Podcasts about unmanned aerial vehicles

It's hard to turn around these days without seeing or reading something about UAVs or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. Drones are becoming an increasingly important tool in many fields, including within the practice of silviculture. On this episode of SilviCast we explore the soaring use of drones for site preparation and release treatments. Join us for a conversation with Rick Hill, Regional Silviculturist and Reforestation Specialist with Michigan DNR and Kyle Schempp, Project Manager and Drone Pilot at Wildlife and Wetland Solutions.  To earn CEU/CFE credits, learn more, or interact with SilviCast, visit the uwsp.edu/SilviCast.

Summer Camp Mayhem.By FinalStand. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels.The miracle is not a person jumping into a torrent to save another. It is the dozen who form a chain to pull them both out.(Midnight in the Grotto of Good and Evil)We were in one of the underground pools at the bottom of the mesa. Our tour guide had informed us there were nine known caves and the complex had never been fully explored due to the remaining waterways being totally submerged. It was well past midnight, all my little friends had crashed out and I had wisely ditched my security after Miyako silently woke me up with her hand over my mouth.She pulled my hand to her lips and sucked deeply on two of my digits. I took this to be an indicator to me she was in dire need of loving. The grotto was my idea. I was inspired by my desire to see her naked and I couldn't risk a light source any place but underground. The tool shed and garage lacked a certain appeal. The fuel depot and septic tank were also ruled out."Is the chaos in your mind still raging, Cáel?" Miyako asked in Nipponese, with enough worry to doubly enhance her cuteness."Which of the twenty-seven unexplained languages rolling around in my head do you want me to answer you in?" my toothy grin barely visible in the darkness.Around half way through my sexual enlightenment in college, I had a revelation. The two guys I had gone road-tripping with took me to a bar in Portsmouth. I caught a woman looking us over. I already had my one-night stand lined up and she was looking most agreeable to my nefarious skullduggery (i.e. she had come with some other guy who preferred beer and darts with his buddies over keeping his attention on what mattered).And then my awakening."Nah, she's too fat," he remarked. For one thing, my friend who said that could have stood to lose ten to fifteen kilograms himself. Next, we were dressed like middle class college kids, jeans, shirts that were most likely clean when we picked them out of the laundry basket, light jackets and the shoe thing.This girl was dressed up for a good night out. Nice makeup, her clothing choices were, eh, not stunning, but this wasn't a stunning nightclub/bar. She looked fun, she smiled and yes, she was overweight. It dawned on me that not only did I not care, I never cared. I was a sexual omnivore and that meant any lady interested in sex with me was fine in my book.So, I turned the tables on him."If you can score her number, I'll give you my watch," I dared him. The wristwatch was really nice, one of those $500 handmade German ones. One of my Ex's great-granddad had swiped it off some Nazi pilot in World War II, and the same girl gave it to me twice. See, by accident, as I was exiting the (thankfully) first floor window of the Natural Sciences building, she threw a pitcher at me.It had been sitting in an ornamental display case close by. I caught it, nodded to the flabbergasted female professor-type gawking at the semi-naked me, handed her the projectile, then fled like the responsibility-dodging coward that I was. It turned out that that bit of crockery was from the mid-1600's; the woman I'd surprised was the item's owner.That older lady wasn't a teacher. She was a major benefactor in charge of one of the school's larger endowments. Had it shattered, the Ex most likely would have been expelled. Instead, after watching me round the Chancellor's residence, the mature chick turned to the totally naked chick leaning out the window, still screaming at me."Is he on the track team?" she inquired as she handed the artifact back. They talked, agreed I was a miserable human being, a cad and had firmly developed buttocks. Well, I guess that makes me a pig with nice hams. The next day, I showed up to return the watch, it was just an excuse for one more round of sex.She explained the whole incident to me, took back the watch and sent me on my way. I hurried back to my dorm room, changed the sheets and picked up a bit. An hour later she was quietly knocking at my door. Rather epic make-up sex followed, she gave me the watch as a keepsake and I swore off intercourse in classrooms for two whole months. I'm a tower of resolute willpower, I know.Back at the bar, my buddy snorted, made some comment about her being obviously desperate and promised me he'd nail in her in one of the back rooms. They talked a little, he got 'friendly', then said something that really hurt the girl's feelings. She looked our way, steadied herself with a shot of bourbon and came over to me and my other bud."Did you tell that guy you would give him fifty bucks if I put a lipstick ring on his cock?" she confronted us."No, I told him you were too good for him and if he could get your phone number, I would give him this watch," I showed her the watch. The girl's face flashed back to 'cautiously curious'."Is it a nice watch?" she asked."It is a family heirloom. My great-grandpa brought it back from World War II after taking it off some high ranking kraut officer," I embellished. "I knew he didn't have a chance with you.""Thanks," she grinned. "I agree. Let me get my sister and we can get a bite to eat." Sex.Two guesses of who her sister was. If you guessed the girl I had been cultivating since I got there, you would be right. I am too damn lucky. Lads, the next time you blow a sure thing, blame me for sucking all the good karma away from you, and nine of your friends. I got a three-way. The guy I made the challenge to, got his revenge. He bailed and I had to hitchhike back to school. You know, female truckers, oh, back to Miyako.After stashing our clothing and weapons (all of mine anyway), I took a small fluorescent lantern and slipped into the water. Cold, but doable. Miyako joined me and then, by moonlight, we swam to the point where the guide had said we'd find a passage to a secluded grotto. Down we went. My motivation wasn't sex.That was coming no matter what. Seeing my Nipponese sweetie completely nude directed my course of action. Security protocols meant no lights after 11 p.m. My solution was to cut on a light that couldn't be seen from outside, the grotto. We felt our way along the rather wide submerged passage emerging well before air became an issue. I raised the lantern and cut it on.Our tour guru had forgotten to mention that the algae patches along the sides and bottom as well as the quartz veins on the roof and walls reflected the light over what must have been an eight by ten meter cavern. Gorgeous. We glided to a shelf that met our needs, climbed up and shared a high school 'nervous virgin' moment. She broke the spell by pulling herself out of the water and, standing on her tippy-toes, touched one of the roof veins.I drank in every inch of my little ninja babe's lithe, finely tuned body. Once she got over the newness of my voyeurism, she became playful, giving me a variety of silhouettes and poses. I stripped and returned the favor, which earned me a giggling fit. As I took a minute to sit down and stare into the tranquility of the still surface, she snuck up on me.She said it all with her eyes. I tried to speak, but she put a forefinger to my lips. 'Hold me forever,' her eyes relayed her intentions. 'Love me for all eternity and think of no one else but me.' My elbows were locked, supporting my upper torso as she hovered over my lap. She was a lone feather falling upon the unyielding stone.With one hand behind her, she guided my cock into the wet, luxurious vice that was her cunt. We took it in increments. A sigh more at home in whispered Nirvana than on mortal tongues escaped her lips as she nestled all the way down. We didn't fuck. We rocked back and forth in a timid motion.As Miyako became accustomed to me once more, she would lean farther back with each pulse until an in and out rhythm was achieved. I took the occasion of her victory to pluck her left nipple into my mouth. Experience had taught me that was her more sensitive one. For several seconds, she fought it before knowledge caught up with instinct, then she loosed her passion.After her vibrations subsided, she rested her body tightly against mine. I still impaled her and she was returning a fraction of that warmth."Do you ever think you will find true love?" she whispered into my ear, in Nipponese. I was drawing my finger through her damp hair as it trailed down her back."As in love one over all others, no," I confided. "Even if I did, I could never admit it.""Why not?" she asked in Mandarin.In French I explained; "My life is a mad race through the forest and I don't know if I am a hound or the stag. I don't dare slow down until I know, and that is no way to repay such devotion.""When do you think the race will end for you?" she moaned softly, in English."I would really like to hold a child of mine. I don't regret my life's path up until now, yet I leave so very little of me behind if it ends soon," I muttered in Nipponese, and then chuckled. "It used to be at the first sign of a pregnancy test, I would panic. The World turns very rapidly."A minute passed as she went from warm to heatedly sensuous."Less talk, more babies," she sacrificed her emotions for my well-being with her oh so naught Baby Metal band voice and questing fingers. How could I say 'no' to that?"I don't think it works that way," I teased."Let's find out." She implored me in NipponeseSometime later, I was lying on my back, Miyako's body extended over mine so that not one precious inch of her touched the cool slick rock surface. Considering our position and location, it took me a bit longer to notice the intruder. I thought she was all kinds of strange. Twin memories and perception joined forces for once.The woman moved through the water, yet she was only hip deep in a place I knew the bottom was three meters below. As she entered our isolated love nest, I noticed she had sent forth not a single ripple in the water. Memory filled in the rest. Her eyes, when her gaze met my own, had that void that comes from a tortured life punctuated by horrors you witness as well as ones you are