Last year we told you about Magenn's floating wind turbines— you know, the ones that look like Macy's Thanksgiving balloons. At that point, there were plenty of concept images, but no real life helium-filled Magenn Power Air Rotor System (MARS). Last month, however, Magenn began testing a prototype for the first time. Initial experiments are taking place in an airship hanger in North Carolina, but Magenn hopes to move the "rotating airship" into the open air for testing soon, and to deploy working models by next year.

MARS balloons will float higher than normal wind turbines, so will be able to generate power above the tree line and in places that don't have regular gusts. The idea does seem a little far fetched, but who knows? Maybe within twenty years all cities will have rotating airships floating hundreds of feet above their skyscrapers.

Magenn, via Treehugger