WEBVTT - The Loons at Google 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:07.240 Get in touch with technology with text Stuff from how 0:00:07.280 --> 0:00:14.600 Stuff Works dot com Tylor and welcome to Text Stuff. 0:00:14.600 --> 0:00:17.800 I'm Jonathan Strickland and I and today we're going to 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:21.200 start off with a little listener mail. But on this 0:00:21.239 --> 0:00:22.840 case that we're actually done a listener mail that was 0:00:22.920 --> 0:00:25.840 in to us via Facebook. So listener Facebook, Yes, yes, 0:00:26.000 --> 0:00:28.800 uh listener. Andrew wrote to us and said, inspired by 0:00:28.800 --> 0:00:31.160 your recent drone episode, I'd love to hear an episode 0:00:31.160 --> 0:00:35.120 on the Google WiFi Balloon project and provided us with 0:00:35.200 --> 0:00:37.560 the length and then said thanks for keeping my daily 0:00:37.600 --> 0:00:40.800 commute less boring. Cheers and cheers to you, sir. Yes 0:00:40.920 --> 0:00:43.680 we will. We will endeavor not to bore you further. 0:00:44.320 --> 0:00:50.160 We will continue our exciting delivery the Google Balloon WiFi project. 0:00:50.600 --> 0:00:53.479 Let's begin. Actually, that's that's that's that's way too low key. 0:00:53.520 --> 0:00:56.560 I'm sorry, guys, I've had a long day. So what 0:00:56.760 --> 0:01:00.360 is this? What is this idea? Balloons WiFi Google? These 0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:05.319 are just words, Lauren. He's talked about Google loon um 0:01:05.400 --> 0:01:08.880 and this entire project got started off because according to Google, 0:01:08.880 --> 0:01:11.960 who would probably know, about two thirds of the world's population, 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:15.280 some five to six billion people don't have Internet access. 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:17.480 And I mean they're not talking like their WiFi is 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:21.199 down today, like they have no internet access, zero way 0:01:21.280 --> 0:01:24.480 to get to the internet. Um. And so so Google 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:26.680 this this team of Google which we will talk about later, 0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:29.240 came up with this concept that they could have a 0:01:29.319 --> 0:01:33.240 network of balloons providing WiFi access. Yeah, so you're essentially 0:01:33.280 --> 0:01:37.679 you're creating this radio wave network and the instead of 0:01:37.720 --> 0:01:41.120 building towers like you would with a three G or 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:44.240 four G type thing. Uh so, so you know that way, 0:01:44.240 --> 0:01:46.200 we would normally build a tower right in the middle 0:01:46.200 --> 0:01:48.560 of nowhere and then have a network of towers and 0:01:48.640 --> 0:01:50.640 that would be your cellular network or would be your 0:01:50.640 --> 0:01:52.600 four G network or whatever, and that's how you would 0:01:52.600 --> 0:01:54.920 get access to the Internet. But this is a more 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:57.720 expensive and that's infrastructure. And yeah, and you have to 0:01:58.240 --> 0:02:00.240 you have to figure out where to build things. You've 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:02.840 got to get the permission to build where you want 0:02:02.880 --> 0:02:04.880 to build. Some of these places might be really remote 0:02:04.880 --> 0:02:06.520 and it might be difficult to build out that bar 0:02:06.760 --> 0:02:08.480 the use of some of the radio signals can get 0:02:08.480 --> 0:02:11.079 tricky sometimes. So what if you were instead to have 0:02:11.280 --> 0:02:14.680 everything that would be mounted on a tower in held 0:02:14.720 --> 0:02:17.440 by a balloon, a giant balloon that could fly at 0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:22.960 incredible altitudes and provide bounce Internet signals are around, you know, 0:02:23.080 --> 0:02:25.639 to the balloons and then to two receivers on the 0:02:25.639 --> 0:02:28.600 ground antenna that are privately owned. Yes, so this is 0:02:28.639 --> 0:02:31.920 all part of a division within Google called Google X, 0:02:32.480 --> 0:02:38.000 and Google X is kind of the super secret uh divisions. 