LTA Research, the Sergey Brin-backed startup, took the wraps off its prototype electric airship — the largest aircraft in the world — right in the heart of Silicon Valley. As contributor Mark Harris wrote, the airship its snow-white steampunk profile visible from the busy 101 highway has taken drone technology such as fly-by-wire controls, electric motors and lidar sensing, and supersized them to something longer than three Boeing 737s, potentially able to carry tons of cargo over many hundreds of miles.