The natural world never ceases to amaze. There’s always more mind-blowing facts about wildlife waiting to be discovered. Take this absolutely remarkable finding, for example: This tortoise is broadcasting a Wi-Fi signal.
Simply incredible. Tortoises are truly one of the most fascinating species in the world!
As if the massive size and century-long lifespans of Galápagos giant tortoises weren’t amazing enough, Oxford University biologists conducting a field study in a remote region of the Galápagos recently observed a tortoise broadcasting a full-strength Wi-Fi signal from its body. What’s even more intriguing is that the tortoise’s network, named “tortoise-5G”, is password protected, but, by simply guessing the password was “tortoise” the scientists were able to access the animal’s Wi-Fi with ease. It’s a beautiful reminder that for all its seeming complexity, the natural order ultimately abides by a sacred simplicity.
With the nearest router over 4 miles away back at their base camp and no cell phone reception, the scientists were shocked to find that the high-speed internet connection emanating from the reptile measured at -50 decibel milliwatts, allowing the entire research team to game and stream movies with zero lag whatsoever. For some perspective, the natural speed of this tortoise’s free Wi-Fi is better than most premium internet plans available in the United States.
If you love the internet AND tortoises, you need to be cheering with joy right now!
“We connected all our phones, laptops, and tablets to the tortoise’s Wi-Fi, and the signal strength didn’t decrease whatsoever,” reported lead researcher, Evelyn Carreira, who was stunned when her phone received a notification reading, “Tortoise would like to share the password for ‘tortoise-5G’ with you,” a behavior that demonstrated the giant tortoise’s gentle, non-aggressive behavior. “I suspect the tortoise might have developed Wi-Fi for attracting mates, or perhaps, it’s a holdover from a carnivorous ancestor that used strong Wi-Fi connections to attract prey. Obviously, this species is known for being quite slow, which, in evolutionary terms, makes a lot of sense when you consider how unreliable your home Wi-Fi would be if your router could dash off like a deer. These are all just initial theories, of course. We have so much more to learn about these wonderful animals.”
Wow. Nature doesn’t get cooler than this, does it?
The tortoise is currently chained down in the scientist’s base camp, where it’s being used as their primary Wi-Fi network, and allowing them to report their research back to Oxford University over Zoom calls with crystal clear audio and video connections. Well, if tortoises are your favorite animal now, we would not be surprised at all, because this is as extraordinary as animal life gets. Hats off to nature, once again!
