Glorious mud

For engineers involved in oil and gas exploration, there has been nothing quite like mud for delivering vital information. Perhaps more surprising is that mud-based communication has benefited from the introduction of techniques that are also used to boost data-rates in wireless networking. Drilling for oil and gas these days is complicated: the easily accessible wells were drilled many years ago. A modern well will often have a vertical section, a curved part and then a horizontal path into the reservoir of oil or gas. Many reservoirs are made up of multiple small pockets, so part of the drilling process is to connect these into one well.