Alphabet announced last month that it was winding down Loon, a nine-year-old project and a two-and-a-half-year-old spin off firm, after failing to find a sustainable business model and partners for one of its most prominent moonshot projects. Business Insider shares more details on why the project failed. From the report, which may be paywalled: CEO Alastair Wingarth told The New York…
Tag: Balloons
Venezuela’s Socialist Regime Is Mining Bitcoin In a Bunker To Generate Cash
The socialist regime once cracked down on bitcoin miners. Now it’s mining the digital asset itself. From a report: At a military base outside Caracas, Venezuela, state video footage shows officers in green fatigues cut a blue ribbon donned with a cluster of glossy balloons. Then, the men pry open the doors of a narrow, dimly-lit bunker. But the balloons weren’t…
Is that a UFO?! There’s probably an explanation
Most Unidentified Flying Objects aren’t actually unidentified. Here’s a list of phenomena, either natural or human-made, that people often mistake for UFOs. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/if-its-not-a-ufo-what-is-it…
Google’s AI can keep Loon balloons flying for over 300 days in a row
An artificially intelligent pilot created by Google and Loon can keep huge stratospheric balloons in the air for hundreds of days at a time to act as floating cell towers in remote areas Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2261369-googles-ai-can-keep-loon-balloons-flying-for-over-300-days-in-a-row/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Loon Sets Stratospheric Sustained Flight Record With 312-Day Balloon Trip
Alphabet’s Loon, the company focused on creating new networking capabilities using stratosphere-based infrastructure, has set a new world record for a continuous stratospheric flight. One of Loon’s ultra high-altitude balloons flew for 312 days straight, beating the existing record of 223 days by a considerable margin, and nearly racking up a full year of sustained time aloft. From a report: The…
The detection of phosphine in Venus’ clouds is a big deal
Here’s how we can find out if it’s a sign of life. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/detection-phosphine-venus-clouds-sign-of-life…
Do Drones Help Democratize Surveillance?
A University of San Diego (USD) professor has just published The Good Drone: How Social Movements Democratize Surveillance. He tells a local newspaper that drones (as well as other aerial technologies like balloons, satellites, and even kites) actually help effect social change. “That was my litmus test,” Choi-Fitzpatrick continues. “Can I, or other people like me, use this technology for good?…
Why clouds form near black holes
Clouds in the greater universe are clumpy areas of greater density than their surroundings. Space telescopes have observed these cosmic clouds in the vicinity of supermassive black holes. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/cosmic-clouds-form-near-black-holes…
A rare ozone hole is open over the Arctic
Since March 14, ozone over Earth’s Arctic has decreased to what’s normally considered ‘ozone hole levels.’ Scientists expect this year’s Arctic hole – the largest ever seen over the Arctic – to close again around mid-April 2020. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/unusual-ozone-hole-opens-over-arctic…
NASA issues a Venus rover design challenge
NASA has issued a public challenge where you can help design a critical sensor that would be needed for a future rover on Venus. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/venus-aree-rover-sensor-public-challenge…