The Gist: Google’s Project Loon with Will Oremus, and definite article Magna Carta.

Will Google’s Balloon-Powered Internet Get Off the Ground?

Will Google’s Balloon-Powered Internet Get Off the Ground?

Slate
The Gist
A daily news and culture podcast with Mike Pesca.
June 15 2015 6:43 PM

Loony Trial Balloons

Google’s experiment in balloon-powered Internet is a moonshot among moonshots, but somehow it’s staying afloat.

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The Project Loon team prepares solar panels, electronics, and balloon envelopes for launch as the sun rises in New Zealand.

Photo courtesy Andrea Swenson Dunlap/Google

Listen to Episode 277 of Slate’s The Gist:

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Today on The Gist, an improbable Google experiment is still afloat. Will this “loony” idea help expand Internet access around the world, or just be a boon to fuzzy sock manufacturers? Slate’s Will Oremus explains. For The Spiel, we track the use of the before Magna Carta.

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Mike Pesca is the host of the Slate daily podcast The Gist. He also contributes reports and commentary to NPR.