You know what great for a program like this For many? We don’t really know what’s going on, so we can only speculate. Just like in real life! In case you haven’t seen this spectaclewhich just finished its first season, here’s a quick recap:
A radio transmission arrives from a planet 600 light-years away, and the message turns out to be the RNA code of an alien virus. Some fool synthesizes it and infects almost everyone on Earth, causing them to act as one entity – a hive mind with common goals, values, knowledge, everything. The title of the program comes from the ancient American motto “One of many”-out of many, one.
Only 13 people remain immune, including Carol Sturka, a strange romance author who is determined to maintain her individuality, despite all the collective’s efforts to absorb it. We don’t know for sure how the hive mind works, but it seems that plurbs (infected humans) communicate with each other unconsciously using radio waves. Talk to one of them and you’ll talk to all of them.
It has advantages. For example, there is no need to remember phone numbers. You can call any number and the same “person” answers. The downside is that they aren’t really a person.
Anyway, if radio theory is correct, how could this collective consciousness work from a physical standpoint? Let’s explore!
What is a radio wave and how to produce it?
In case you forgot (or never knew), we listened to music on devices called radios. There were two types of stations: AM radio with a broadcast frequency of 535 to 1,700 kilohertz (kHZ) and FM radio with a broadcast frequency of 88 to 108 megahertz (MHz).
Nowadays, radio waves are electromagnetic (EM) waves. This means that they consist of oscillating electric and magnetic fields. In other words, they are a type of light, along with visible light, infrared light, microwaves, X-rays, etc., that differ only in frequency and wavelength. Radio waves are at one end of the electromagnetic spectrum, with the lowest frequencies and longest wavelengths. This makes them ideal for long-distance communication.
Thin. But how to make a radio wave? Because EM waves use alternating electric fields, they can be induced by accelerating an electric charge. The radio station you no longer listen to has a very large electrical wire called an antenna. Electric current flows up and down the wire, accelerating the electrons. This is your radio wave.
But can the human body do this? Well…maybe? Our nervous systems are essentially electrical circuits, although the “current” consists of charged ions rather than electrons. Maybe an alien civilization has figured out how to use it.
How far can Plurbs communicate?
So if we’re right, every former human is now essentially a radio transmitter and receiver. One plurb sends out a signal, which is detected by the others, which forward it to others, etc. It sounds like some kind of decentralized mesh network. But how far can one plurb transmit?
First, let’s estimate the gear’s total power output – the amount of energy radiated per second. They are produced by a person’s metabolic system about 80 watts of power at rest and is used to perform basic functions such as breathing, pumping blood, digesting food, and so on. In the case of plurb, let’s say 10 percent goes to the radio broadcast, or 8 watts.
Let’s also assume that plurbs are “isotropic” transmitters, i.e. they emit energy in all directions equally, as in the old RKO Radio Pictures logo. As it radiates outward, this power spreads throughout the expanding sphere. The total power remains the same as at the source (P0), but the power per area we call intensity (AND), falls. This means that the signal strength decreases with distance (r). Knowing the surface of the sphere, we can easily calculate the intensity: