Radio (Square One)

Not to be confused with radio waves.

Radio is the technology of signaling or communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connected to an antenna which radiates the waves, and received by a radio receiver connected to another antenna. Radio waves were first identified and studied by German physicist Heinrich Hertz in 1886. The first practical radio transmitters and receivers were developed around 1895-6 by Italian Guglielmo Marconi, and radio began to be used commercially around 1900.

After the Impact, radio became an easy way for groups of people to communicate and coordinate with one another, and is still the primary communication throughout much of the world. "Radio culture" has become prominent, mostly in the former United States, and its ease to produce and distribute has lead to nearly 63% of North American households owning at least one radio, in a 2053 report.