Alphabet is shutting down Loon after concluding the business, which offers balloons as an alternative to cell towers, is not commercially viable, Google’s parent company said last week. Founded in 2011, Loon aimed to bring connectivity to areas of the world where building cell towers is too expensive or treacherous using balloons. But, surging demand for mobile connectivity made has towers much more cost-effective in more of the world.
Class discussion: Was using balloons to provide cell phone service just a loony idea? Or, did it fill a real need at the time? Hundreds of small satellites are being shot into orbit to provide broadband internet service. Do you think that such a satellite system could become obsolete in the future? Can companies be too innovative? What are the risks of not being innovative enough? For instance, are auto companies smart to spend billions to develop electric cars?
• SpaceX launches rescue mission for 2 NASA astronauts stuck in space
• Shohei Ohtani: Greatest baseball game by the greatest player?
• Friday the 13th: The psychology behind the superstition
• Vance says school shootings are a 'fact of life’
• California startup makes waves with electric boat for water
• Trained dogs help save lives at Spanish beach
• WHO declares mpox outbreak a global health emergency
• 3 teens arrested in plot to attack Taylor Swift concert
• Biden and Harris greet freed Americans
• Large wildfire creates ‘fire tornado’ in California
• Mayor of Paris follows through on promise to swim in Seine
• Mass tourism protesters in Barcelona spray water at tourists
• How much is AI meddling in elections?
• New Yorkers react to proposed mask ban on subway
• Americans are taking notice of one of Earth's most popular sports: cricket
• Robotic 'Third Thumb' helps perform challenging tasks single-handedly
• Dangerous jobs: U.S. prisoners often work without basic protections
• Tiny Mexican taco stand gets a Michelin star
• Scores of starving pelicans found along California coast
• How bird flu could threaten cow cuddling
• How sun storms can affect electronics on Earth
• Seaweed microbots could one day treat cancer, researcher says
• Space isn't as colorful as photos make it seem
• Invaders from underground are coming in cicada-geddon
• Baltimore bridge collapse timeline
• Death toll rises and new details emerge from Moscow concert hall terror attack
• Would you eat this lab-grown 'beef rice'?
• Ocean temperature hit record high in February
• Thousands of Russians defy Putin with protest chants at Navalny’s funeral
• Snow lacking, French ski resort turns to new activities
• AI a hot topic at California music tech show
• How surging demand for krill is raising concerns over Antarctica's future
• Taylor Swift swarmed by conspiracy theories
• Bird flu devastates farms in California’s ‘Egg Basket’
• Dog helps Michigan police rescue owner from icy lake
• The weirdest and best of CES 2024
• Japan Airlines fireball: passenger videos record their miracle escape
• Brazil’s congress votes to limit Indigenous land claims
• Will floating farms grow as world warms?
• Polar bear sightings surge in small Canadian town due to lack of sea ice
• More hostages released during Israel-Hamas truce
• Test of giant rocketship goes better, but blows up again
• Iceland volcano: Thousands evacuated over eruption fears
• ‘Einstein was wrong’ – new study of universe poses fundamental questions
• Animals run faster from human voices than they do from lion roars
• ‘Einstein was wrong’ – new study of universe poses fundamental questions
• ‘Einstein was wrong’ – new study of universe poses fundamental questions
• ‘Einstein was wrong’ – new study of universe poses fundamental questions
• Average teen gets more than 200 cell phone notifications a day
• Space capsule brings NASA’s first asteroid samples to Earth
• New technology aims to put a whole new spin on space travel
• Rescuers search earthquake rubble in Morocco
• Thousands gather for 60th anniversary of March on Washington
• Russia's unmanned Luna-25 spacecraft smashes into the moon
• Why the Maui wildfires spread so devastatingly fast
• A Ukrainian orphan's journey to freedom
• Saguaro cacti suffering under Arizona's extreme heat
• Lionel Messi scores game-winning goal in his debut $1 million match
• No one died in alleged TikTok boat jump challenge
• U.S. military struggles to find qualified volunteers
• Golf merger with Saudis ignites outrage
• Paralyzed man walks again with help of a 'brain bridge'
• Advanced 3D model goes inside Titanic wreck
• The promise and peril of artificial intelligence
• 7th grader saves bus driver and classmates
• 'Wrong place' shootings in America
• Meet New York's first ever 'rat czar'
• China simulates striking Taiwan in military drills
• Crews practice rescues high above Las Vegas
• West Coast salmon industry braces for fishing ban