Beams that carry orbital angular momentum (OAM) can be used to move tiny objects, and they have been used to enhance the resolving power of microscopes. But the exploitation of OAM may have the biggest impact in communications. OAM waves with dilferent “twists” don't interfere with one another. That means they can be overlaid one on top of another to carry a theoretically unlimited number of different data streams at the same time. Hardware that can transmit and receive even a few such OAM beams could dramatically boost the capacity of optical and radio transmissions without placing any more demands on the crowded electromagnetic spectrum than we do today. OAM transmission is a novel and powerful technology, one that could allow the transmission of much more information along wireless connections and dramatically speed up parts of the networks that underpin the Internet. The technological challenge is finding good ways to harness OAM.