5 ms·

Without any context on the page, my first impression is this is presented as a tool for people to validate certain theories such as "could a balloon released fr

Without any context on the page, my first impression is this is presented as a tool for people to validate certain theories such as "could a balloon released from china at some recent time and date have actually blown into the US?" As other comments have pointed out, the lack of ability to test with different altitudes makes the tool unfit for that purpose. That leaves an open question of what the creator is hoping people will see in this. Is it a game or toy? Is it a technical experiment? Is it art? Does the maker not care what it is to us? (but, still, I'm curious what it is to the maker)

zoklet-enjoyer 4y ago
It's fun and stimulates the imagination
ClumsyPilot 4y ago
definately modern art. The question is the purpose
aeturnum 4y ago
Certainly one can think of obvious improvements - which I generally think is a sign that a tool has a lot of potential. I would put it somewhere between art and educational tool: I hadn't really thought that much about how far a balloon could drift in a given time period and this did kind of make me realize that they move pretty "fast" - around the world in 80 days? How about 80 hours. Sometimes you just have time to make a think that has the potential to provoke further discussion and interest - which seems like what happened here.
sfcarrot 4y ago
It is what you believe it to be (most of the time politically). People use it prove the theory. Other people use it to disprove. I can only see the fun with technicality on using the real data to simulate this.
itslennysfault 4y ago
Also, they said the balloon had "limited steering capability" which I assume means it could nudge itself in a direction or at least adjust it's altitude.
- UncleOxidant 4y ago
  Yeah, there's no way to adjust altitude with this simulation. It apparently assumes that it reaches some (unspecified ) altitude and just stays there?
- shagie 4y ago
  Look at https://www.aviationweather.gov/windtemp https://www.aviationweather.gov/windtemp with the levels on the side for different altitude. It is possible for the balloon to change its altitude and then pick up different wind directions and velocities. https://x.company/projects/loon/ https://x.company/projects/loon/ > To identify helpful wind patterns, Loon used advanced predictive models to create interactive maps of the skies. These maps allowed the team to determine the wind speed and direction at specific altitudes, times, and locations. The team then developed smart algorithms to help determine the most effective flight paths through the varying wind layers. With the aid of these algorithms, the balloons could accurately sail the winds over thousands of kilometers to reach a desired location and remain clustered around those destinations in order to deliver consistent connectivity below. And https://x.company/blog/posts/drifting-efficiently-through-the-stratosphere-using-deep-reinforcement-learning/ https://x.company/blog/posts/drifting-efficiently-through-th... gets into it more.
  - Aperocky 4y ago
    > It is possible for the balloon to change its altitude and then pick up different wind directions and velocities. I've tried multiple different levels from 090 to 520, and it seems the deviation within level is extremely minimal. i.e. maybe a difference between 70deg and 75deg, but if it's going in the general direction of east, there's not an altitude to turn around or even sidetrack.
    - shagie 4y ago
      That's today with today's weather patterns, and you're only up to 52,000 feet. The spy balloon was working in the altitudes of 60,000 to 120,000. Look at +6 hours at GPI (Glacier Park in Montana). At 34,000 its easterly at 24,000 its westerly.
kilgnad 4y ago
You don't need a simulation. This has been done successfully from Japan with bombs hitched to it. People were killed. https://www.damninteresting.com/curio/ww2-japans-balloon-bombs/ https://www.damninteresting.com/curio/ww2-japans-balloon-bom... The key is to use high altitude balloons to catch the Jetstream and a system of timed weights for release.
- rickyallan 4y ago
  [flagged]
  - 1317 4y ago
    no, not really
    - rickyallan 4y ago
      Nice , nice to get this information out. Nice ,nice people are finding something useful. Don’t be one of them ppl .. change your mindset
- jerkstate 4y ago
  From the article: > The news media cooperated with the military Same as it ever was.
scyzoryk_xyz 4y ago
Can’t give an answer but my thought here is that this thing probably would like to be swept up before the news cycle turns and balloons aren’t a thing anymore. Looks and feels like something put together in a bit of a hurry (which is perfectly fine)
cratermoon 4y ago
Never ask a geek, "why?", just nod your head and back away slowly.
- daveslash 4y ago
  "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to consider if they _should_ ~ Dr. Ian Malcom, 1993.