forced to perform.That was from "me". The electron swarm inside my mind provided another crucial piece of the puzzle. Utukku, phantoms, dead denied entrance to the Nether Realms, trapped between, until some sin had been lifted. The spirit gave me a look of shock, then turned and fled."We are in danger," I hissed to Miyako in Nipponese, before cutting off the lantern.I dove in, angling for the tunnel we'd entered by. I was close enough not to jab my fingers into the stone surface as I clawed my way through. I didn't burst noisily to the surface on the other side. My approach was that of an alligator, slowly letting my head crest the surface so I could look around. No one was in evidence. Miyako was soundless at my side as we scramble to the hiding place of our gear.Miyako held my hand back until she was sure our belongings hadn't been booby-trapped. I had to make quick judgment call: how time critical was this? I went the 'clothes and weapons' route."What is going on?" Miyako spoke quietly."Back there, I saw a feminine Asian ghost and the last time I witnessed such a pained, hopeless look, I was confronting the Seven Pillars," I told her. "Their slave had that same doomed stare.""There are only two things here of value," Miyako made her assessment. "You and the children. You are far more accessible in New York City, so it must be the children." We pressed ourselves tightly to the cave sides when we heard the sound of footsteps coming our way. It was Charlotte, my minder for evening, with her bow notched and ready.Firearms were kept to a minimum after hours, so bows were the order of the day, except for the snipers on the mesa top. My movements must have alerted her. I sat down and continued dressing."Charlotte, the Seven Pillars know we are here, they know the camp is here," I told her."How imminent is the threat?" Charlotte knelt beside me. I didn't know."They must be close, to be making a reconnaissance of the caves," Miyako said with tactical certainty."It was drawn to you, Charlotte, you were out of place, so this thing looked further. Otherwise these caves are irrelevant," she added. Miyako had the mindset of a seasoned professional spy."The cavern and spring have a night guardian," Charlotte countered. "I saw her when I was following you two here."I had on my light bulletproof vest (no shirt), shorts (no underwear) and shoes (no sox)."Let's go check on her to see if she's seen anything," I suggested/ordered.What I had assumed was some sort of bedroll brought by Miyako turned out to be a Ninja Survival pack. This allowed me to weapon up while she dressed up. The amount of time we were taking still ate at my nerves. Charlotte stopped me from heading out first, only to be stopped by Miyako. The ninja slipped out like a cool desert breeze.(Friend, Enemies and those In Between)Thirty seconds later, a plastic BB bounced off my right shoulder. This time, I was leading Charlotte out. No one spoke. We couldn't see Miyako anyway, now dressed in her black pajamas and her face being reduced to just one slit for her eyes. We found the Amazon dead at her post. She was in a cunningly crafted blind not easily spotted from any direction.A quick sweep for 'gifts' left behind revealed nothing, but the corpse yielded plenty. She was shot multiple times with two separate flash and sound suppressed submachine guns. The woman had been alive when we came down and if there had been a firefight, Charlotte would have heard the shots, if not seen them; thus the suppression. The bullet holes suggested a small caliber weapon.Miyako stepped up, held up three fingers. Every piece of the Amazon's gear was still on her. The attackers had shot up her phone box. Wireless communications were deemed too risky so all the outposts had buried land lines. At this point, a few seconds of extra effort stood between the Seven Pillars and success; that and the Goddess Paranoia.Had the assailants yanked up the box and cut the phone line, it would have been rendered useless. Instead, they shot up the device and moved on so that when Charlotte pulled out the cache of concealed goodies, including the spare phone box, we were back in business. As Charlotte got to work switching out the busted for the back-up, I studied our situation.Advanced teams taking out the perimeter guards, and most likely the snipers, didn't make much sense. The camp had 300 highly motivated Amazons. Cutting them off temporarily from their armory and vehicles didn't make any sense, since all Amazons were armed anyway. That left timing. But timing meant nothing if I didn't have the goal of their attack.It came as a double-whammy. The Chinese place a high premium on family and the Seven Pillars had mastered a sadistic art form of turning young foreign women into their concubine/assassins. The Condotteiri would have slaughtered the entire camp. The Seven Pillars would want to kidnap the children, both as current bargaining chips and as future tools.500 girls, 400 could be kidnappable. The oldest would go down fighting with their sisters. How did you get 400 kids out of here? Helicopters? That would be a fuck load of helicopters taking out their team and the children. Besides, helicopters alone couldn't dig them out of their cave and cliff-face strongpoints.Desert, no waterways. That left the road. You couldn't use ATVs, not enough carrying capacity. The smart move would be to have tractor-trailers parked alongside the hard top state road. They would use smaller, more rugged trucks to ferry their captives out to the semis. That suggested some sort of 'cover/support' vehicles.2 half ton trucks with weaponized Hummers providing fire support a la 'Blackhawk Down' and that meant the bridge and the BBQ pit. That objective would solve both of the Seven Pillars problems, moving the main assault group into close contact with the Amazons so the Amazons couldn't organize a defense, and removing their hostages in a prompt manner so they all could be gone before anyone else could react.The Seven Pillars had to have secured the bridge and were mostly likely replacing the missing piers. It was the choke point of their battle plan. Worse for them, it wasn't part of a barricade where they could attrition the Amazon numbers with vehicle mounted heavy weapons. The ditch ran north-south, bow shaped with the arch to the west and was over a kilometer from the camp.The flanks were purposefully strewn with huge boulders that limited traffic to horse and motorcycles, no four-wheelers. They had to have control of the bridge, so that's where I went."Charlotte, I'm going to the bridge," I whispered before slipping out of the blind. I didn't order Miyako to follow me and I was sure Charlotte wanted strangle me for departing from her protective custody.There are four kinds of fights, be they between armies, or individuals. Set-piece (sparring), assaults, ambushes and meeting engagements. I was about to be in the latter one. Meeting engagements happen when opposing forces are set on goals that unknowingly intersect one another. One of the most famous battles in US history, Gettysburg, was a meeting engagement.I was using the bone-dry culvert because we feared the Seven Pillars had replaced our snipers. Miyako was, somewhere else. The enemy commandos used the same conduit to avoid having the remaining Amazon pickets spot them and raising the alarm. I had little doubt that the three men speedily moving south were heading for the grotto and its three inhabitants (Charlotte, Miyako and me).Not knowing that I could both see ghosts and guessed who its demonic masters were, they assumed we were still in the caverns. Me not knowing how this whole ghost-scout thing worked, I assumed that I had a chance of surprising them at the bridge if I moved fast enough. In a final prick of irony, they misinterpreted the role their snipers played in our engagement.They believed that their snipers would alert them if anyone moved on the bridge, ignoring the fact that the snipers didn't have a complete view of the gulch. I was only using the big ditch because I was afraid they had taken out the Amazon snipers and now had the high ground, which turned out to be true. Thank you, Goddess Paranoia.My first tomahawk was in my left hand and my Glock-22 was in my right. My fear of snipers and the bend in the gully saved my life. We literally ran into each other, me and the first 7P soldier. His long barreled Type-05 was pointing past my left, his torso slammed into my pistol, ramming his front armored plate against it as it discharged.The proximity muffled the sound of the gunshot. The bullet failed to punch through his impressive body armor, but the resulting force knocked him down and out. Unfortunately, our shared momentum knocked my gun out of my grasp. My right hand went for tomahawk two. The flattened man's team mates swung their submachine guns my way.Halfway through his shift, a black dart flew out of the western darkness, past the first one, then snapped back. The action caused the hardy thread to wrap around the barrel of his weapon. I couldn't see her, but I knew it was Miyako with her flying wedge with the thread attached. The middle guy was startled and not moving as his training dictated.That allowed me to use him as a shield against the third guy. Right as 7P #2 decided to release his weapon, I kicked him hard into the confused man behind him. Neither man went down, but I still got what I wanted.Guy number three's main weapon was trapped to his right as I rushed his left. Vainly he tried to get an arm up to defend himself. My right tomahawk shattered his forearm at the elbow joint. Only the body armor on the inside of the blow stopped the appendage from falling off. My rational mind was catching up with my instincts.These men had on head-to-toe ballistic body suits with knee guards and solid ballistic inserts for the front and back of the torso. They had on some sort of dull, dark-grey respirator mask which was why the armless guy wasn't screaming his head off. They also had matte black circular ear protections and a type of high tech visor on the ears and eyes respectively.The sole survivor was falling back, drawing his silenced pistol while trying to put some distance between us and find Miyako at the same time. Dummy, tomahawks are designed for throwing. A bit of Amazons indignation was behind that toss. His visor was cut in two as my anger drove the blade 6 cm/2+ inches into his skull.I heard a sharp crack of a rock being shattered. Miyako's graceful flip landed her at my side. I ran to the last victim, put my foot on his chest and put my right hand on the tomahawk's shaft. The guy reached up and grabbed the thigh of the foot on his chest with both hands. Shit, the fucker wasn't dead!

