iPhone 6s
ƒ/2.2
4.15 mm
1/40
25

Project Loon provides the internet directly to the cell phone from a network of high-altitude balloons. This material is recyclable polyethylene.

The only navigation control is vertical (adding or removing air as ballast; the helium remains in a separate part of the balloon) so they can catch or avoid the prevailing winds.

More: x.company/loon/technology/

5 responses to “Project Loon UFO”

  1. I was with Astro Teller today who runs X. His work is the clear inspiration for HooliHe’s a fan: Astro Teller runs Google X, the muse for Hooli in the HBO show Silicon Valley detail PayloadHarmless Science ExperimentI have enjoyed stage time with Astro on many occasions. Here he gives a fantastic 10-minute talk on moonshot thinking.

    And after I gave a talk on disruptive innovation, we did an hour of Q&A.

  2. Wow, Steve, what a fabulous thing that is!! Thanks for sharing with a CC license, my friend.

  3. Great!
    "so they can catch or avoid the prevailing winds."

    This was the idea of Jules Verne, in his famous "Five weeks in a balloon"!!!
    How do you navigate a balloon, not a dirigible with engines?
    You go up and dowsn, trying to find a suitable air current!
    How do you go up and down, without throwing lest or venting lifting gas?
    By adding or removing air in the smaller balloon that is inside the large one!!

  4. When I first saw this, it just sent my mind spinning into the last frontier… It would be really interesting for a remix :))

    Thanks for sharing with us.
    aw,comm,CC,2014

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