Inspired by this:

“The objective of the Vulture program is to develop an aircraft capable of remaining on-station uninterrupted for over five years…”

Not sure why my brain tracked towards the climate change stuff so quickly. I guess the science side of things is a lot more interesting. Even though the Vulture program is being managed by DARPA I can only assume that (like satellites) the tech will be used for other purposes before long, and really, the military has a fairly restrained set of desired outcomes.

I can imagine one day these could become launchable by hobbyists, like the amateur rocketry scene but probably more achievable. Even more so when such things stop being “remote control” and start being autonomous. So it’d be like LEGO Mindstorms, but with the ability to float anywhere on earth, performing any task, really.

Could be a proliferation concern, but more likely to lead to distributed networks, like the XO (OLPC) Laptop. A string of them could be launched from Europe to cover net access to Africa. One plane-router circling above every village & linking back to the motherplane and eventually ground station. A bit like mesh networking, or “let your neighbours use your wireless”, gone a step or two further.

I’m not sure if I’ve seen much about weather manipulation, but it’s rather fun to consider. It seems that it could be better done from in the air itself than beaming stuff into the sky.

With the weather thing, I suppose if they could control/create lightning, maybe they could zap themselves to charge their batteries…

As for the transport submap, well, I like bulk transport. Something about this huge silent invisible network, trundling along in the background, enabling everyone’s modern life without most of us thinking about it, is fascinating. Such a huge industry, with such direct influence on the economy (and, therefore, daily life) of every country simultaneously… How do we not think about that?