Bruce Crumley

A Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) drone has shot video revealing the massive scope of destruction by a mudslide to a section of the I-70 freeway west of Denver. Officials believe the stretch of roadway – a critical artery for Coloradans and entire the economy of the western US – may be kept closed for repairs for several weeks.

Researchers in the Czech Republic have developed a way to make uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV) more effective in monitoring large groups of people. To achieve that, scientists are making drones smarter by linking them to neural networks that detect when crowds under surveillance show signs indicating trouble.

DHL, the world’s leading logistics service provider, has taken another step toward its goal of reaching emission neutrality by 2050. This week its DHL Express unit announced it has begun assembly of an electric freight network with the acquisition of 12 battery-powered aircraft from Seattle-based Eviation.

Frequent mention of even critical problems can cause them to blur into abstract notions in the human mind – a mental phenomenon often cured by perspective-restoring visual aids. That’s exactly what one drone pilot offered this week with his video laying bare just how grave California’s drought is.

German electric take-off and landing (eTVOL) craft manufacturer Lilium has announced an expansion of its global advanced air mobility activities (AAM) to Brazil through a partnership with local airline Azul. The agreement calls for Azul to buy and operate Lilium eTVOL planes in a deal valued at $1 billion.

That US pro golfer Tony Finau has really astonishing control while taking a shot will not come as much of a surprise. What may be bit less expected, by contrast, is discovering his incredible golfing touch extends beyond just sinking balls to chipping divots capable of taking out any drones hovering nearby.

Wildfires continue raging across the western regions of the US and Canada – accompanied by reminders from authorities to drone enthusiasts to steer clear of all blazes. But one Canadian company believes it can assist the urgent efforts to extinguish them by doing just the opposite: flying its drones into the heat of the action to battle fires.

Wouldn’t it be great to power an extended drone flight with your microwave? Well forget it, because it’s never going to happen. But researchers have made progress in clinical efforts to use microwave beams to keep a drone temporarily aloft.

The population of golden eagles in Utah and across western US states is in decline, and a team of drone-flying humans is endeavoring to learn why that is. The effort particularly seeks to comprehend the reasons behind rising death rates among younger birds of the species.

Tech disruption? More like révolution! Tests currently underway using mildew-battling agents seek legal changes allowing drones to spray wine-producing grapes in France’s cherished vineyards.

A drone pilot in Canada recorded uplifting video footage Saturday of officials freeing a young gray whale that had been tangled in fishing nets. The effort to liberate the 26-foot mammal spanned several days up to the moment, which was captured by the hovering drone, that the majestic creature shook off the binds and swam away.

Saudi Arabia is seeking to establish itself as a global center of new drone technology by focusing on development of heavy-lift drone design, production, and operation. The push is being led by the country’s Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR), in partnership with the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Wildlife enthusiast and photographer Chris Paparo has shot some outstanding footage over the years. But he may have reached his eye-popping peak with a drone video of blacktip sharks feeding amid an enormous pack of Atlantic menhaden off Long Island last month. Yet as visually spectacular as those shots are, Paparo says they’re even more significant in carrying urgent warnings about global warming.

Alas, yet another report has come down of a close call between a passenger plane and an illegally operated uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) – this time from Scotland. The near-miss incident involved a drone coming within 100 feet of a commercial airliner during its approach to Glasgow’s Paisley Airport – and at night to boot.

Chronically water-poor United Arab Emirates has been investing millions in recent years into technology capable of squeezing moisture from otherwise parsimonious clouds overhead. Now, desperate for a respite from brutal heat baking the nation this summer, the UAE has again deployed its drone-based rain-making tech to provoke downpours over Dubai.

Canadian entrepreneur Nation North is only 11 years old, but don’t insult his intelligence or business ambitions with suggestions that he wash cars or run a lemonade stand to get started. Ontario’s next tycoon has already raised his own seed funding and launched a savvy promotion to generate clients for his new drone photography and video company.

Huge clouds of dust engulfed the Phoenix Metropolitan Area this week – a consequence of monsoon season’s arrival without the rain that drought-plagued Arizona usually expects from the storms. A drone flown in one Phoenix suburb filmed video of the eerie gray mass as winds blew the dust clouds over the city.

Aircraft platform operator Malaysia Airports has announced its link-up with urban air mobility (UAM) heavyweights Volocopter and Skyports to organize and develop infrastructure and services for the country’s future electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) air taxi activities.

Extremely rare and dramatic footage has surfaced this week of a massive landslip filmed from on high. In it, drone-shot video above the Bingham Canyon mine in Utah captures the enormous landslide from its very beginning right through to the end.

Intel has generated a great deal of well-deserved praise for the performance of its uncrewed aerial vehicles during the light show for the Tokyo Games’ opening ceremonies. But Intel has been using its drones and powerful tech applications in other ways that are enhancing the Summer Olympics experience.

Electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle company Joby Aero announced it has passed an impressive milestone in the continuing development of advanced air mobility. California-based Joby says a prototype of its eVTOL craft traveled over 150 miles on a single battery charge – a flight it claims to be the longest of its kind.