zoklet-enjoyer 4y ago

It's fun and stimulates the imagination

ClumsyPilot 4y ago

definately modern art. The question is the purpose

aeturnum 4y ago

Certainly one can think of obvious improvements - which I generally think is a sign that a tool has a lot of potential. I would put it somewhere between art and educational tool: I hadn't really thought that much about how far a balloon could drift in a given time period and this did kind of make me realize that they move pretty "fast" - around the world in 80 days? How about 80 hours. Sometimes you just have time to make a think that has the potential to provoke further discussion and interest - which seems like what happened here.

sfcarrot 4y ago

It is what you believe it to be (most of the time politically). People use it prove the theory. Other people use it to disprove. I can only see the fun with technicality on using the real data to simulate this.

itslennysfault 4y ago

Also, they said the balloon had "limited steering capability" which I assume means it could nudge itself in a direction or at least adjust it's altitude.

UncleOxidant 4y ago
Yeah, there's no way to adjust altitude with this simulation. It apparently assumes that it reaches some (unspecified ) altitude and just stays there?
shagie 4y ago
Look at https://www.aviationweather.gov/windtemp https://www.aviationweather.gov/windtemp with the levels on the side for different altitude. It is possible for the balloon to change its altitude and then pick up different wind directions and velocities. https://x.company/projects/loon/ https://x.company/projects/loon/ > To identify helpful wind patterns, Loon used advanced predictive models to create interactive maps of the skies. These maps allowed the team to determine the wind speed and direction at specific altitudes, times, and locations. The team then developed smart algorithms to help determine the most effective flight paths through the varying wind layers. With the aid of these algorithms, the balloons could accurately sail the winds over thousands of kilometers to reach a desired location and remain clustered around those destinations in order to deliver consistent connectivity below. And https://x.company/blog/posts/drifting-efficiently-through-the-stratosphere-using-deep-reinforcement-learning/ https://x.company/blog/posts/drifting-efficiently-through-th... gets into it more.
- Aperocky 4y ago
  > It is possible for the balloon to change its altitude and then pick up different wind directions and velocities. I've tried multiple different levels from 090 to 520, and it seems the deviation within level is extremely minimal. i.e. maybe a difference between 70deg and 75deg, but if it's going in the general direction of east, there's not an altitude to turn around or even sidetrack.
  - shagie 4y ago
    That's today with today's weather patterns, and you're only up to 52,000 feet. The spy balloon was working in the altitudes of 60,000 to 120,000. Look at +6 hours at GPI (Glacier Park in Montana). At 34,000 its easterly at 24,000 its westerly.

kilgnad 4y ago

You don't need a simulation. This has been done successfully from Japan with bombs hitched to it. People were killed. https://www.damninteresting.com/curio/ww2-japans-balloon-bombs/ https://www.damninteresting.com/curio/ww2-japans-balloon-bom... The key is to use high altitude balloons to catch the Jetstream and a system of timed weights for release.

rickyallan 4y ago
[flagged]
- 1317 4y ago
  no, not really
  - rickyallan 4y ago
    Nice , nice to get this information out. Nice ,nice people are finding something useful. Don’t be one of them ppl .. change your mindset
jerkstate 4y ago
From the article: > The news media cooperated with the military Same as it ever was.

scyzoryk_xyz 4y ago

Can’t give an answer but my thought here is that this thing probably would like to be swept up before the news cycle turns and balloons aren’t a thing anymore. Looks and feels like something put together in a bit of a hurry (which is perfectly fine)

cratermoon 4y ago

Never ask a geek, "why?", just nod your head and back away slowly.

daveslash 4y ago
"Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to consider if they _should_ ~ Dr. Ian Malcom, 1993.