Up, up and away鈥� (Image: Google Project Loon)
Wi-Fi by balloon
Google has floated an ambitious idea: to use balloons to deliver wireless internet access across the whole of Sri Lanka. The project is still in the early stages of development, but test balloons could be launched next March.If successful, Sri Lanka could become the first country with Wi-Fi coverage over its entire area.
鈥淪ometimes bad things happen to good robots鈥�
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Hitchbot creator Frauke Zeller on the loss of her hitchhiking robot. She and her team hoped it could cross the US relying on strangers to pick it up and transport it, but last weekend they received photos of the robot broken and vandalised.
Drone superhighway
It鈥檚 a motorway for drones. Gur Kimchi, who founded Amazon鈥檚 Prime Air drone delivery service, has proposed a high-speed drone corridor stretching between 60 and 120 metres above cities. Access would only be permitted to drones equipped with 3D maps, an internet link and the ability to change route to avoid obstacles without human assistance.
NASA has also annnounced plans for an autonomous air traffic control system to monitor drone flights.
