Islamic extremists are now using drones: Buhari

Islamic extremists in Nigeria have begun using drones, the country’s president says, opening a worrying new front in the region’s nearly decade-long fight against Boko Haram and an offshoot linked to the Islamic State.

Weaponized drones
President Muhammadu Buhari announced the development during a meeting on Thursday of countries that contribute troops to a multinational force combatting the extremists.

This appears to be the first confirmed use of drones by an extremist group in Africa, according to the World of Drones project run by the Washington-based New America think tank. Its section on non-state actors notes that Libyan rebels are reported to have used drones for surveillance in that chaotic North African nation.

Deadly attacks against Nigeria’s military are on the rise, with 39 soldiers killed this month alone and another 43 wounded. The extremists’ use of drones for surveillance in the country’s northeast has proven to be a “critical factor” in the resurgence of attacks,..

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How a Swarm of Blinking Drones Ended Up in the Rockettes’ Christmas Spectacular

If you haven’t seen the Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes, you can probably picture the iconic line of dancers kicking in unison, like a salute to American entertainment from a century ago. Well, this year the show got a surprising update: drones.
Dozens of tiny autonomous quadcopters built by Intel float over the Rockettes during the finale of the new show, and the effect is almost magical. Each little drone is essentially an airborne LED light that, from the audience’s perspective, seems to blend in with the set before bursting out over the dancers. In the final minutes of thenear century-old show in Radio City Music Hall, the stage seems to come alive with flying robots. This sort of thing would have melted the brains of the folks who saw the first holiday show with the Rockettes back in 1933. Yet, here we are.

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This is hardly the first time drones have been used as entertainment. Intel itself has been pioneering the technology in outdoor light sh..

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Raytheon Technologies Among Greatest Innovations of 2018

Two of Raytheon’s new drone technologies have landed spots on Popular Science’s list of 100 greatest innovations of 2018.

The publication selected the company’s Skyler radar and a laser dune buggy system for the annual Best of What’s New list, recognizing the technologies’ potential to provide new functions for unmanned vehicles, Raytheon said Wednesday.

Skyler is a low-power radar supported by small active electronically scanned array software-defined radar units that provide the ability to cover and control low-altitude flights of smaller vehicles such as commercial drones.

Raytheon aims to introduce the device to industry to support aviation surveillance, precision weather observations, small drone detection and tracking, border security and surveillance, wildfire detection and elevation and geographic gapfills.

Another technology designed to give drones new abilities is the company’s dune buggy, which uses a high-energy laser weapon system to disable weaponized drones.

Raytheo..

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High tech’s globalism is slowly killing patriotism

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NC State research: drones effective at monitoring marine species

New research from North Carolina State University demonstrates that consumer-grade drones are effective tools for monitoring marine species across multiple sites in the wild.

The work shows that the technology can be a valuable platform for scientists and conservationists interested in studying populations of sharks, rays, sea turtles and other marine megafauna.

“We found that drones can be used to count and make species-level identifications of marine species, particularly in shallow marine environments,” says Enie Hensel, a Ph.D. candidate at NC State and first author of a paper on the work.

“Demonstrating the viability of drones for this work matters, because these are inexpensive tools for collecting accurate abundance estimates,” Hensel says. “And those estimates are important for both informing the development of conservation efforts and for assessing the effectiveness of those efforts.

Drones less invasive
“Drone surveys are also a good way to monitor shallow water, megafaun..

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ANALYSIS: Hi-tech mapping risks land rights across digital divide

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Wed, Nov 28, 2018 – Page 4　

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ANALYSIS: Hi-tech mapping risks land rights across digital divide

Thomson Reuters Foundation, BANGKOK

Countries are increasingly embracing drones and satellites to map land and minimize conflict rising from ownership disputes, but unequal access to the technologies can further endanger the rights of vulnerable people, analysts have said.
With the easy availability of uncrewed aerial vehicles, satellites and GPS, countries from Kenya to the Philippines are able to quickly survey areas that would otherwise require trained staff to manually record data.
However, experts said that those strategies could undermine the land claims of people living in such regions if they are not connected to the Internet and are unable to take part in the process.
Several Indian states are using drones and satellites to update land records dating back to the colonial era.
The Philippines in December last year became one o..

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Terra Drone acquires Skeye to accelerate global expansion

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Terra Drone acquires Skeye to accelerate global expansion

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TOKYO, Nov. 26, 2018 — (PRNewswire) — Terra Drone Ltd, a global company with its headquarters in Japan, has acquired a majority stake in the leading European drone service provider Skeye. Skeye will become the European headquarters of Terra Drone. With this acquisition, Terra Drone has become one of the largest drone service companies, with more than 250 employees and presence in all continents.
Terra Drone Ltd serves its clients with safer, better and more efficient surveys and inspections by using and developing cutting-edge drone technologies. Skeye is an aerial survey and inspection company with a focus on drones in the oil and gas market, and with its headquarters in the Netherlands, and offices in the United Kingdom and Belgium.

Toru Tokushige, CEO of Terra Drone explains the reason for the..

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