0:02:38.200 --> 0:02:39.960 That's a hey, you know, that's a preview for an 0:02:40.000 --> 0:02:44.120 upcoming episode, but yeah, it's it's what would be used 0:02:44.280 --> 0:02:48.480 as a way of doing rapid research and development on projects. 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:51.919 And in fact, the guy who is essentially UH, Sergey 0:02:51.919 --> 0:02:54.720 brinn Is, is really in charge of Google X, but 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:58.400 there are other people who oversee these projects. Their role 0:02:58.600 --> 0:03:01.120 supposedly is that they look at projects and look for 0:03:01.200 --> 0:03:03.280 reasons to kill them and says that you know, we 0:03:03.400 --> 0:03:05.679 kill projects really quickly, and you have to be able 0:03:05.720 --> 0:03:10.080 to justify your projects. That's a great work, full of 0:03:10.120 --> 0:03:12.680 worth is what we're looking for, and if it is not, 0:03:12.880 --> 0:03:16.359 then we will get rid of it. So so hypothetically, 0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:18.960 each of these balloons will will serve a ground area 0:03:19.120 --> 0:03:22.320 some forts or twenty five miles in diameter at three 0:03:22.440 --> 0:03:25.720 g ish speeds, which is not bad, especially when you're 0:03:25.760 --> 0:03:28.160 thinking about a place that has never had an Internet before. Like, 0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:32.160 you know, for anyone who's used to really fast internet, 0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:34.640 three G sounds like a major step down. For me, 0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:37.520 it sounds incredible because I remember back when I had 0:03:37.640 --> 0:03:42.760 a dial up modem. Yeah, so three G speeds is 0:03:43.560 --> 0:03:46.120 pretty fast. To go from nothing to three G is 0:03:46.600 --> 0:03:49.320 that's a that's huge, right And uh and and you 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:52.200 know we were talking about talking earlier about that cellular 0:03:52.800 --> 0:03:55.800 tower network kind of concept, and and this is like 0:03:56.320 --> 0:03:58.440 it's it's not really like a satellite system as much 0:03:58.480 --> 0:04:01.680 as like a like a cellular tower network where and 0:04:01.720 --> 0:04:04.360 the towers are moving instead of the users, right, So 0:04:04.400 --> 0:04:11.000 the towers themselves will float and they'll all float on Okay. Uh, 0:04:11.040 --> 0:04:16.960 and they will essentially change better than down here. Yeah, 0:04:16.960 --> 0:04:20.599 thank you. Yeah, yeah, there's a that's now I've got 0:04:20.960 --> 0:04:23.279 nothing but Tim Curry going through my head at this point. 0:04:23.360 --> 0:04:26.159 Thanks so much for that vision. No problem. So these 0:04:26.240 --> 0:04:30.440 loon balloons, um, they're they're set to float in the stratosphere. 0:04:31.720 --> 0:04:35.479 I need some details here, Lauren. What is the stratosphere? 0:04:35.520 --> 0:04:37.080 I mean, I hear it like I think this is 0:04:37.120 --> 0:04:40.160 going to the stratosphere. So I assume it's high opportunity, 0:04:40.320 --> 0:04:43.080 pretty high, all right, it is the second layer of 0:04:43.080 --> 0:04:46.160 the Earth's atmosphere, which is about ten to fifty kilometers 0:04:46.279 --> 0:04:49.120 a k a thirty thousand to a d ninety seven 0:04:49.160 --> 0:04:52.440 thousand feet a k a six to thirty seven miles 0:04:52.480 --> 0:04:56.280 above the surfaces. All of this is is pretty approximate 0:04:56.320 --> 0:04:59.640 and rough because you know, the it changes as the 0:04:59.640 --> 0:05:02.640 alter it is, the altitude of the ground level changing, right, 0:05:02.680 --> 0:05:05.200 so like in mountainous areas, it's different than if you're 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:08.920 at the Dead Sea or something, right, so or or 0:05:09.040 --> 0:05:11.440 Death Valley is really what I was thinking of. But anyway, 0:05:11.520 --> 0:05:14.640 so sure the Dead Sea is relatively low to yeah, yeah, 0:05:14.760 --> 0:05:16.800 you know it's it's not high up on my list 0:05:16.920 --> 0:05:20.200 at any rate. It's a good spot to locate this, 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:25.760 right because at that level, you're really floating above weather patterns. Right, 0:05:26.120 --> 0:05:28.960 most of the clouds and and and everything. All the 0:05:29.000 --> 0:05:31.840 storms and