WHO needs wires? An idea for sending power over long distances via lasers and balloonsMovie Camera could help provide emergency power where it is needed. Stephen Blank of the New York Institute of Technology wants to use aerostats, military-grade balloons, to send hundreds of kilowatts of power over several hundred kilometres. A laser would be sent up to the aerostat through a fibre-optic cable, then beamed through the air to a distant aerostat where the high-energy light is converted into electricity, which streams back down to earth via a tether