5G: The 5 gigahertz frequency band used to transmit a newer generation of cellular-network signals.
antenna: (plural: antennae or antennas) In biology: Either of a pair of long, thin sensory appendages on the heads of insects, crustaceans and some other arthropods. (in physics) Devices for picking up (receiving) electromagnetic energy.
app: Short for application, or a computer program designed for a specific task.
application: A particular use or function of something.
augmented reality: A computer-based system that superimposes information (as text and/or images) on top of what’s being viewed through goggles, a window or some device (such as a camera). Or, similar to virtual reality, it can place digital illusions into the real world.
cell: (in telecommunications) A technology that relies on a large number of base stations to relay signals. Each base station covers only a small area, which is known as a cell. Phones that rely on this system are typically referred to as cell phones.
cellular network: A system that includes antennas to send and receive data via radio waves. Until around 2020, antennas in these networks stuck out from the top of a tall tower. It typically covered a circle of several miles, called a cell. When inside one of these cells, a phone will have access to the network. The farther a phone is from a tower, the harder it will be to get a signal. With the introduction of 5G networks, both the size of cells and of antennas shrunk. This allows networks to transmit the information or calls faster and with less energy.
cloud: (in computing) A network of computers (hardware), known as servers, which are connected to the internet. They can be used to store data and computer programs (software) that can be accessed by one or many people at once, and from anywhere in the world.
continent: (in geology) The huge land masses that sit upon tectonic plates. In modern times, there are six established geologic continents: North America, South America, Eurasia, Africa, Australia and Antarctica. In 2017, scientists also made the case for yet another: Zealandia.
data: Facts and/or statistics collected together for analysis but not necessarily organized in a way that gives them meaning. For digital information (the type stored by computers), those data typically are numbers stored in a binary code, portrayed as strings of zeros and ones.
data center: A facility that holds computing hardware, such as servers, routers, switches and firewalls. It also will house equipment to support that hardware, including air conditioning and backup power supplies. Such a center ranges in size from part of a room to one or more dedicated buildings. These centers can house what it takes to make a “cloud” that makes possible cloud computing.
digital: (in computer science and engineering) An adjective indicating that something has been developed numerically on a computer or on some other electronic device, based on a binary system (where all numbers are displayed using a series of only zeros and ones).
electricity: A flow of charge, usually from the movement of negatively charged particles, called electrons.
encryption: (v. encrypt) A system that can convert data or information into code that other people can’t easily decipher.
fiber: Something whose shape resembles a thread or filament. (in nutrition) Components of many fibrous plant-based foods. These so-called non-digestible fibers tend to come from cellulose, lignin, and pectin — all plant constituents that resist breakdown by the body’s digestive enzymes.
filament: Something with a thin, thread-like shape. For instance, the fragile metal wire that heats up to emit light inside an incandescent light bulb is known as its filament.
glass: A hard, brittle substance made from silica, a mineral found in sand. Glass usually is transparent and fairly inert (chemically nonreactive). Aquatic organisms called diatoms build their shells of it.
information: (as opposed to data) Facts provided or trends learned about something or someone, often as a result of studying data.
infrastructure: The underlying structure of a system. The term usually refers to the basic physical structures and facilities on which a society depends. These include roads, bridges, sewers, drinking water supplies, electrical power grids and phone systems.
internet: An electronic communications network. It allows computers anywhere in the world to link into other networks to find information, download files and share data (including pictures).
modem: An electronic device that connects your computer to the Internet. Modems also can translate digital data into analog mode, so that they can be sent across telephone lines.
network: A group of interconnected people or things. (v.) The act of connecting with other people who work in a given area or do similar thing (such as artists, business leaders or medical-support groups), often by going to gatherings where such people would be expected, and then chatting them up. (n. networking)
orbit: The curved path of a celestial object or spacecraft around a galaxy, star, planet or moon. One complete circuit around a celestial body.
poles: (in Earth science and astronomy) The cold regions of the planet that exist farthest from the equator; the upper and lower ends of the virtual axis around which a celestial object rotates. (in physics and electrical engineering) The ends of a magnet. (in chemistry) two areas of opposite electrical charge, one positive and one negative.
radio waves: Waves in a part of the electromagnetic spectrum. They are a type that people now use for long-distance communication. Longer than the waves of visible light, radio waves are used to transmit radio and television signals. They also are used in radar.
radius: (plural: radii) A straight line from the center to the circumference of a circle or sphere.
router: In computer science, a device that handles the exchange of digital information between different points in a network.
satellite: A moon orbiting a planet or a vehicle or other manufactured object that orbits some celestial body in space.
server: A term for a computer — and especially the software on it — that provides services (hence, the name server) to other computers. A server computer program, for instance, stands ready to fulfill requests by its clients (which are other computer programs). For instance, a web server pulls up website pages or other files upon request. The web browser that you use on your computer to find things on the internet is one type of client. It calls up files from a web server.
social media: Digital media that allow people to connect with each other (often anonymously) and to share information. Examples include Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and WhatsApp.
sun: The star at the center of Earth’s solar system. It is about 27,000 light-years from the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Also a term for any sunlike star.
system: A network of parts that together work to achieve some function. For instance, the blood, vessels and heart are primary components of the human body’s circulatory system. Similarly, trains, platforms, tracks, roadway signals and overpasses are among the potential components of a nation’s railway system. System can even be applied to the processes or ideas that are part of some method or ordered set of procedures for getting a task done.
virtual: Being almost like something. An object or concept that is virtually real would be almost true or real — but not quite. The term often is used to refer to something that has been modeled by (or accomplished by) a computer using numbers, not by using real-world parts. So a virtual motor would be one that could be seen on a computer screen and tested by computer programming (but it wouldn’t be a three-dimensional device made from metal). (in computing) Things that are performed in or through digital processing and/or the internet. For instance, a virtual conference may be where people attended by watching it over the internet.
virtual reality: A three-dimensional simulation of the real world that seems very realistic and allows people to interact with it. To do so, people usually wear a special helmet or glasses with sensors.
wave: A disturbance or variation that travels through space and matter in a regular, oscillating fashion.
Wi-Fi: A wireless technology that networks various electronic devices (such as cell phones and laptop computers); it allows them to share the same modem for Internet connections by using radio waves.
wireless: (in telecommunications) An adjective that describes the ability of certain devices to send and receive radio signals over the air. It often refers to Wi-Fi networks and the networks operated by cell-phone companies to transmit data called up by phone users.