stuff are going to happen in the troposphere, 0:05:31.880 --> 0:05:34.479 which is you know where we are, So that's the 0:05:34.520 --> 0:05:37.960 stuff that's all around us. And above the stress sphere 0:05:38.120 --> 0:05:41.719 is the miso sphere, and so we've got this this 0:05:41.960 --> 0:05:45.520 region where if the balloons are traveling through this, they're 0:05:45.520 --> 0:05:48.440 going to avoid all those storms. It's also important because 0:05:48.440 --> 0:05:50.719 as I understand it. When we get to it, their 0:05:50.760 --> 0:05:53.240 power source is going to be heavily depend upon not 0:05:53.400 --> 0:05:57.120 having clouds in the way. Absolutely. Um, it's also above 0:05:57.200 --> 0:06:00.520 most birds and jet planes, so you're going to avoid 0:06:00.560 --> 0:06:04.400 interference with that stuff, right, Yeah, because most commercial jets 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:07.320 travel at around thirty five thousand feet or so, So 0:06:07.360 --> 0:06:10.000 if it's in the stratosphere at you know, a hundred 0:06:10.080 --> 0:06:12.680 thousand feet, it's well over what most commercial jets are 0:06:12.720 --> 0:06:16.000 traveling at even and a hundred thousand you're even talking 0:06:16.000 --> 0:06:21.440 about higher than most surveillance vehicles unless there's some secret 0:06:21.440 --> 0:06:22.919 ones out there that we don't know about, which is 0:06:22.960 --> 0:06:26.520 totally possible, entirely possible. I've never been to telescope that 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:28.760 way myself, so it's hard for me to say they're 0:06:28.880 --> 0:06:31.919 they're supposed to be around right around twenty kilometers or 0:06:31.960 --> 0:06:35.080 sixty six thousand feet or twelve miles above the surface, 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:37.000 so not not quite at that hundred thousand mile mark, 0:06:37.080 --> 0:06:39.880 but pretty high up, yeah, really high up. So now 0:06:39.920 --> 0:06:42.440 it is called the stratosphere, and this is important. It's 0:06:42.480 --> 0:06:46.560 not just useless weather related information because because it's stratified 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:50.479 or layered in temperature getting warmer as it goes higher. Now, 0:06:50.520 --> 0:06:54.119 the troposphere where we are gets colder as it goes higher. 0:06:54.200 --> 0:06:56.000 So this is this is a little bit of a 0:06:56.120 --> 0:07:00.400 of a difference, and thanks to that temperature temperature different creation, 0:07:00.480 --> 0:07:03.800 the layers are going to contain different currents of relatively 0:07:03.800 --> 0:07:07.560 slow winds that are going in different directions. So in 0:07:07.600 --> 0:07:11.400 other words, if you are able to control the altitude 0:07:11.560 --> 0:07:15.280 of a balloon, you would be able to change direction 0:07:15.600 --> 0:07:17.520 right to get it into those different air streams and 0:07:17.560 --> 0:07:20.120 move it around pretty much as you please. That will 0:07:20.200 --> 0:07:22.880 also come into play in a little bit. It's just 0:07:22.920 --> 0:07:26.440 a little teaser. Uh, you know it's um. It's also 0:07:26.600 --> 0:07:29.920 where the ozone layer is, right, that is correct. So 0:07:30.040 --> 0:07:32.680 this is obviously if for those of you who were 0:07:32.720 --> 0:07:34.880 around in the eighties and you remember hearing about the 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:38.520 ozone layer uh a lot every day getting destroyed by 0:07:38.560 --> 0:07:41.000 all of our hair spray. Uh. This is the layer 0:07:41.120 --> 0:07:43.200 of the atmosphere where you would find the ozone layer. 0:07:43.200 --> 0:07:45.640 By the way, that also is why you know, you 0:07:45.920 --> 0:07:48.760 hear about stuff that produces ozone and people talk about 0:07:48.800 --> 0:07:52.320 how that's bad, and you might get a mixed reaction there. 