1. James Bridle is flying a balloon over London this summer.
"This summer, artist and writer James Bridle is flying a balloon from the roof of Bold Tendencies, a multi-storey car park and art space in Peckham, South London. Attached to the balloon will be a variety of payloads, from darknet routers to aerial cameras, with the results of its experiments shared publicly and online... James will be writing a series of letters from the balloon over the course of the summer, telling its stories and exploring its findings."
2. A Google Loon balloon crashed into some power lines near Yakima, Washington.
"The balloon crashed about 1 a.m. and, according to a Pacific Power spokesman, the remains of the balloon were cleared away from the site by 6 a.m. He did not know if or when Google employees had arrived at the scene. This balloon was apparently part of the company’s efforts to improve the technology, which it believes could eventually broadcast wireless Internet signals in remote places."
"Standing beneath a 52-foot-long tethered balloon on Thursday in Penitas, the Border Patrol’s Rio Grande Valley sector Chief Rosendo Hinojosa said the blimp-shaped aerostat would help intercept smuggling along the busiest section of the Southwest border... During a similar demonstration last year, an aerostat tethered 2,500 feet above the ground easily made out the make, model and color of vehicles a couple of miles away. Their infrared cameras are controlled by operators inside computer-filled shipping containers near where the balloons are anchored. Many of the devices were previously used in Iraq and Afghanistan to provide security around bases."
