The Internet is running out of room -- but we can save it

Are we running out of Internet? It might sound like an odd question, but researchers met at the Royal Society in London to discuss a coming Internet "capacity crunch", and what we might do about it. The meeting sparked headlines warning of a "full" Internet and the potential need for data rationing, but the reality is more nuanced. The crunch is real, caused by fast growth of online media consumption through the likes of Netflix and Youtube, but physics and engineering can help us escape it. The Internet just needs a few tweaks.Techniques like investing in new types of fiber will be key to fighting capacity crunch. But if researchers aren't able to scale up and commercialise their solutions, rationing or other restrictions on Internet use may be the only option. "I don't see a crisis in the internet," said Andrew Lord, a researcher at UK telecommunications company BT. "I've got a lot of faith in the ingenuity of people to keep delivering the goods," he said.