0:07:52.360 --> 0:07:54.800 You're thinking, wait, I remember the ozone layer was going 0:07:54.840 --> 0:07:56.840 away and that was bad. But now there's these other 0:07:56.880 --> 0:07:59.560 things that make ozone, and that's bad. It's because of 0:07:59.720 --> 0:08:02.360 the location of those on layers of the stratosphere. That's 0:08:02.360 --> 0:08:05.600 where it's useful for us. But ozone down here in 0:08:05.600 --> 0:08:08.600 the troposphere is bad news and not useful for us. 0:08:08.960 --> 0:08:11.600 So that's why it gets a little confusing. So yeah, 0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:13.600 so so it's a pretty elegant system. I mean, the 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:18.160 basic concept is if you launch these balloons then uh, 0:08:18.160 --> 0:08:19.840 and we will get into the construction of those in 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:21.760 just a moment. Then you can you can use these 0:08:21.760 --> 0:08:25.320 air currents to let them travel basically as they will, 0:08:25.360 --> 0:08:27.920 but in a relatively controlled manner. Right, so if it 0:08:27.960 --> 0:08:30.720 starts going too far off, you can change the altitude 0:08:30.720 --> 0:08:33.520 of the balloon using whatever control mechanism you've set up, 0:08:33.760 --> 0:08:37.079 and then that way it will drift in a different direction, 0:08:37.120 --> 0:08:39.120 hopefully back toward where you want it to go. But 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:41.559 if you were able to make a large enough network 0:08:41.600 --> 0:08:45.400 of these, then presumably you could just allow them to 0:08:45.480 --> 0:08:48.280 drift across the countryside because another one would pick up 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:52.120 the slack first one, creating a more or less continuous 0:08:52.400 --> 0:08:57.040 ring of connectivity. As also pretty amazing just imagining this 0:08:57.120 --> 0:09:01.439 ring of balloons circling the globe and slowly providing Wi 0:09:01.559 --> 0:09:05.080 Fi to everybody. So let's talk about what these things 0:09:05.120 --> 0:09:08.480 are actually made out of. So it's not like a 0:09:08.520 --> 0:09:11.920 balloon that you would find at a kid's birthday party. 0:09:12.160 --> 0:09:14.760 Not exactly. No, um, okay. So so it's going to 0:09:14.840 --> 0:09:17.720 consist of of the balloon itself is called the envelope, 0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:20.920 and that's made of sheets of um polythylene plastic, which 0:09:20.920 --> 0:09:23.120 is a really large family of plastics with a whole 0:09:23.200 --> 0:09:25.920 range of of flexibilities and other properties. It's used for 0:09:25.960 --> 0:09:30.520 everything from like filmed juice bottles, cable jacketing, car bumpers, 0:09:30.520 --> 0:09:33.440 and plastic shopping bags, which the team says, the balloons 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:36.240 are really similar to if some three times thicker. Yeah, 0:09:36.280 --> 0:09:38.360 the bags are three times thicker, I should say, because 0:09:38.400 --> 0:09:41.839 the balloon is three mill thick. Now, mill is actually 0:09:42.000 --> 0:09:45.800 a measurement here, we're talking about point zero seven six millimeters. 0:09:46.200 --> 0:09:50.920 That's how thin this envelope is. Point zero seven six millimeters. Now, 0:09:51.240 --> 0:09:55.320 that is incredibly thin. This polyethylene sheet is is very 0:09:55.480 --> 0:09:58.520 very vulnerable, So you have to be very careful when 0:09:58.559 --> 0:10:02.280 you unfolded before you inflated, obviously, because otherwise just the 0:10:02.320 --> 0:10:05.559 tiniest uh probably yeah, yeah, you end up with a 0:10:05.600 --> 0:10:08.800 big ripping it um. This, by the way, is very 0:10:08.840 --> 0:10:12.439 similar to the balloon that was used by Felix Baumgartner 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:16.600 who did his space jump, where he flew as high 0:10:16.640 --> 0:10:18.960 up as anyone had ever done in a balloon and 0:10:19.200 --> 0:10:21.839 higher in fact, and set a world record, and then 0:10:21.960 --> 0:10:24.720 jumped to all of the balloon to plummet to the 0:10:24.760 --> 0:10:29.120 Earth because that's what see people do. No, it's actually 0:10:28.679 --> 0:10:31.720 it was. It was a phenomenal I mean I watched it. 0:10:31.800 --> 0:10:34.679 I watched it from I missed the very beginning because 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:36.600 I was I remember I was out at the time, 0:10:36.600 --> 0:10:38.600 but I got home, turned it on and it was 0:10:38.640 --> 0:10:41.439 still during the earliest part of the ascent, so he 0:10:41.679 --> 0:10:45.280 he was maybe I don't know, ten tho feet up thing. 