In this episode, I speak with David Kovar. David shares his thought leadership in the field of cybersecurity and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles forensics. David's work addresses cyber crime and informs domestic and international policies on these important  yet often poorly understood topics. David shares his philosophy about bringing the temperature down, finding a common language and translating complexity into frameworks that enable constructive action and effective collaboration. We also explore how to manage life reinventions and how to engage with people whose perspectives are antithetical to our own. Recorded on 20 December 2024.Connect with David on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/davidkovar.Instagram: @at.the.coalfaceAnd don't forget to subscribe to At the Coalface for new episodes every two weeks.Help us produce more episodes by becoming a supporter. Your subscription will go towards paying our hosting and production costs. Supporters get the opportunity to join behind the scenes during recordings, updates about the podcast, and my deep gratitude!Support the show

This week, Scott sat down with his Lawfare colleagues Anna Bower and Natalie Orpett and Lawfare Contributing Editor Michel Paradis to talk about the week's biggest national security news stories, including:“A Justice Delayed Still Has Justice on the Mind.” After weeks of waiting, New York state court judge Justice Juan Merchan has finally become the first judge to apply the Supreme Court's Trump v. United States immunity decision, holding that incoming President Donald Trump's convictions under New York state law may stand and did not unduly rely on conduct for which he is immune. How persuasive is his ruling? And what can it tell us about the future of both Donald Trump's criminal case and the Supreme Court's immunity holding?“A Break in the Case.” Tectonic shifts in Syrian politics over the past few weeks that has led, among other consequences, to the release of thousands of former prisoners, have brought back to the fore the case of Austin Tice, an American journalist who has been missing in Syria for more than a decade. Believed to have been held by the Assad regime before its collapse, some are concerned that he might have been injured or killed during Israeli airstrikes over the past several weeks. What does Tice's case tell us about the challenges of wrongful detention cases like his? And what should we make of allegations that the Biden administration is not doing enough to bring him back?“Gym, Tan, Low-flying Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.” The state of New Jersey has a new signature activity, as Americans and politicians of all stripes have been voicing concern over reports of mysterious drones of unknown origins operating in the state's skies. What might explain this phenomenon? And what should we make of the reactions around it? For object lessons, Anna recommended “Intermezzo,” by Sally Rooney as a read over the holiday. Natalie Orpett endorsed Washington, D.C.'s Eastern Market as a worthwhile visit for holiday shopping, and Scott doubled down with another local recommendation of Middleburg, VA, as a holiday wonderland not to be missed. And Michel wrapped things up with a final endorsement of Weike Wang's dryly comedic book “Rental House,” for those needing to commiserate over managing family relations over the holiday.To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Scott sat down with his Lawfare colleagues Anna Bower and Natalie Orpett and Lawfare Contributing Editor Michel Paradis to talk about the week's biggest national security news stories, including:“A Justice Delayed Still Has Justice on the Mind.” After weeks of waiting, New York state court judge Justice Juan Merchan has finally become the first judge to apply the Supreme Court's Trump v. United States immunity decision, holding that incoming President Donald Trump's convictions under New York state law may stand and did not unduly rely on conduct for which he is immune. How persuasive is his ruling? And what can it tell us about the future of both Donald Trump's criminal case and the Supreme Court's immunity holding?“A Break in the Case.” Tectonic shifts in Syrian politics over the past few weeks that has led, among other consequences, to the release of thousands of former prisoners, have brought back to the fore the case of Austin Tice, an American journalist who has been missing in Syria for more than a decade. Believed to have been held by the Assad regime before its collapse, some are concerned that he might have been injured or killed during Israeli airstrikes over the past several weeks. What does Tice's case tell us about the challenges of wrongful detention cases like his? And what should we make of allegations that the Biden administration is not doing enough to bring him back?“Gym, Tan, Low-flying Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.” The state of New Jersey has a new signature activity, as Americans and politicians of all stripes have been voicing concern over reports of mysterious drones of unknown origins operating in the state's skies. What might explain this phenomenon? And what should we make of the reactions around it? For object lessons, Anna recommended “Intermezzo,” by Sally Rooney as a read over the holiday. Natalie Orpett endorsed Washington, D.C.'s Eastern Market as a worthwhile visit for holiday shopping, and Scott doubled down with another local recommendation of Middleburg, VA, as a holiday wonderland not to be missed. And Michel wrapped things up with a final endorsement of Weike Wang's dryly comedic book “Rental House,” for those needing to commiserate over managing family relations over the holiday.To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Returning guest Marco Pavone is an expert in autonomous robotic systems, such as self-driving cars and autonomous space robots. He says that there have been major advances since his last appearance on the show seven years ago, mostly driven by leaps in artificial intelligence. He tells host Russ Altman all about the challenges and progress of autonomy on Earth and in space in this episode of Stanford Engineering's The Future of Everything podcast.Have a question for Russ? Send it our way in writing or via voice memo, and it might be featured on an upcoming episode. Please introduce yourself, let us know where you're listening from, and share your quest. You can send questions to thefutureofeverything@stanford.edu.Episode Reference Links:Stanford Profile:  Marco PavoneCenter for AEroSpace Autonomy Research (CAESAR)Connect With Us:Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything WebsiteConnect with Russ >>> Threads or Twitter/XConnect with School of Engineering >>> Twitter/XChapters:(00:00:00) IntroductionRuss Altman introduces guest Marco Pavone, a professor of aeronautics and astronautics at Stanford.(00:02:37) Autonomous Systems in Everyday LifeAdvancements in the real-world applications of autonomous systems.(00:03:51) Evolution of Self-Driving TechnologiesThe shift from fully autonomous cars to advanced driver assistance systems.(00:06:36) Public Perception of Autonomous VehiclesHow people react to and accept autonomous vehicles in everyday life.(00:07:49) AI's and Autonomous DrivingThe impact of AI advancements on autonomous driving performance.(00:09:52) Simulating Edge Cases for SafetyUsing AI to simulate rare driving events to improve safety and training.(00:12:04) Autonomous Vehicle CommunicationCommunication challenges between autonomous vehicles and infrastructure.(00:15:24) Risk-Averse Planning in Autonomous SystemsHow risk-averse planning ensures safety in autonomous vehicles.(00:18:43) Autonomous Systems in SpaceThe role of autonomous robots in space exploration and lunar missions.(00:22:47) Space Debris and Collision AvoidanceThe challenges of space debris and collision avoidance with autonomous systems.(00:24:39) Distributed Autonomous Systems for SpaceUsing distributed autonomous systems in space missions for better coordination.(00:28:40) Conclusion Connect With Us:Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything WebsiteConnect with Russ >>> Threads or Twitter/XConnect with School of Engineering >>> Twitter/X

