Report: Wing on Google’s Drone Failed, Caused Crash
A massive drone Google was testing as part of a project to provide Internet service with unmanned aircraft instead of satellites crashed after it encountered an updraft and one of its wings failed, U.S. accident investigators have concluded. The Solara 50 had just lifted off from a remote, desert landing strip in New Mexico on May 1 when it began experiencing control problems, according to a report by the National Transportation...
Technologies That Can Change the World
To the average person, it may seem that the biggest technology advances of 2015 were the larger smartphone screens and small app updates. But a lot more happened than that. A broad range of technologies reached a tipping point, from cool science projects or objects of convenience for the rich, to inventions that will transform humanity. We haven’t seen anything of this magnitude since the invention of the printing press in the 1400s....
Drone Racing Could Become the Next Big Sport
Imagine careening through the forest chasing Stormtroopers on speeder bikes as Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia did in a famous scene from Star Wars, flying around trees and ducking under branches. A group of drone operators created that sensation for Internet viewers when they recently raced their camera-equipped robotic quadcopters through a forest. The video went viral. It is that virtual reality experience of sitting inside the...
FAA Says Drone Sightings Double
Washington — Pilot reports of drone sightings so far this year are more than double last year, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, raising concern about the potential for a deadly collision. There have been more than 650 reports this year by pilots of unmanned aircraft flying near manned aircraft, the FAA said in a statement. There were 238 drone sightings in all of 2014. The reports come from pilots of a variety of...
Generating a Lot of Buzz
Berkeley, Calif. — As the largest American maker of consumer drones, 3D Robotics Inc. sees big opportunities in selling mini-helicopters with cameras, sensors and whirling propellers that buzz like angry hornets. The Berkeley company expects to sell thousands of the pizza-sized drones — for about $1,000 each — at home and abroad this year. Tech-savvy customers want them for capturing wave-shredding surfing runs in the Pacific,...