0:10:45.440 --> 0:10:49.560 It was incredible. So anyway, the balloons that they're using, 0:10:49.640 --> 0:10:52.360 or that they will use for this, they they've got 0:10:52.400 --> 0:10:54.680 a pilot program. We'll talk about the bit, but the 0:10:55.040 --> 0:10:57.600 for the full rollout. It's very similar to the balloon 0:10:57.600 --> 0:10:59.959 that Felix Baumgartner used, and in fact it's it's provided 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:02.400 by the same company. It's Raven Arrow Stars. The name 0:11:02.400 --> 0:11:07.559 of the company and uh so these incredibly thin balloons 0:11:07.920 --> 0:11:11.320 get pretty big, as I recall, yeah, about fifteen by 0:11:11.440 --> 0:11:15.360 by twelve meters tall, which is about fifty by when inflated. Yeah, 0:11:15.440 --> 0:11:18.040 and they don't get fully inflated until they've reached a 0:11:18.040 --> 0:11:20.320 certain altitude. And it's another one of those things like 0:11:20.360 --> 0:11:24.520 if you watch the Felix Baumgartner h Ascent, you saw 0:11:24.640 --> 0:11:27.559 that the shape of a balloon actually changed quite a 0:11:27.640 --> 0:11:29.840 bit as it went up. You know, it went from 0:11:30.240 --> 0:11:34.199 kind of this bulbous balloon to an elongated tear drop 0:11:34.280 --> 0:11:35.959 kind of shape. And that's more or less what these 0:11:35.960 --> 0:11:38.480 would look like once they reached the right altitude. So 0:11:38.520 --> 0:11:41.559 what is giving them the lift? That would be helium gas, 0:11:41.840 --> 0:11:44.280 good old helium. Yes, that's not a bad choice. I 0:11:44.320 --> 0:11:47.040 mean it's you know, it's hard to get ahold of 0:11:47.200 --> 0:11:49.880 comparatively speaking in the sense that we talked about how 0:11:49.920 --> 0:11:53.480 helium is one of those resources that's increasingly difficult for 0:11:53.559 --> 0:11:55.280 us to get, and we need it for lots of 0:11:55.280 --> 0:11:58.240 different stuff, including things like cooling down super colliders so 0:11:58.280 --> 0:12:02.600 that we can do you know, universe level science. But 0:12:03.360 --> 0:12:07.240 it's still I would say, preferable to something like hydrogen, 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:11.280 which can go boom. Right, Absolutely, Helium doesn't go boom. 0:12:11.320 --> 0:12:13.920 Helium will make you talk funny if you breathe it, 0:12:14.000 --> 0:12:17.640 but other it do won't make you go boom. Hypothetically, 0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:20.560 not unless something else is very very wrong. Yeah, I 0:12:20.559 --> 0:12:23.600 would say maybe if physics have somehow changed in your 0:12:23.679 --> 0:12:27.200 local area, then I suggest you find shelter. But so 0:12:27.280 --> 0:12:30.240 these these balloons, these balloons are filled with helium gas 0:12:30.280 --> 0:12:34.120 and um. They contain a pump to control the fill 0:12:34.200 --> 0:12:37.120 of the balloon UM that would allow you to make 0:12:37.160 --> 0:12:40.360 a descent if you needed to, or a further ascent. Right. 0:12:40.400 --> 0:12:42.960 So that's that's how they can control where the balloon 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:45.760 is going by using this pump to either vent out 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:49.160 or put in more helium um. It also includes a 0:12:49.200 --> 0:12:53.800 parachute in case of some kind of popping related emergency 0:12:53.800 --> 0:12:55.640 wherein you need to get the equipment back to the 0:12:55.679 --> 0:12:59.880 ground without it, yeah, or possibly smooshing someone underneath it 0:12:59.880 --> 0:13:02.680 if it's in a populated area. So that makes sense. 0:13:03.000 --> 0:13:05.480 And then what I love about this is that how 0:13:05.480 --> 0:13:08.040 do you how do you power the electronics? I mean, 0:13:08.080 --> 0:13:10.680 obviously you've got some sort of transmitter and a receiver 0:13:10.840 --> 0:13:12.600 up there. You would have to write so the receiver 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:16.400 is going to take the uh, the information that's been 0:13:16.520 --> 0:13:20.960 essentially broadcast out from the user, and then transmit the 0:13:21.200 --> 0:13:23.560 new information down to the user. And that's how you 0:13:23.600 --> 0:13:26.200 get your Internet access. But that means that you have 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:29.200 to get electricity somewhere because these things just don't run 0:13:29.240 --> 0:13:32.240 on helium, and the pump doesn't run on helium itself. 