How Lasers and Wi-Fi Were Born, Thanks to Cosmology

Truly revolutionary technologies come from the most unlikely places, like cosmology, which gave us lasers, GPS and even Wi-Fi.

The Milky Way above observatories in Paranal, Chile; a laser beamed at the galactic centre allows adaptive optics to correct for atmospheric distortion (Yuri Beletsky/ESO)

WHERE DO WE come from? How did we get here? They are questions which have been asked as long as there have been people. And answering them has given us not only…