Eli5: How and why is information in the form of electricity?

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From computers and machinery to memories and nerve firings in humans and other animals, both use the flow of electricity to send, receive and read information/data. Why is that and what is it about electricity that does it? Like why not something else like sound or heat or radiation or something?

In: Biology

6 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

You use sound to send and receive information every day. You are using radiation to receive this very message. Biologically, the most important forms of information storage and processing are chemical in nature. The information stored on a hard drive is magnetic. Receipt printers and fax machines often use thermal printers to record information. CDs, DVDs, and vinyl records store information physically. Film cameras store information with light sensitive chemistry.

Electricity is a convenient way to send information, but it doesn’t have a special relationship with information.

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