Lockheed Had The Skunk Works, And Google Has The Google X Laboratory...It All Sounds Like Area 51 Stuff

As most of us already know, Google is far more than a mega-Internet search giant. Their Google X Laboratory researches hundreds of product ideas every year, but it looks like James Bond, Agent 007, will have to wait a little longer for this one.

Apparently, one of many products on the table was a jet pack, according to a report on the c/net website. We guess it would’ve been something like seen on the Jetsons or in the Buck Rogers comics.The report said that the head of the Google X Laboratory, Astro Teller, claims that Google had considered producing a jet pack that “wasn’t a death trap.” However, it appears that part of the Google X Laboratory mandate is to produce something that is practical. The jet pack didn’t pass muster.

The report said that Teller, known as Google X’s “Captain of moon shots,” said that they will cancel hundreds of projects each year because it’s better to kill a project early rather than late into the development of the project. Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin were quoted by C|Net online as saying, “[We] focus more on not letting things get fully birthed that don't make sense.” (Could this be a good concept for government?).

By the way, don’t confuse the Google X Laboratory with the Google Lunar X Prize project; they’re not the same.

FMI: www.research.google.com