0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:34.679 It's a good point, so uh, and that would be 0:13:34.760 --> 0:13:35.959 I mean, you know, if you were doing this in 0:13:36.080 --> 0:13:39.120 Victorian times, would have a really fancy steam engine that 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:44.640 would need an enormous balloon UM. But but in this case, 0:13:44.679 --> 0:13:47.360 we're powering it with solar panels UM, just just a 0:13:47.400 --> 0:13:50.360 really thin layer UM kind of hanging in between the 0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:52.840 envelope of the balloon and the hardware that's going to 0:13:52.920 --> 0:13:55.640 hang out below and UM. In full sun, it's supposed 0:13:55.679 --> 0:13:58.920 to produce about hundred watts and so you've also got 0:13:58.960 --> 0:14:02.040 on there some battery, which makes sense because even when 0:14:02.120 --> 0:14:05.440 it's floating above the cloud line so that you're still 0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:07.560 going to get as much sun as possible, there's this 0:14:07.559 --> 0:14:11.280 thing called nighttime, right right, So so the the the 0:14:11.559 --> 0:14:14.880 box of hardware that floats or doesn't float, it's attached 0:14:14.960 --> 0:14:17.439 below the solar panels is going to contain some rechargeable 0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:21.000 batteries for that whole wacky nighttime thing. All right, and 0:14:21.040 --> 0:14:23.920 what does uh what? What? What kind of software we 0:14:23.960 --> 0:14:26.920 talking about? What's the operating system? Linux based? Linux based? 0:14:26.920 --> 0:14:28.720 Well that makes sense, I mean, so is Android really? 0:14:28.760 --> 0:14:31.720 Android is a variation of Linux, so that makes us 0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:34.640 to me. And it's got GPS on it so it 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:37.320 knows where it is, which is important because obviously you're 0:14:37.320 --> 0:14:40.840 gonna have ground teams monitoring these balloons to make sure 0:14:40.880 --> 0:14:43.440 that they're operational and that they are where they're supposed 0:14:43.440 --> 0:14:45.360 to be. And they can also send some commands to 0:14:45.400 --> 0:14:48.680 the balloons if they if needed yep, which again could 0:14:48.720 --> 0:14:51.680 be important if you need to change the altitude um 0:14:51.720 --> 0:14:55.400 and so they also have some sensors of board right right, 0:14:55.520 --> 0:15:00.080 including um air temperature monitoring and also for altitude in 0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:03.760 speed so that they can tell those operators what's going on. 0:15:03.920 --> 0:15:06.120 And temperature is a big deal because that's one of 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:08.320 those things in the stratosphere that you have to deal 0:15:08.360 --> 0:15:10.480 with it. It gets pretty chilly up there. So yeah, 0:15:10.560 --> 0:15:13.880 like like negative fifty degrees celsius, which in some I 0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:16.760 don't understand how temperature works. At those ranges, but it's 0:15:16.800 --> 0:15:20.880 only negative fifty eight degrees fahrenheit, which seems incorrect. But no, no, no, 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:22.920 it's it's when you get down to those low temperatures, 0:15:23.000 --> 0:15:25.440 they kind of they converge at one point and then 0:15:25.480 --> 0:15:27.600 they start to go apart again. I think. I think 0:15:27.640 --> 0:15:30.040 what that means is technically just really bloody cold. Yeah, 0:15:30.080 --> 0:15:32.800 it's really really cold. And but here's nice thing. Electronics 0:15:32.840 --> 0:15:36.800 work better when they're cold. Yes, there's that, um, but 0:15:36.800 --> 0:15:39.280 but also important for that air temperature is to figure 0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:42.320 out what you know, you know, if if you are 0:15:42.400 --> 0:15:45.680 for some reason not picking up what speed you're going 0:15:45.800 --> 0:15:48.000 or what direction you're going correctly, you can use that 0:15:48.040 --> 0:15:50.640 air temperature to help guide the balloon into the correct 0:15:50.640 --> 0:15:53.240 air stream. Gotcha, all right? And then you have the 0:15:53.360 --> 0:15:58.040 radio antennas themselves, the actual antennas that end up receiving 0:15:58.080 --> 0:16:03.040 and transmitting the information to the users on the ground. Um. Yeah, 0:16:03.080 --> 0:16:06.120 that's kind of interesting. I saw a picture of of 0:16:06.160 --> 0:16:08.760 the ones that were on the ground that they look 0:16:08.760 --> 0:16:11.800 a little weird. Yeah, they're they're kind of basketball shaped. 