A Twitter roundup from the world of drones

We noted a couple of pretty interesting drone-related Tweets. Then we saw another. And then we thought: Let’s do a quick round-up.

Not a day goes by when we don’t see something of interest on Twitter. Maybe it’s our ADHD nature, but the platform is great for a quick hit of news, entertainment, trends – and even snark. Of course, we also keep our eye out (just one of them) for news from the world of drones. A few caught our attention today.

So we’re going to share them with you.

An optical illusion

First up? A clip that originates from Salar de Uyuni, the world’s largest salt flats. Located in southwest Bolivia, it’s an otherworldly place. And it’s even more unusual once you get a thin layer of water and a drone involved. Throw in some clouds and a slow orbit on a walking subject, and you get – well, this:

Wingcopter and COVID-19

Next up, we have a bit of news from Wingcopter. The company is riding high following a recent $22 million raise – and we’re happy to see is still focused on #DronesForGood. It’s exploring, according to this report, distributing COVID-19 vaccines to rural areas. With its excellent range and payload capacity, this looks like a good fit:

More on drones and COVID-19

There was a related Tweet from @CNBC, which noted that Zipline will also be involved in the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. The company already has a proven track record in the field, having delivered about 1 million doses of other vaccines.

In fact, the company had just signed a deal for distribution with Nigeria’s Kaduna state. And there was a Tweet about that, as well:

Ka-ching…

In other drone news, DroneDeploy today announced it had raised $50 million in a Series E round. That’s big news, and the company was (obviously) happy to share it through a news release and RT:

Weather forecasting…

The South Florida Sun Sentinel also had a bit of news: Drones may soon be heading deep into the heart of hurricanes to help produce more accurate data and assist with forecasting. We’re guessing these are one-use-only:

Birds of a feather…

And finally, we’ll wrap up with a little still image. David Piano, a photographer, storm chaser, and Flight Service Specialist, happened to be flying a drone to grab an early morning beauty shot. He captured something beautiful, for sure, but it was pretty unexpected: A peregrine falcon!

We’re pleased to report that no falcons – and no drones – were harmed in this close encounter.