David MacQuarrie

Drowsy night security guards had better keep a look over their shoulders. A new indoor security drone may have its sights on replacing them on the midnight shift.

The Israeli startup Indoor Robotics has designed a quadcopter drone it calls Tando to keep an eye on companies once the employees have gone home for the day.

Intel hopes its new, cutting-edge 21^st technology will make drones at least as smart as bugs, maybe even birds.

Intel envisions biological drones.

The company is installing its new Loihi chips into drones, hoping to give them capabilities approaching animals.

The Ontario Provincial Police released drone video of a dramatic rescue after two fishermen fell through the ice on a lake near Ottawa, Ontario, last week.

The two-minute video appears to show one man pulled from the icy water just in time.

Let’s start the New Year with some real stomach-turning FPV visuals from a Denver pilot who builds his own drones. Will Strathmann’s work recently aired on a FOX TV program featuring the local man’s work. And it’s daredevil piloting that’s too good not to share.

The new drones the British Army just purchased may look quite similar to hobby drones. But the similarity ends when it comes to cost. Her Majesty’s military has bought a very pricey set of drones.

Ask any soldier what they think about fighting in cities, and they’ll tell you they don’t care for it. Too many hiding places, too many civilians, too many dangers. But if an Israeli company succeeds with its new strategy of using drones to fight urban warfare, it may be the defenders who “don’t care for it.”

Exactly what do you have to do as a drone pilot to anger the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration so much it proposes a $182,000 fine?

Quite a lot.

We’ve seen a lot of stories this year on how useful drones are at firefighting. But in central China, a drone has been converted into a literal firefighter — a flamethrowing drone torching hornet nests.

Investigating a car accident on the highway is time-consuming and dangerous for police officers when it’s done on foot, with a measuring tape and a camera. With a drone investigating car crashes, however, the time and danger almost disappear. And they may even save police officers’ lives.

The basketball superstar almost as well known for his shoes as his athletic abilities has a new Air Jordan to boast about: Drones deliver drinks and food at Michael Jordan’s golf course.

The hobby drone industry has really converged on the quadcopter as its go-to design. But just like birds, drones continue to evolve from their lumbering ancestors. Could evolution have taken a different path? What’s better than four propellers?

How about just one?

Wall Street is taking advantage of “outsider information.” It’s flying drones to help clients get a better idea of the companies they’re interested in bidding on.

According to NBC News, Goldman Sachs is just one of a number of investment banks touring ports, railroads, warehouses, and big-box retail locations with drones to help buyers look for new things to acquire.

Researchers at UNSW Canberra in Australia believe they have cracked one of the secrets that allow the ungainly bumblebee to fly so dexterously. And they think that may have an application to the next generation of drones.

Bumblebees apparently have a keen sense of their own size. And that allows them to fly through complex and cluttered environments without crashing or wrecking their delicate wings. It’s a possible learning moment for an autonomous drone.

Thanks to COVID-19, not only is the 2020 Masters Golf Tournament late this year, there’s no polite applause from spectators — because there are no spectators.

Nevertheless, fans are seeing the game in a way they’ve never seen it before: from a golf ball’s perspective, thanks to drones.

The 1960s animated cartoon series The Jetsons is best remembered for its depiction of a future that just never seems to get any closer (apart from video phones). And nothing about this future is more lamented than the prolonged absence of George Jetson’s flying electric car.

The bad news: There are still no flying electric cars. The good news: Florida is building a place to park them.

Drone pilots don’t need to be told about the wonders of electric flight.  But Scientific American believes electric aviation for passengers may be here sooner than we think as the industry struggles to decarbonize.

It’s one of the top ten emerging technologies the magazine highlights in its most recent issue.

This month, mysterious lights startled some people looking to the skies in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Readers of this website will already know there is no mystery; the UFO lights at Maier Festival Park were just drones practicing for a Christmas Pageant light show.

But there’s a long history of alarming lights in the sky and earthlings assuming it just can’t be good.

There’s a reason hobbyist drones come with a few extra sets of propellers. Even the most careful fliers still manage to steer their drones into surprise trees and unexpected walls. Propeller guards protect against many kinds of bruisings. But what about protection for the entire drone? What about protecting the drone against high speed crashes against concrete barriers? What about that?

As an early drone adopter, my heart broke often. My first drone was a toy helicopter that took one fuzzy shot of me from about 40 feet up before I lost control and it hit the ground never to fly again. Then a series of mostly “toy” quadcopters, one of which was monstered by my niece’s dog. But last month, DJI loaned us a Mavic Mini (now discounted) and then the just-released Mini 2. I flew both for the first time within days of one another.

DJI has finally dropped – if that’s the right word – its latest drone, the Mini 2, an improvement over the popular Mavic Mini. Its Fly More Combo sells for $599 compared to $499 for the older drone combo. What do you get for the extra cash? We have a few of the latest specs from DJI. Let’s take a look:

Most hobbyists consider their drone to be a terrific tool — a lot less dangerous than a hammer and way more fun.

But there are times when we wonder about the drone’s dark potential. What could it do in the wrong hands? Out of a sense of good citizenship, though, most drone users are unlikely to share those thoughts in public.

Well, feel free to vent because the Association of the United States Army voiced your worst fears.