0:16:11.840 --> 0:16:14.280 And this is this is really this is a specific 0:16:14.400 --> 0:16:17.640 design point that they that they created because when you 0:16:17.680 --> 0:16:20.800 when you've got this bulbous antenna. It should hypothetically help 0:16:20.880 --> 0:16:24.040 sending capture signals between the balloons, even when the angles 0:16:24.040 --> 0:16:25.680 are very awkward, right, so you don't have to have 0:16:25.720 --> 0:16:28.480 it as directional as you would with a regular antenna. 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:31.600 So in order to launch one of these balloons, you 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:34.120 have to have a team of at least six people. 0:16:34.920 --> 0:16:37.960 So that includes a launch commander and a core nation 0:16:38.040 --> 0:16:41.240 team at mission control. I love that they have a 0:16:41.280 --> 0:16:43.360 mission control, but yeah, it takes six people to to 0:16:43.440 --> 0:16:46.960 launch one of these um So, I mean it's you know, 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:49.320 it's not something that you can fully automate. Like I said, 0:16:49.400 --> 0:16:51.760 just the fact that the balloon itself is so delicate 0:16:51.800 --> 0:16:54.800 means that you have to take great care. I remember 0:16:54.840 --> 0:16:57.920 that watching that video of of the team for Felix 0:16:57.960 --> 0:17:02.200 Baumgartner's Ascent, where they were are very carefully unrolling the 0:17:02.240 --> 0:17:06.240 balloon and everyone was being extra sensitive about it because 0:17:06.320 --> 0:17:09.200 even the smallest hair could mean disaster. The same sort 0:17:09.240 --> 0:17:11.560 of thing for these balloons. There's a lot more we 0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:13.760 have to talk about with these, and and you know 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:17.040 the things that Google is gonna have to look out for. 0:17:17.160 --> 0:17:20.320 And also I've got a fun little story about what 0:17:20.359 --> 0:17:22.800 it was like to be approached by Google to be 0:17:22.920 --> 0:17:26.639 in the initial alpha test of this technology. But before 0:17:26.640 --> 0:17:29.320 we do that, let's take a quick break and thank 0:17:29.359 --> 0:17:33.080 our sponsor. Alright, so we're back. Let's talk about some 0:17:33.200 --> 0:17:37.040 of the challenges Google faces with this program. Right. Um, So, 0:17:37.040 --> 0:17:40.160 so the stratosphere is not really the most friendly environment 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:42.920 to work and necessarily, um, the air pressure is about 0:17:42.920 --> 0:17:46.160 one percent that of sea level. Um. We talked about 0:17:46.160 --> 0:17:48.800 the temperature, talked about the temperature. It's it's it's a 0:17:48.840 --> 0:17:52.240 little bit chilly up there. And um. Also that the 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:54.239 part of the stratosphere that the balloons are working in 0:17:54.320 --> 0:17:57.440 is near the upper end of the ozone layer. UM, 0:17:57.480 --> 0:17:59.280 which means that the balloons are going to be subject 0:17:59.320 --> 0:18:02.440 to more radiation and temperature swings from the sun. Right. 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:05.840 So that means more ultra violet radiation. There's some other 0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:08.639 issues that they could potentially run into that. You know, 0:18:08.680 --> 0:18:11.280 the atmosphere protects us from a lot of that stuff, 0:18:11.600 --> 0:18:14.520 but these balloons would be much more vulnerable to it. Now, 0:18:14.520 --> 0:18:18.439 it doesn't mean that the likelihood of them failing is 0:18:18.480 --> 0:18:22.080 super high. In some cases, we're talking about events that 0:18:22.119 --> 0:18:25.120 we just can't plan for because we don't understand enough 0:18:25.160 --> 0:18:27.760 to be able to predict what would happen. But it 0:18:27.840 --> 0:18:31.960 does mean it's something that could potentially impact the project, right. 