Thousands of drone strikes have killed tens of thousands of targets since the introduction of unmanned aerial vehicle warfare in the early 2000s. This is the story of that warfare. It's all free and it's all here on Battlecast – the world's foremost podcast on war and its sociopolitical impact.  Download episode 93 here: download… Continue reading Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: A Military History /// 93

(PHOTO: Getty Images)

(PHOTO: Getty Images)

Drones are for more than just appealing aerial videos. Native drone pilots are building careers using drones for scoping out landscapes for construction, searching for lost hikers, and even assessing potentially sacred areas. One First Nations enthusiast sees the novelty factor of drones, also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, as a means to attract young Native people into STEM fields. We'll talk to Native drone pilots about how they're using their skills for enterprise and to help make their communities better. GUESTS Jacob Taylor (Curve Lake First Nation), CEO of Indigenous Aerospace   James Grimsley, executive director of Advanced Technology Initiatives for the Choctaw Nation  Robert Hart, owner and chief pilot of L.I.D.A.R. Drone Services 

In this episode of the Need to Know, host John Milewski explores the evolving landscape of warfare shaped by unmanned aerial vehicles with his guest, Dr. Jack Watling. Dr. Watling is a Wilson Center Global Fellow and senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. They discuss a new study, co-authored by Jack, that focuses on the impact of UAVs on land forces, drawing insights from contemporary conflicts like the one in Ukraine. From precision strikes to procurement challenges, this discussion navigates the complexities of adapting military strategies to technological advancements. It also provides valuable information for lawmakers who will be making funding decisions on weapons systems that are changing the way wars are conducted.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Drones are for more than just appealing aerial videos. Native drone pilots are building careers using drones for scoping out landscapes for construction, searching for lost hikers, and even assessing potentially sacred areas. One First Nations enthusiast sees the novelty factor of drones, also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, as a means to attract young Native people into STEM fields. We'll talk to Native drone pilots about how they're using their skills for enterprise and to help make their communities better.

The Dairy Streamlet is a condensed version of a long Dairy Stream episode and covers just the high-level points of the conversation. If this topic interest you, then listen to the full episode on April 3. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or UAV are playing a role in precision agriculture. Join Dairy Stream host Joanna Guza and guest Dr. Brian Luck, associate professor and extension specialist at UW-Madison, as they discuss the most popular UAVs, scouting crops, challenges, economics and safety. Special thanks to The Nature Conservancy of Wisconsin for sponsoring this episode. About the guest Dr. Brian Luck is an associate professor and extension specialist in Biological Systems Engineering in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at UW-Madison. Dr. Luck's field of interest include machine management, variable rate technology, agricultural “big data” management and remote sensing.   This podcast is co-produced by the Dairy Business Association and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, sister organizations that fight for effective dairy policy in Wisconsin and Washington, D.C.  Become a sponsor, share an idea or feedback by emailing podcast@dairyforward.com. 

For review:1. US CENTCOM X:04 Mar- Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists fired 2 x anti-ship ballistic missiles from Yemen into the Gulf of Aden at M/V MSC SKY II, a Liberian-flagged, Swiss-owned container vessel. One of the missiles impacted the vessel causing damage. Initial reports indicate there were no injuries; the ship did not request assistance and continued on its way. At 8 p.m. (local), CENTCOM Forces conducted self-defense strikes against 2 x anti-ship cruise missiles. 2. Israel-Hamas Hostage Negotiations Continue as Ramadan gets closer.3. Sudan rejects Iran's bid for Red Sea naval base.4. Iran Weapons at Doha (Qatar) Trade Show- include air defense systems, Naval Vessel Mock-ups, and rifles and machine guns.5. Netherlands plans to order 4 x new air-defense frigates to replace current fleet (worth $3.8 billion).6. Poland continues defense modernization. Signed deal for the US Army Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System- which will integrate with the Wisla (Patriot) & Narew Air Defense programs. In addition, will purchase 286 x light armored recon vehicles.7. Canada & Germany Procure Boeing P-8 Poseidon Aircraft- Canada (14); Germany (3).8. Thailand Air Force Modernization includes new Fighters, Air Defense Systems, and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.9. US Army tests Next Generation Squad Weapon- XM7 Rifle and XM250 Automatic Rifle- plus the XM157 Fire Control (Optic)- at the Cold Regions Test Center (Fort Greeley, Alaska). 

