le economic limits by demands for long distance communications.
It is difficult to see how transoceanic television will otherwise be
possible when it is realized that there is presently a capacity of less
than 100 telephone channels across the Atlantic and a single television
channel is equivalent in band width to 1,000 telephone channels. It
appears that a system utilizing satellites is the most promising
solution to this problem.[56]

More esoteric communications systems may also arise from space research.

In some future year when a cruising space vehicle communicates with
another space vehicle or its orbiting station, it may use a beam of
light instead of conventional radio. Not that radio will be
inoperative under the airless conditions of space--rather the
reverse--but there is reason to believe that communication by
sunlight not only will be cheaper but will entail carrying much
simpler and lighter equipment for certain specialized space
applications. (The Air Force) is developing an experimental system
that will collect sun rays, run them through a modulator, direct
the resultant light wave in a controlled beam to a receiver. There
the wave will be put through a detector, transposed into an
electrical impulse and be amplified to a speaker. Depending on the
type of modulator used, either the digital (dot-dash) message or a
voice message can be sent.[57]

Might not such a system find practical usage on Earth, particularly in
sunny, arid lands?

WEATHER PREDICTION AND MODIFICATION

Meteorological satellites should make possible weather observations over
the entire globe. Today, only 20 percent of the globe is covered by any
regular observational and reporting systems. If we can solve the
problems of handling the vast amounts of data that will be received,
develop methods for timely analysis of the data and the notification of
weather bureaus throughout the world, we should be able to improve by a
significant degree the accuracy of weather predictions. An improvement
of only 10 percent in accuracy could result in savings totaling hundreds
of millions of dollars annually to farmers, builders, airlines,
shipping, the tourist trade, and many other enterprises.

Perhaps even greater savings will come from warning systems devised for
hurricanes and tornadoes.

The slight knowledge which humans actually have of weather forces can be
seen from