Skip to main content
Donate

Straight Blimpin' -- M&A's 'Cloud Line'

By Jeremy Rosenberg
August 27, 2010
Support Provided By
goodyearblimp.jpg

Jenna Didier and Oliver Hess of Materials & Applications are the subjects of a Q&A on the Big City Forum blog.BCF inquisitor Anais Wade asks the duo to name "one feature idea that expresses your work." Hess responds:

"There's one I think more about these days: the Cloud Line idea.... We were asked to submit ideas for the future of LA transit. I got fixated on the idea of blimps tethered to a cable system that goes along the Hollywood Hills from the Dodger Stadium out to [Santa Monica] cliffs. And there's stops along the way where you can get out and travel down the hill on buses and bikes. It creates clouds in LA because we don't really have weather. My friend who's an airship designer said it's very difficult, but the idea continues to move forward."

Related: Archival Straight Blimpin' story.

Tangential: Personal Rapid Transit ideas and prototypes.

Vital: JPL's "Send in the Clouds."

Photo copyright and courtesy Jeremy Rosenberg

Support Provided By
Read More
Gray industrial towers and stacks rise up from behind the pitched roofs of warehouse buildings against a gray-blue sky, with a row of yellow-gold barrels with black lids lined up in the foreground to the right of a portable toilet.

California Isn't on Track To Meet Its Climate Change Mandates. It's Not Even Close.

According to the annual California Green Innovation Index released by Next 10 last week, California is off track from meeting its climate goals for the year 2030, as well as reaching carbon neutrality by 2045.
By Alejandro Lazo, CalMatters
A row of cows stands in individual cages along a line of light-colored enclosures, placed along a dirt path under a blue sky dotted with white puffy clouds.

A Battle Is Underway Over California’s Lucrative Dairy Biogas Market

California is considering changes to a program that has incentivized dairy biogas, to transform methane emissions into a source of natural gas. Neighbors are pushing for an end to the subsidies because of its impact on air quality and possible water pollution.
By Emma Foehringer Merchant, Inside Climate News
A Black woman with long, black brains wears a black Chicago Bulls windbreaker jacket with red and white stripes as she stands at the top of a short staircase in a housing complex and rests her left hand on the metal railing. She smiles slightly while looking directly at the camera.

Los Angeles County Is Testing AI's Ability To Prevent Homelessness

In order to prevent people from becoming homeless before it happens, Los Angeles County officials are using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to predict who in the county is most likely to lose their housing. They would then step in to help those people with their rent, utility bills, car payments and more so they don't become unhoused.
By Marisa Kendall, CalMatters