“Precision nitrogen management for improving yield and protein content in wheat” with Dr. Olga Walsh. Nitrogen is one of the most important nutrients for crops, which is required in large amounts for crop production and demands precise nutrient management methods due to its highly mobile property in plants and soils and high chances of leaching. Precise nutrient management is also important for improving the yield and quality of grains, minimizing the input, and maximizing the efficiency. Assessing the real-time plant growth, biomass production, and nutrient depletion in the soil using different precision agriculture techniques like drones, remote sensing, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and other camera-based devices helps optimize nutrient management. In this episode, Dr. Olga Walsh shares her research on precision nitrogen management for yield and protein content estimation on spring wheat and sugar beet by using different hand-held sensors, drones, and remote sensing approaches. Tune in to learn more about ·         What values are best to look for when doing remote sensing in wheat ·         How drones, remote sensing, and camera applications are helping predict biomass and nutrient requirements ·         What yield and protein content was estimated from the sensors tested ·         How hand-held and UAV sensors compare If you would like more information about this topic, this episode's paper is available here:  https://doi.org/10.1002/agg2.20309 This paper is always freely available. Contact us at podcast@sciencesocieties.org or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more content like this don't forget to subscribe. If you'd like to see old episodes or sign up for our newsletter, you can do so here: https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/. If you would like to reach out to Olga Walsh, you can find her here: oswalsh@vt.edu https://spes.vt.edu/faculty-staff/faculty/walsh_olga.html If you would like to reach out to Ayush Kachrulal Sharma, you can find him here: ayushsharma@ufl.edu Resources CEU Quiz: https://web.sciencesocieties.org/Learning-Center/Courses/Course-Detail?productid=%7b0C58D320-47CB-EE11-9079-000D3A355FD1%7d Transcripts: https://www.rev.com/transcript-editor/shared/-6STl4uhGJ_6rdM6-VHBcgpSzZoxD_pvMZqu-k9mwXKl0cSZPvAyPvz5J4XcoYMjUF3NlRgTD1hYymCEdyPW0CwO2iM?loadFrom=SharedLink  Extension outreach bulletins: Estimation of Wheat Yield and Grain Protein with Handheld and UAV-Mounted Sensors. UI Extension Bulletin 1033: https://www.uidaho.edu/extension/publications/publication-detail?id=bul1033 Nitrogen Management in Field Crops with Reference Strips and Crop Sensors. UI Extension Bulletin 896: https://www.uidaho.edu/extension/publications/publication-detail?id=bul0896 Southern Idaho Soft White Spring Wheat Quick Facts. UI Extension Bulletin 979: https://www.uidaho.edu/extension/publications/publication-detail?id=bul0979 Southern Idaho Hard Spring Wheat Quick Facts. UI Extension Bulletin 986: https://www.uidaho.edu/-/media/UIdaho-Responsive/Files/Extension/topic/cereals/scse/publications/SI-Wheat-Quick-Facts-HSW.pdf Optimum Nitrogen Rates for Wheat Depend on the Environment and Field-Specific Conditions. UI CIS 1028: https://www.uidaho.edu/extension/publications/publication-detail?id=bul1028 School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, Virginia: https://spes.vt.edu/ Thank you to Om Prakash Ghimire for help in assembling show notes and other assets. Field, Lab, Earth is Copyrighted by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.

In 2018, I was invited to be a speaker at a conference in the Midwest. Before I got on the stage to present my keynote, the session before me was talking about a new concept that I remember briefly hearing about as a student at Embry-Riddle, Advance Air Mobility (AAM). The speaker mentioned how AAM is the future of aviation, and that it will revolutionize air travel as we know it. AAM is known as the development, integration, and utilization of new airborne transportation systems, typically involving electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, drones, and other innovative aerial vehicles. These systems are designed to operate in urban, suburban, and rural environments. Since that conference in 2018, so many developments have transpired in this sector. Key Features of the AAM sectors include; eVTOLs: These are aircraft that can take off and land vertically like a helicopter but transition to forward flight like a plane, predominantly powered by electric propulsion.Urban Air Mobility (UAM): A subset of AAM focusing on urban environments. UAM seeks to alleviate ground traffic congestion by taking advantage of the airspace above cities.Decentralized Infrastructure: Instead of large central airports, AAM emphasizes smaller vertiports or landing pads scattered throughout urban and suburban areas.Autonomous Operations: While initial operations may have human pilots, the goal for many AAM solutions is to eventually operate autonomously, which will require advanced autonomous flight systems and robust air traffic management solutions. The AAM sector on a global scale was valued at $8.2 billion in 2022. It is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 20% by 2032 with a valuation to reach about $68.1 billion. Furthermore, investments in AAM have reached $4.8 billion in 2021, with new innovative companies launching each year in pursuit of the next successful eVTOL to hit the market. Specifically, there are over 200 companies globally in the race to develop eVTOL aircraft. The primary driver in the AAM sector is the Urban Air Mobility market which is projected to rise from 3.8 billion to 38.5 billion by 2030. In terms of women in this sector, McKinsey & Company shared on its blog this year how women are advancing in Future Air Mobility (FAM). Here are a few key points the blog shared. Sustainable aviation saw the biggest improvement in gender diversity, with the number of women and nonbinary people increasing from 13 percent to 18 percent.Other segments, including manned advanced air mobility/eVTOL vehicles and small drones, showed smaller gains.Companies that develop supersonic and hypersonic technology regressed, with the number of women and nonbinary people falling from 23 percent to 20 percent, although the small sample size means that the departure of a few senior leaders could sway the numbers in a meaningful way.Among regions, North America has the most diverse leadership teams in both gender (20 percent female or nonbinary) and ethnic diversity—defined as the non-majority group in a company's home country (18 percent).Technical roles have seen the biggest increase in diversity for both genders (going from 5 percent to 14 percent female or nonbinary) and people from ethnic minorities (going from 12 percent to 16 percent).Despite this progress, women and nonbinary people remain significantly underrepresented in technical roles at FAM companies, as they are in many other industries. Our special guest who will launch us into season five of the AVIATE with Shaesta podcast is Elan Head, a familiar voice in AAM. Elan is an award-winning journalist specializing in aviation and technology. Head currently serves as the Senior Editor at The Air Current and continues to be a respected journalist in the industry covering several developments and breaking news in AAM. Elan is a Commercial Helicopter Pilot and an FAA Gold Seal flight instructor with helicopter and instrument helicopter ratings. Elan joins us to share her unexpected start in aviation and how she turned her passion for flight and journalism into a career that she truly enjoys.

Dr. Matt Dyson, DU Canada waterfowl research scientist, and Dr. Mike Brasher join forces to discuss the exciting growth and application of science in waterfowl and wetland conservation across Canada. Matt shares insights on the ecology of boreal forests, effects of wildfires on waterfowl, difficulties of studying ducks in this vast landscape, and new science by DUC colleagues. Matt also recalls stories from his upbringing and accepts the challenge of identifying his favorite fish. www.ducks.org/DUPodcastwww.ducks.ca

As US Senator Chuck Schumer prepares to hold a forum on the risks and benefits of artificial intelligence, the US Army and Air Force are each seeking to incorporate AI and robotics in combat operations. Plus, Elon Musk livestreams himself showing off the latest build of Tesla's FSD mode to mixed results.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are we in the Wild West era of drone warfare? The advancement of drone technology is having a big impact on the battlefield - the war in Ukraine is an example. To keep pace, the Canadian Army has been getting help from Defence Research and Development Canada along with industry partners to counter the threat of drone warfare. Jared Giesbrecht, a defence research scientist, explains the challenges our soldiers face and offers clever solutions to detect and defeat enemy drones.Feel free to contact Captain Adam Orton with any comments or questions:armyconnect-connectionarmee@forces.gc.caMeet our host Captain Adam Orton:  Bio | VideoConnect with the Canadian Army on social media:Facebook  | Twitter | Instagram | YouTubeVisit Forces.ca if you are considering a career in the Army.Copyright Information© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of National Defence, 2023

We asked ChatGPT: “Tell me about the future of drones and AI.” ChatGPT response: Drones and AI are two technologies that are rapidly advancing and becoming more integrated with each other. Some potential ways they could shape the future: Drones equipped with AI could be used for surveillance and security…to make package delivery more efficient and reliable… to monitor crops and help farmers optimize yields and reduce waste … to assist in emergency response situations, natural disasters, search and rescue missions … to improve safety and efficiency on construction sites. However, there are also potential ethical and societal implications to consider. It will be important for stakeholders to work together to develop responsible policies and regulations to ensure that these technologies are used safely and ethically. We also searched for fictional movie quotes about drones: – “The real question is not whether machines think but whether men do.” (I, Robot – 2004) – “We were using our drone to follow a family of turtles, and we thought it might have crashed in your backyard.” (Good Boys – 2021) – “They're not toys, they're UAVs. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.” (The Big Bang – 2010) – “60 years ago, Earth was attacked. We won the war, but they destroyed half the planet. Everyone's been evacuated. Nothing human remains. We're here for drone repair. We're the ‘mop-up crew.'” (Oblivion – 2013) We'll ask Ryan Walsh, Bob Hammett, Charlie Hermosa, Grant Fisk and Sheena Banker for their take on The Future Drones and AI: Look Up! It's A What???

