By Nick Perry and Martha Mendoza | Associated Press | Jun 15, 2013
| Wrinkled and skinny at first, the translucent, jellyfish- | shaped balloons that Google released this week from a frozen | field in the heart of New Zealand's South Island hardened into | shiny pumpkins as they rose into the blue winter skies above | Lake Tekapo, passing the first big test of a lofty goal to get | the entire planet online. | | It was the culmination of 18 months' work on what Google calls | Project Loon, in recognition of how wacky the idea may sound. | Developed in the secretive X lab that came up with a | driverless car and web-surfing eyeglasses, the flimsy helium- | filled inflatables beam the Internet down to earth as they | sail past on the wind.
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Neal McLain