Internet Full of 'Black Holes'


By Clara Moskowitz, LiveScience Staff Writer

You’re pounding the keyboard, double-clicking away, sighing and grumbling, but to no avail: That devilish little hourglass icon refuses to give way to the Web site you’re trying to reach. Most Internet users have encountered trouble reaching online destinations, but they often attribute the problem to their wireless network cutting out or a server momentarily going down.


Sometimes, though, the problem is more mysterious. At any given moment, messages throughout the world are lost to cyber black holes, according to new computer science research.
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"We were astounded when we did an initial four-monthstudy and we saw how many problems there were," Katz-Bassett told LiveScience."It seemed infeasible that this could be happening so often. They’redefinitely more common than we thought."


Now the team constantly monitors the Webfor black holes and posts a map of where the problems are around the world atany given moment. They hope their data will help Internet service providerstrack down the route of problems experienced on their networks.





So, are recent problems on NowPublic.com due to 'Black Holes'?


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