We asked ChatGPT: “Tell me about the future of drones and AI.” ChatGPT response: Drones and AI are two technologies that are rapidly advancing and becoming more integrated with each other. Some potential ways they could shape the future: Drones equipped with AI could be used for surveillance and security…to make package delivery more efficient and reliable… to monitor crops and help farmers optimize yields and reduce waste … to assist in emergency response situations, natural disasters, search and rescue missions … to improve safety and efficiency on construction sites. However, there are also potential ethical and societal implications to consider. It will be important for stakeholders to work together to develop responsible policies and regulations to ensure that these technologies are used safely and ethically. We also searched for fictional movie quotes about drones: – “The real question is not whether machines think but whether men do.” (I, Robot – 2004) – “We were using our drone to follow a family of turtles, and we thought it might have crashed in your backyard.” (Good Boys – 2021) – “They're not toys, they're UAVs. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.” (The Big Bang – 2010) – “60 years ago, Earth was attacked. We won the war, but they destroyed half the planet. Everyone's been evacuated. Nothing human remains. We're here for drone repair. We're the ‘mop-up crew.'” (Oblivion – 2013) We'll ask Ryan Walsh, Bob Hammett, Charlie Hermosa, Grant Fisk and Sheena Banker for their take on The Future Drones and AI: Look Up! It's A What???

We asked ChatGPT: “Tell me about the future of drones and AI.” ChatGPT response: Drones and AI are two technologies that are rapidly advancing and becoming more integrated with each other. Some potential ways they could shape the future: Drones equipped with AI could be used for surveillance and security…to make package delivery more efficient and reliable… to monitor crops and help farmers optimize yields and reduce waste … to assist in emergency response situations, natural disasters, search and rescue missions … to improve safety and efficiency on construction sites. However, there are also potential ethical and societal implications to consider. It will be important for stakeholders to work together to develop responsible policies and regulations to ensure that these technologies are used safely and ethically. We also searched for fictional movie quotes about drones: – “The real question is not whether machines think but whether men do.” (I, Robot – 2004) – “We were using our drone to follow a family of turtles, and we thought it might have crashed in your backyard.” (Good Boys – 2021) – “They're not toys, they're UAVs. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.” (The Big Bang – 2010) – “60 years ago, Earth was attacked. We won the war, but they destroyed half the planet. Everyone's been evacuated. Nothing human remains. We're here for drone repair. We're the ‘mop-up crew.'” (Oblivion – 2013) We'll ask Ryan Walsh, Bob Hammett, Charlie Hermosa, Grant Fisk and Sheena Banker for their take on The Future Drones and AI: Look Up! It's A What???

This edition features stories on an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle crash, Coalition Forces killing 19 militants and detaining 3, a memorial run in honor of an Airman killed by an Improvised Explosive Device, and Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAP) coming to the 455th AEW. Hosted by Tech Sgt. Gene Taylor.

This edition features stories about coallition forces capturing and detaining a militant, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles being used in the war on terror and U.S. Soldiers teaching Afghan National Poliice and soldiers self- aid and buddy care. Hosted by Tech. Sgt. Gene Taylor.

Is India the next hot spot for unmanned business? Ankit Mehta is Co-founder & CEO of ideaForge, India's largest manufacturer of drones for defense, homeland security and industrial applications.  IdeaForge was founded in 2007, with a mission to bring cutting-edge unmanned aerial systems to these industries.  Over the past decade, the company has emerged as a leader in the Indian drone industry, with a focus on innovation, reliability, and safety. IdeaForge is a pioneer in the UAV industry and has multiple IPs to its credit.  One of the key factors that sets Ideaforge apart from its competitors is its focus on indigenous design and development. The company's drones are designed and manufactured entirely in India, which has helped it to establish a strong foothold in the domestic market while also making it an attractive partner for global clients. At ideaForge, Ankit is leading the charge to deliver cutting-edge technology that is Made-in-India and second to none.  One of those innovations is the SWITCH UAV, a first of its kind VTOL and fixed wing hybrid Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. SWITCH features advanced flight time, higher safety and simple operation with additional fail-safe redundancies.  It is used for long duration operations, long endurance surveillance and security, inspection and photogrammetry. It is so good, the Indian Army selected the Switch above all others to strengthen its unmanned presence. In this edition of the Drone Radio Show, Ankit talks Ideaforge's journey, its approach to innovation and R&D, and its vision for the future of drones in India and beyond. We'll also discuss some of the challenges and opportunities facing the Indian drone industry, and the role that Ideaforge hopes to play in shaping its growth and development.

Just a few decades ago, the concept of unmanned aerial vehicles, or, as you may know them: drones, was a reality confined only to science fiction films and comic books. In fact, if you told someone just 30 years ago that there are over 900,000 drones registered in the United States, with over half of them being used for recreational use, they'd probably look at you like you were crazy. But the truth is, unmanned aerial vehicles are quickly becoming a close companion to the concept of smart cities, with the potential to offer cost-efficient services for everything from environmental monitoring to traffic management. Yet, with no established system within cities to rent out drones, the potential to use these flying machines for good is wasted. Drones can deliver packages in under 30 minutes and cut surveying costs by up to 98% - so why shouldn't we make them accessible to all?Support the show

Welcome to the latest episode of Beyond Infinity and our first for 2023. We discuss how Unmanned Aerial Vehicle technology is re-shaping the battlefield and beyond. We dive into the exciting world of drones and how they will revolutionize space exploration - like on Mars with the Ingenuity helicopter, which has just completed its 40th ground breaking autonomous flight. Join us as we explore the future of space exploration and the role that AI-powered drones will play in it. Let's get started!

Are you ready to take a flight into the future of coastal surveillance? Join us as we explore the cutting-edge technology behind the United States Coast Guard's Unmanned Aerial Vehicle program. From the skies to the seas, we'll take you on a journey to discover how UAVs are revolutionizing the way the Coast Guard operates and keeping our waters safe. So buckle up, and let's soar into the latest episode of The Tactics Meeting!

