avionics
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You Don’t Need to Use Airplane Mode on Airplanes
Putting your phone in airplane mode when boarding a flight feels like common sense. You wouldn’t be crazy for thinking your phone signal could interfere with an airplane’s navigation systems, potentially causing a disaster. However, the necessity of airplane mode is largely a myth, and there’s another reason airlines are asking you to turn your…
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California Police Are Using Drones As First Responders
Aerial surveillance in policing has always been a touchy subject, mostly because it’s largely unconstitutional. While most departments have eased up on doing such things, others are flipping the situation and using tech for something beneficial. NBC News reports the city of Santa Monica is one of a few cities in California that are using…
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Maple Seeds Inspired This Lightweight Low-Power Microdrone That Can Fly For Almost Half an Hour
Although humans can fly with the help of copious engineering, Mother Nature has already come up with much simpler ways to soar, like the way a maple tree’s spinning seeds scatter by floating on the wind like unpowered helicopters. It’s a beautifully efficient design, and one that inspired this similarly lightweight drone that can even…
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Parachuting Quadcopter Shoots Off Its Own Propellers to Take Out Other Drones
The same qualities that make drones fantastic tools for capturing amazing aerial footage can also make them a genuine threat that’s difficult to intercept when misused. But a clever new design for an anti-drone countermeasure uses a second drone that sacrifices itself mid-flight to disable its target.