Published by Australian Academy of Science
Useful sites | Wireless but not clueless

HowStuffWorks, USA

• How the radio spectrum works
  Looks at radio frequencies, common frequency bands and frequencies for wireless technologies.
  http://www.howstuffworks.com/radio-spectrum.htm

• How municipal WiFi works
  Explains what WiFi networks can do, and the technology behind them. Includes some pros and cons and uses for public safety.
  http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/municipal-wifi.htm

• How WiFi works
  Explains how WiFi works including how home networking and routers work.
  http://computer.howstuffworks.com/wireless-network.htm

• How WAP works
  Explains what WAP is, why it is needed and what devices use it.
  http://www.howstuffworks.com/wireless-internet.htm

• How Bluetooth works
  Looks at a method called Bluetooth used to connect electronic devices.
  http://www.howstuffworks.com/bluetooth.htm

Application areas (Australian Communications Research Network)

Summarises the current areas of communications research in Australia. Includes optical networks, internet access technology, as well as mobile, rural, satellite, wireless data, and broadband communications.
http://www.acorn.net.au/telecoms/application_areas.html

CSIRO, Australia

• Creating a wireless world
  Describes CSIRO research on wireless technologies, including communications, imaging, positioning and sensing, and radio astronomy.
  http://www.nano.csiro.au/csiro/content/standard/pps71,,.html

• Gigabit wireless networks
  Summarises the development of new technologies for high speed wireless connectivity.
  http://www.ict.csiro.au/page.php?did=52

• Achievements: Wireless technologies
  Describes some research achievements related to wireless technologies.
  http://www.ict.csiro.au/page.php?did=218

Australian Bureau of Statistics

• Household use of information technology, 2004-05
  Presents results from a survey of household access to computers and the Internet.
  http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/0/acc2d18cc958bc7bca2568a9001393ae?OpenDocument

• Internet activity, March 2005
  Provides details of internet access by business, government and households across Australia.
  http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/PrimaryMainFeatures/8153.0?OpenDocument

The code war (Beyond Discovery, National Academy of Sciences, USA)

Includes a timeline of cryptography, how it works, the Enigma machine and quantum cryptography.
http://www.beyonddiscovery.org/content/view.article.asp?a=3420

Our wireless future (Scholastic, USA)

A virtual tour of a high-tech home of the future where computers, appliances, and communication devices are all linked on the same wireless network.
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/science/wireless_interactives.htm

Extinct technologies (Oracle ThinkQuest, USA)

Looks at future communication, television, video, DVD, audio and other technologies.
http://library.thinkquest.org/C005273/webie/index.htm

Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency

• Mobile telephone communication antennas: Are they a health hazard?
  Provides information about the possible health effects of exposure to radio frequency radiation.
  http://www.arpansa.gov.au/is_anten.htm

• The mobile phone system and health effects
  Provides information about exposure to radio frequency radiation from mobile phone base station antennas and mobile phones.
  http://www.arpansa.gov.au/mph1.htm