Episode guest is the CEO for Stratodynamics, Gary Pundsack. Join us as we discuss the UAV fight to near space. We discuss the climate crisis and how UAVs can monitor pollution in the upper atmosphere. UAVs, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, are used for a myriad of things from bridge inspections to fire fighting. Stratodynamics is using this aircraft to monitor climate, sniff out turbulence, and research near space in the stratosphere.   YouTube Episode Link: https://youtu.be/A7bcYxv3AIw Show Notes: ABOUT GARY PUNDSACK CEO for Stratodynamics http://www.stratodynamics.ca   SMP Show Notes - Expanded Want to know more about the marketing strategies discussed in today's podcast?  Visit the Show Notes – Expanded page for this podcast at: https://spacemarketingpodcast.com/blog/smp-show-notes-expanded-gary-punsack-ceo-of-stratodynamics   The strategy and corresponding pages are provided for a deeper dive into the listed strategy in Izzy's book, Space Marketing: Competing in the new commercial space industry available at Amazon and Audible.  ABOUT IZZY Izzy's website - CLICK HERE Author of Space Marketing: Competing in the new commercial space industry on Amazon and Audible - CLICK HERE Podcast host for Space Marketing Podcast - CLICK HERE Organizer for Space for Kentucky Roundtable - CLICK HERE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies is pleased to announce the launch of our new Center for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Autonomy Studies (MI-UAS), a research center dedicated to elevating and informing the national debate on UAVs, autonomy and the future of conflict. Meet Dr. Caitlin Lee, Senior Fellow for UAV and Autonomy Studies and head of MI-UAS, she discusses the future of this crucial area with Dr. Tim Grayson, Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force, and David Ochmanek, Senior International/Defense Researcher at the RAND Corporation and Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Development. Links: Subscribe to our Youtube Channel: https://bit.ly/3GbA5Of Website: https://mitchellaerospacepower.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MitchellStudies Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mitchell.Institute.Aerospace LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3nzBisb Instagram: instagram.com/themitchellinstituteforaero/?hl=en #MitchellStudies #AerospaceNation #UAV #RPA #airpower  Thank you for your continued support!

Do Drones Have A Place in the Health Industry? Dr. Manish Kumar directs the Cooperative Distributed Systems Laboratory and co-directs the UAV MASTER Lab at the University of Cincinnati. His research interests include Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, robotics, decision-making and control in complex systems, multi-sensor data fusion, swarm systems, and multiple robot coordination and control. Manish and other university Researchers have innovated a way to integrate basic telehealth services into a drone, potentially expanding the bounds of what previous innovators ever envisioned with these two technologies individually.  The research team collaborated to develop a semi-autonomous prototype that can be dispatched right to people's homes. The drones are big enough to carry medicine or medical supplies but small enough to maneuver the tight confines of a home using navigational algorithms developed by UC engineers.” A novel aspect is that the drone will also integrate “cameras and a display screen so patients can talk to health care professionals from the comfort of their home,” in addition to carrying “a waterproof box the size of a small first-aid kit to deliver medical supplies or collect self-administered lab tests.” Manish is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). He has served as the Chair of the Robotics Technical Committee of the ASME's Dynamic Systems and Control Division, and as an Associate Editor of the ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurements and Control. In this episode of the Drone Radio Show Podcast, Manish talks about the University of Cincinnati's research into drones and the innovative use of drones for telehealth.

FarmBits hosts Taylor Cross and Jose Cesario welcome Dr. Michael Sama, Associate Professor at the University of Kentucky, to this episode of the FarmBits podcast. Dr. Sama is working to advance unmanned aircraft systems' functionality and envisions next generation applications for autonomous machines and robotics in animal production and agriculture. His experience is primarily in Biosystems Engineering focusing on Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles and Remote Sensing. Dr. Sama offers tremendous perspectives on UAVs technology, gaps that must be addressed, and how technologies push animal systems management forward. Tune in to this exciting episode to learn more about how UAV can improve animal production. If you like what you hear from FarmBits, go to your favorite podcast platform and leave us a 5-star rating to help others find the podcast, too! Michael's Information: Website: https://www.engr.uky.edu/directory/sama-michael E-Mail: michael.sama@uky.edu LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-sama-5208aaa0/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mpsama FarmBits Contact Information: E-Mail: farmbits@unl.edu Twitter: https://twitter.com/NEDigitalAg Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UNLFarmBits Jose's Twitter: https://twitter.com/josegcesario Jose's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jose-guilherme-cesario-pereira-pinto Taylor's Twitter: https://twitter.com/tayloranne7170 Taylor's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylor-cross Opinions expressed by the hosts and guests on this podcast are solely their own, and do not reflect the views of Nebraska Extension or the University of Nebraska - Lincoln.

Ben Caspit hosts this week Col. (res.) Ofer Haruvi. After 20 years as a pilot in Israel's air force, Haruvi co-founded FlightOps, a startup which develops operation systems for drones. Haruvi argues that Unmanned Aerial Vehicles are changing modern battlefields. "Each conflict, we see more and more UAVs. Their performance is getting better, they are more integrated into military operations, and therefore their impact on the battlefield is more significant and visible. No military operations today are conducted without UAVs. What we also see now, is that less-sophisticated armies also using them, and even irregular organizations and paramilitary groups." Haruvi notes that drones are now used for most missions. In the past, armies used them mostly for intelligence-collection. Now, however, drones are becoming weapon systems on their own. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles are being used in the RussoUkrainian War to devastating effect. In this encore presentation, we revisit the ideas and execution of Drones, in both war and peace. We discuss why learning about these now is worthwhile, how to get involved, and what may be the future of these vehicles. Jeff Voigt is a Naval Academy graduate, a former Surface Warfare Officer, and he's taught at the Academy and at OCS in Newport Rhode Island. He's a private pilot, a certificated UAV operator and a professional photographer.

(3:20) - Autonomous Drones Can Solve our Pigeon Problem(15:20) - Dolphin Tracking UAVsEpisode 60 was brought to you by Mouser Electronics, Farbod & Daniel's favorite electronics distributor. Click here to read the article providing a snapshot of UAV technologies.

One state is leaning into the idea of using unmanned aerial vehicles to help manage traffic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the pandemic hit and flying aircraft wasn't an option for pilot Jason Wolsky, he turned to flying drones. The photographer soon realized the sky's the limit when it comes to their potential, far beyond shots of pretty scenery. But, speaking of which, Jason's photo essay, showing a drone's eye view of Yukon communities, is in the spring issue of Yukon, North of Ordinary magazine.  This episode is sponsored by Air North, Yukon's Airline.

Taking to the sky is what NASA does best and NASA's technology portfolio includes design improvements for the next generation of UAVs.

