Google is taking to the air. The online giant has announced plans to test a network of stratosphere-wandering balloons intended to provide Internet access to the two-thirds of humanity who still can't log on to the web.
The solar-powered balloons transmit signals to each other high in the sky, signals which eventually find their way to a user's "Internet antenna" on the Earth below. The balloons simply drift with the winds--algorithms help the balloons rise or fall into the wind pattern that will take them where they need to go.
Google即將邁向空中。這位線上巨人宣布，他們會測試一個網絡，由在平流層中漫遊的氣球組成，讓三分之二還無法上網的人口獲得網路連接。這些由太陽能提供動力的氣球會在高空中互相傳輸信號，信號則會找到地球上使用者的”網路天線”。氣球其實就是隨風飄流—電腦演算法讓它們上升或下降，以隨著對的風向行進。

Worried about balloon-airplane ^(A)collisions? They're not ⁽¹⁾terribly likely, given that Google's Loon Balloons will travel ⁽²⁾far higher than most other air traffic.
擔心氣球和飛機相撞嗎? 這幾乎不可能，因為Google的氣球飛行高度遠高於其他空中交通工具。

If it works, how can this kind of technology potentially change life on Earth? The sky's the limit. A 2011 study found that whenever a nation doubles its ^(B)broadband speed, economic output increases by 0.3%. Imagine the impact on a developing country, if a high percentage of its citizens were quickly able to go from no-Internet access to full-Internet access without having to first build physical ^(C)infrastructures for Internet connectivity on the ground. 
如果真的成功，這樣的科技可能怎樣改變世界? 一份2011年的研究發現，當一個國家的寬頻速度加倍，經濟輸出會提升千分之三。想像一下，不需要在地面上打造網路連接的實體基礎建設，就有高比例的國民從完全沒有網路快速轉變成可以完整存取網路，這對一個開發中國家會有什麼樣的影響。

More access to the Internet in the developing world has the potential to open up new online markets for business, fuel technological innovation, educate more people, and help empower women and the poor. Of course, mobile Internet access has been spreading across the world--but think of all the things you can't do as easily on a tiny mobile device as you can on a tablet or low-end laptop, like apply for a job or write a business plan. Though the rise of the smartphone is often ⁽³⁾hailed as a great democratizer, there are definite drawbacks to mobile-only Internet access across the world.
在開發中世界，更多網路連結有可能打開線上商務市場，激發科技創新，教育更多人，幫助賦予女性和窮人權利。當然，行動網路已經在全世界擴散，但是想想看，很多事情在很小的行動裝置上難以進行，而一台平板電腦或低階筆記型電腦就可以做到，像是找工作或是寫一份商業計畫。儘管智慧型手機的興起常被讚譽為民主的推手，但是只能行動上網還是有明顯的不利之處。

For Google, the benefits are invaluable--and obvious. The more people on Earth who have access to the Internet, the more people who can make use of Google's online products--and be exposed to its vast advertising network. This certainly isn't Google's only attempt to connect more people to the web--for example, last year the company launched Google Fiber, its fiber-optic superfast broadband network in the American Midwest.
對Google而言，好處是無價的，也顯而易見。世界上越多人能夠上網，就越多人會使用Google的線上產品，並且接觸到它龐大的廣告網絡。這並不是Google第一次嘗試讓更多人連上網路，例如去年他們就在美國中西部發起Google Fiber，超高速光纖寬頻網路。

Project Loon started in June 2013 with an experimental pilot in New Zealand. 
Project Loon於2013年6月開始在紐西蘭進行飛行測試。