0:18:32.119 --> 0:18:33.920 It basically just means that they need to think about 0:18:33.920 --> 0:18:35.919 how to make the equipment a little bit sturdier than 0:18:35.920 --> 0:18:39.280 they than they normally would for something ground basis and 0:18:39.359 --> 0:18:42.119 which will impact the cost. And Google of course is 0:18:42.160 --> 0:18:44.439 really interested in making these as cheap as possible to 0:18:44.720 --> 0:18:47.000 be able to provide the service the service to as 0:18:47.000 --> 0:18:50.440 many people as possible. Right, So keeping it cheap and durable, 0:18:50.480 --> 0:18:52.680 those are that's a huge challenge, right because those two 0:18:52.680 --> 0:18:55.359 things don't normally go hand in hand. Cheap and uh 0:18:55.480 --> 0:18:59.160 it'll last forever not something we see very frequently. However, 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:02.640 To upsets some of those costs, they are collaborating with Noah. 0:19:02.640 --> 0:19:07.400 It's the National Ocean A Graphic and Atmospheric Administration, thank you. Um, 0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:11.399 they're in return for giving Noah's some data about the 0:19:11.400 --> 0:19:13.679 wind patterns that they're they're picking up from all of 0:19:13.680 --> 0:19:17.160 these balloons being up there. Uh, Noah is helping them 0:19:17.160 --> 0:19:20.600 out a little bit with funding and uh and oh interesting, 0:19:20.640 --> 0:19:25.360 So it's so it really is a great collaborative uh project. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 0:19:25.359 --> 0:19:27.479 they're they're also getting a little bit of information about them, 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:29.400 because of course Noah has a whole lot of weather balloons, 0:19:29.520 --> 0:19:32.119 and so they're they're getting some good info about how 0:19:32.160 --> 0:19:34.440 to construct these things. Now I've got I've got another 0:19:34.520 --> 0:19:37.080 question for you, Lauren. So if I'm understanding this correctly, 0:19:37.119 --> 0:19:39.800 we've got these balloons floating around the strass sphere. They 0:19:39.840 --> 0:19:43.000 are obviously mobile, so the stressphere will be pushing them 0:19:43.040 --> 0:19:45.240 around the winds. Even though they're moving slowly, you will 0:19:45.240 --> 0:19:48.280 still push these balloons around. Wouldn't that mean that there 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:51.560 would be the possibility occasionally that I might not have 0:19:51.640 --> 0:19:55.000 a balloon that's in range of me. Absolutely, and part 0:19:55.000 --> 0:19:56.880 of that is going to be covered by that by 0:19:56.880 --> 0:20:00.240 that bulbous antenna design. But they're also collaborated with a 0:20:00.240 --> 0:20:03.399 bunch of ground based internet service providers in order to 0:20:03.520 --> 0:20:07.480 help fill in the coverage and and create a more 0:20:07.560 --> 0:20:10.760 continuous network. Also, they're looking to get like four to 0:20:10.880 --> 0:20:14.760 five hundred balloons for a single latitude, so hopefully they 0:20:14.760 --> 0:20:18.040 would be able to to provide a pretty good coverage there. Um, 0:20:18.080 --> 0:20:21.520 But there's also some international laws to worry about. In 0:20:21.520 --> 0:20:23.880 in these are modern times, I can imagine that some 0:20:23.960 --> 0:20:29.400 countries might not be excited about Internet based things flying 0:20:29.480 --> 0:20:34.040 through their airspace. Yeah. I think anytime you are flying 0:20:34.160 --> 0:20:37.959 something over another sovereign nation's airspace and you are not 0:20:38.119 --> 0:20:41.719 part of that sovereign nation, there's already a level of 0:20:41.760 --> 0:20:44.199 trust that you are asking for that that that's a 0:20:44.240 --> 0:20:46.480 big that's a big request. And then on top of it, 0:20:46.960 --> 0:20:49.679 we're talking about a communication system that's really what the 0:20:49.720 --> 0:20:52.560 Internet is, and and something run by Google which may 0:20:52.640 --> 0:20:55.879 or may not share information with the n ESSAY and 0:20:55.920 --> 0:20:59.600 may or may not knowingly share information with the n 0:20:59.720 --> 0:21:02.560 s A. Because there's a lot of information. Ever since 0:21:02.560 --> 0:21:04.959