I spotted the 'Project Loon' item as a trending topic on Yootube earlier today, and was planning to post something about it here on Clues later.
Regardless of whether that's synchronicity or a vectored viral, I'm highly skeptical about this project. Hopefully the caustic comments from 'Sam Spade' regarding the lack of technical details are real...and are responded to. Send him an invitation to 'Clues'..
Comparing these balloons with, say, passenger hot air balloons which use LPG burners to rise, and ballast/venting to lower, these curious techno-bubbles don't seem to have any true altitude-tracking system. There is some mention of them being 'recycled', implying that they eventually run out of some kind of propellant, but surely that deserves to be expanded upon constructively.
An interesting lack of reference to GPS (unless I'm missing it?). Intriguing that these swastika-shaped solar panels are facing downwards...so, small in surface area, pointing directly away from their source of energy, and fragile as hell. Everything you don't want in a mesh peer-to-peer datacommunications system, with a potential 100% duty cycle. Tell me more about UV stabilisation of materials, uplink/downlink frequencies, data-rates, contention....interesting that it claims to be able to internetwork at a physical layer between 'Loons' directly, instead of just via the ground terminals. This is one of the fascinating claims of the Iridium satellite phone systems.
Is this just a lot of pseudo-tech eye candy?
I was similarly doubtful about the NASA Gossamer Albatross/Condor programme...
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This was touted as being an early in-stage for unmanned lightweight enormous plastic solar drones, radio 'mirrors' that would fly for eternity as super low-cost replacements for these pesky satellite...things. All exceedingly flimsy, in every sense.
I've seen a number of other 'gee whiz' tech-lite Amazing Stories that may in reality be terrifyingly-less than they claim to be. I'll post about them initially in the Chat-Room, I think (Flabbergasted, you're maybe on the same elevator as me about all this, so, please, look out for my post...unless you beat me to it, in which case I shall become somewhat spooked)
[EDIT: Broken image fixed -HP Dec. 21, 2017]