several questions pop into mind when you read a statement like that, the first of which for me was: “What’s the point of doing that? Why would we want wireless internet in our light waves?” Well, it turns out that because the internet frequency would only be available where the light is visible, internet through LEDs would offer greater protection from hackers and less interference than other connection types.

The second question that comes to mind, then, is: “How the heck does it work?” Well it turns out that LEDs are the only type of light that will allow this technology to function, because it relies on a very fast modulation, or flickering, of the light. It’s this fast flickering (at a rate one million times faster than the human eye can see) that generates the signal in a room. Incandescent and florescent bulbs can’t flicker fast enough, but for LEDs, it’s no problem! And since visible light can’t go through walls, there won’t be any interference with this type of internet connection. Furthermore, as long as hackers can’t see the light, they won’t be able to access your computer, either! Another interesting fact is that commercial LEDs would only allow for a bandwidth of a few megahertz, but researchers found that if they filtered out all wavelengths except for blue, the bandwidth increased! Using the visible wireless system they built, the researchers were able to download data at up to 230 megabits per second. The researchers will present their findings at a conference in San Diego later this month.