Google X's balloon internet suddenly looks a lot more plausible

Internet access is increasingly being recognized as a necessity like food, water, and shelter -- and Google doesn't want to leave anybody out. Before leaving office, President Barack Obama supported the notion that the internet should be easily accesible, while Canada's government went as far as officially declaring broadband connections "necessary to the quality of life" of its citizens. SEE ALSO: Google's Waymo self-driving platform shows big improvements That's why Google has been hard at work on a project to connect people living in underserved rural and remote regions with the rest of the world online. Project Loon, which first launched in 2013 as part of the Google X (now just X), has been sending smart balloons up into the stratosphere for four years now with the aim of creating a floating, balloon-powered LTE network. Today, Project Loon's top brass announced a major breakthrough.