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Drones

Why Experts Are Troubled by a Viral Video of a Baby Bear’s Mountain Climb

The cub and its mother appear to have been disturbed by the drone that shot the footage

A long exposure of the Treasury at night illuminated by candlelight

Zooming In on Petra

How digital archaeologists are using drones and cutting-edge cameras to recreate the spectacular 2,000-year-old ruins in Jordan

Rice University scientists have programmed drones to coordinate their tracking efforts with each other.

Teaching Drones to Sniff Out Toxic Air

Swarms of the flying devices, using sensors and AI, will learn to find and track harmful gases

Bloede Dam (ca. 2016) near Ilchester, Maryland

Drones Will Track One of the Largest Dam Removals on the East Coast

When a Maryland dam comes down this fall, a team of scientists will deploy drones to monitor the flow of more than two million cubic feet of sediment

A thatched hut in the Javari Valley

Drone Captures First Images of an Uncontacted Amazon Tribe

Officials say images like these can help them learn how to better protect Brazil’s indigenous people

Would you be – or feel – safer if one of these people were a robot?

Would You Trust Drone Software to Pilot Your Flight?

Drones have already flown more hours than humans have. Now companies are looking to apply that data to commercial flight

A drone image of a breeding colony of Greater Crested Terns. Researchers used plastic bird decoys to replicate this species in an experiment that compared different ways of counting wildlife.

New Research

When It Comes to Counting Wildlife, Drones Are More Accurate Than People

Technology could be a conservation gamechanger, but we need to interrogate its impact on wildlife

Could drone delivery help the environment?

Future of Energy

Is Drone Delivery Good for the Environment?

Reducing the need for trucking by delivering some packages with electric drones could save fuel, and potentially carbon emissions. But how much?

The taggers of the future aren't carrying cans of spray paint.

Cool Finds

Street Art Will Soon Take to the Skies with Graffiti-Painting Drone Swarms

Paint-loaded quadcopters can turn any vertical space into a canvas

Cool Finds

Jaw-Dropping Video Shows Blue Whale Chowing Down on Krill

A drone captured the giant cetaceans plowing through krill clouds to get their fill

Children have been crippled by land mines in Cambodia.

The Historic Innovation of Land Mines—And Why We’ve Struggled to Get Rid of Them

A number of researchers are developing tools to defuse or detonate land mines without harming civilians

The taxi of the future doesn't drive—it flies.

Cool Finds

Dubai Will Get Self-Flying Taxis This Year

Bypass traffic with the taxi of the future

Could This Tiny Drone Covered in Sticky Goop Do the Work of Bees?

Well, it may not replace bees. But it’s a fun project nonetheless

DragonflEye

Turning Dragonflies Into Drones

The DragonflEye project equips the insects with solar-powered backpacks that control their flight

Eight Innovators to Watch in 2017

Meet original thinkers who are breaking ground in medicine, art, drone design, fighting climate change and more

A remote-controlled hexacopter captured this image of two northern resident killer whales photographed from 100 feet. Scientists use the unmanned drone as a cost-effective, non-intrusive method for monitoring the health of whales.

How Drones in the Sky Unlock Secrets of the Sea

Researchers are using aerial technology to track coastal erosion, map coral reefs and even give whales a breathalyzer

This drone is designed to start controlled burns of grassland.

10 New Ways to Use Drones

From fighting wildfires to coaching people on their tennis game, the aerial devices are becoming a tool of choice

One of the most stunning features of Taiwan's Lukang Longshan Temple is its extravagant wood caisson ceiling.

Experience the Secrets of a Threatened Taiwanese Temple

New 3D reconstructions make it possible to look inside Lukang Longshan

Wolfgang Neubauer (at Carnuntum’s center) estimates the population at 50,000.

Austria

The Discovery of a Roman Gladiator School Brings the Famed Fighters Back to Life

Located in Austria, the archaeological site is providing rich new details about the lives and deaths of the arena combatants

"Lux Noctis" is a series of photographs depicting landscapes of North America within the framework of traditional landscape photography, influenced by ideas of planetary exploration,19th-century Romantic painting and science fiction | Bisti Badlands, New Mexico

Photo Contest Featured Photographer

These Drone-Lit Photos of the American West Are Straight Out of a Science Fiction Novel

Photographer Reuben Wu casts new light on a familiar world

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