Kelsey D. Atherton
at 05:00 AM Jul 10 2013
Make // 

Really, why shouldn't keyboards fly? A new suitcase-size kit by Dutch artist Jasper van Loenen lets you attach four rotors to almost any object so that you can fly it like a drone.

Francie Diep
at 08:00 AM May 29 2013
Tech // 

Here's yet another way drones may find their way into domestic life. Germany's national railways company, Deutsche Bahn, plans to test drones as a deterrent to people who tag trains with graffiti, the BBC reported.

Dave Mosher
at 02:00 AM May 28 2013
Robots // 

Drones can't fetch a taco for you, but they can lift cameras into the sky and return impressive aerial video and photography. Trouble is, today's flying machines require a human pilot to manipulate their complex controls.

Kelsey D. Atherton
at 23:00 PM May 23 2013
Tech // 

Remote-controlled drones are much better at flying through smoke than human pilots: their infrared eyes can track the edge of a fire even through the thickest air. When the Forest Service asked the Federal Aviation Administration for permission to use unmanned aerial systems to monitor wildfires, the FAA said no, but offered an exemption: the Forest Service could fly the drone, so long as an operator on board another aircraft could see it at all times.

Kelsey D. Atherton
at 01:30 AM May 15 2013
Tech // 

The K-MAX optionally-manned helicopter is a powerful battlefield work horse. Over the past 16 months, two (yes, just two) K-MAX drones delivered 1.45 millionkg of cargo to Marines in Afghanistan. This is simultaneously more like the future and less revolutionary than headlines about pizza-delivery drones would suggest. By 2020, the Federal Aviation Administration predicts there will be 15,000 civil and commercial drones flying over the US, doing jobs like transporting cargo and inspecting pipelines.

Kelsey D. Atherton
at 08:45 AM Feb 16 2013
Tech // 

"One of my constituents built a 9-foot flying wing and sends me pictures of my house when he flies over," Representative David Schweikert (R-AZ) said wryly in a Congressional hearing today on how to regulate drones when they are granted expanded access to American airspace in 2015. It was almost the last statement in the hearing - held by the Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) before the House Science, Space and Technology oversight subcommittee on unmanned aerial systems (the committee's preferred terminology for drones) - and it captured a few important points about the current state of drone law, and, perhaps, where it's headed.

Kelsey D. Atherton
at 04:00 AM Feb 13 2013
Tech // 

A couple days ago, news broke in British tabloid the Daily Express that a drone was being used to track fugitive and alleged cop killer Christopher Dorner. The headline, amplified by a (since corrected) pickup from MSN, claimed that Dorner is "the first drone target on U.S. soil," and quickly spread to Global Post, the Blaze, and Gizmodo. It even inspired a speculative Op-ed in the the Guardian.

 
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