In Episode 1 of Series 7 of The Rights Track, Todd is in conversation with Ben Lucas, Managing Director of the University of Nottingham's Data-Driven Discovery Initiative (3DI).  Together they discuss the threat to human rights posed by aspects of a digital world and the opportunities it can create for positive change.  Transcript Todd Landman  0:00  Welcome to The Rights Track podcast which gets the hard facts about the human rights challenges facing us today. In series seven, we're discussing human rights in a digital world. I'm Todd Landman, in our first episode of the series, I'm delighted to be joined by Ben Lucas. Ben is Managing Director of 3DI at the University of Nottingham. A hub for world class data science research, and a funder for this series of The Rights Track. To kick off the series, we're talking about some of the challenges and opportunities created in a data driven society, and particularly what all that means for our human rights. So welcome on this episode of The Rights Track. Ben Lucas  0:37 Thank you so much for having me.  Todd Landman  0:38  It's great to have you here, Ben. And I guess I want to start with just to kind of broad open question. We've been living with the internet for a number of years now. When I first came to United Kingdom, we barely had the internet and suddenly the web exploded, and it is a wonderful thing. It's transformed our lives in so many different ways. But it's also created major challenges for human rights, law and practice around the world. So my first question really is, what are the key concerns? Ben Lucas  1:04 I think that the internet is perhaps not bad in and of itself, and in that regard, it's very similar to any other new and emerging technology. We look at something like the automobile there's obviously dangers that having cars on roads introduced into society, but there's also a lot of good as far as a boost in quality of life and economic productivity and so forth. I think the central challenge and one that's perhaps getting exponentially more challenging is the fact that often more now than ever, digital technologies are moving a lot faster than what the regulatory environment can keep up with. And also very importantly, humankind's ability to fully understand the potential consequences of misuse or what happens when things go wrong. Todd Landman  1:50  So in some ways, it is interesting, you could look at Moore's Law for example, technology increases exponentially and this point you're making about the inability for the regulatory environment to keep up with that. I think that's a crucial insight you've given us because human rights in a way is a regulatory environment. We have international standards; we have domestic standards. Ben Lucas  2:08  Correct. Todd Landman  2:09  We have de jure protection of rights, de facto enjoyment of rights, but oftentimes, there's a great tension or gap between those two things. And when new issues emerge, we either need a new standard, or we need a new interpretation of those standards to be able to apply to that new thing. So, we're going to call the Internet a new thing for now and it actually, this dual use of technology is also interesting to me. When barbed wire was invented it's a great thing because you can suddenly close off bits of land and keep animals in one place. And it's wonderful for agriculture, but it's also a way to control property. And as we know, the enclosure laws in this country led to quite a lot of political conflict. But if we get back to the questions then about, you know, positive and negative aspects of the Internet, what else can you share with us? Ben Lucas  2:50 There are examples such as work that colleagues in the Rights Lab are doing, for example, on the use of the Internet and in particular social media, for exploitation. So, child exploitation, for example. There's also terrible examples of migrant exploitation. People who join groups thinking it's going to be a community to help them to get a job in another place. And that turns out to be quite dodgy, so that there's examples that are just blatantly you know, bad and terrible and terrible things that happen on the internet. But then there are other examples that are, I think, much more complicated, especially around the transmission of information and new emergent keywords we're seeing around misinformation and disinformation. The power that user generated content can have to help mobilise activists and protests for good for example, to get information out when journalists can't get in. Then the flip side of that is the potential exploitation by nefarious actors who are obviously spreading information that potentially damages democracies and otherwise stable and important institutions around the world. The other thing I would sort of cite here would be work by our colleague, Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick with his book, The Good Drone. That's a really interesting contrast here. So, a book about the use of UAVs and where on the one hand, if we think about a UAV that's armed. Todd Landman  4:12  That's an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for our listeners. Ben Lucas  4:14 Yeah, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. And if we think about one of those drones that's armed and also potentially autonomous moving forward to some that's potentially you know, very, very scary. On the other hand, this same basic sort of technology platform could provide cheap and accessible technology to help mobilise social movements to help journalists for example. And so I think any debate around the good and bad of technology, that there's some really interesting and very complicated contrast involved. Todd Landman  4:43   And you know, you see drones being used for beautiful visual displays over you know, presidential inaugurations, for example. Ben Lucas  4:48 Exactly. Todd Landman  4:49  You see this big, colourful display, but that same swarm technology of UAVs can actually be used for combat for warfare, etc. And we know from the work on human rights, modern slavery and human trafficking that, you know, taking pictures of the Earth using satellites with swarms of satellites is very good, but then that can also be used for for ill as well and I think that challenge of the dual use of technology will always be with us. I wonder now if we could just turn to another set of questions, which is, is the difference between life online and life offline. Do we think that human rights rules are different for online and offline life or roughly the same? Ben Lucas  5:25  A lot of people argue that online is a mirror of offline, although there are those potentially really negative amplification effects involved in the bad stuff that happens in the real world so to speak, when you move it online because you can take something that's very small and suddenly make it very big. I think there's a degree of it really just being a mirror and potentially an amplifier for the offline. Again, I think the central problem when we talk about human rights and the general protection of users of the Internet, is again really this fact that the technology is just moving so fast. That regulation both it's you know, how it's developed, initiated, interpreted going forward, the tech just moves so much faster. And then I think what we're seeing now is really kind of a shock that internet users get after the fact but it's maybe the sort of Newton's third law effect. You know, tech moved so fast was so aggressive and so free in the way it kind of there was sort of a wild west of how we, you know, captured and used data. And now we're just sort of experiencing the backlash that you would expect. One other sort of complicated dimension here is that we really need regulation to protect users of the internet but of course, that's then balanced against examples we see around the world of the way the internet's regulated being used to oppress and suppress populations. There's a really important balance that we need to achieve there. We need to protect everybody online. We need to preserve freedom of access to information, freedom of speech. We don't want people to get hurt online, but we also don't want to do that in an oppressive way. Maybe one thing that's really different as far as human rights online and offline, will emerge in the future around artificial intelligence. The big question I think that researchers in artificial intelligence are dealing with be they folks who are working on the algorithmics or be they the colleagues in law who are working on the ethics and the legal side of it. The really big question is around sort of transparency and tractability what's actually happening in this magic algorithmic box? Can we make sure that people can have appropriate checks and balances on what these you know this this new class of machines is doing? Todd Landman  7:32  Well, it's interesting because there is this observation about people who, who who use AI and design those algorithms that the AI solution and the algorithm that's been designed reflects many of the biases of the coder in the first place. Ben Lucas  7:44 Exactly. Todd Landman  7:425 And who are these coders? Well, they come from a particular social demographic and therefore you're replicating their positionality through AI, yet AI is presented as this neutral machine that simply calculates things and gives you the best deals on whatever platform you might be shopping. Ben Lucas  7:58  Precisely. And a lot of these you know, if we think about machine learning in general, where we're training an algorithm, essentially a type of machine to do something it involves a training set that involves a training data set. Where is that coming from? Who's putting it together? Exactly what biases are present in that? And now, and this is probably one of the most pronounced differences when we think about sort of human rights offline and online. I think a really big issue going forward is going to be that of AI discrimination, basically, and we're seeing that in everything from financial services - you know a machine is making a decision about does somebody get a loan, does somebody get a good credit score, applications and facial recognition technology. Who are they trying to find? What are they trying to do with that tech? And this AI discrimination issue is going to be one of the, one of the key things about that online/offline contrast. Todd Landman  8:50  Yeah, you know running right through all of our human rights law discourses, one about you know no discrimination, right that there should not be discrimination by type of person. Ben Lucas  8:59  Correct. Todd Landman  9:00  And yet, we know in practice, there's law discrimination already. And in a way AI can only amplify or maybe accelerate some of that discrimination. So it's a good cautionary tale about you know, the, the, shall we say, the naive embrace of AI as a as a solution to our problems. I wonder if I might just move forward a little bit about the cross-border nature of the internet, one of the promises of the internet is that nation state boundaries disappear, that people can share information across space and time we've just lived through a pandemic, but we're able to talk to each other in meetings all around the world without having to get in any kind of form of transport. But what sort of things should we thinking about in terms of the cross-border nature of the internet? Ben Lucas  9:38  I think that I would encourage all listeners today to go back to Alain de Botton's book, The News; a User's Manual, and also some of the talks he gave around that period, I think around 2014. We can have a totally new interpretation of some of those very relevant ideas, where we are now in the present and I'm talking about what some people are calling the threat of the post truth era. We've seen a completely unprecedented explosion in the information that we have access to the ability to suddenly take somebody's very small idea, good or bad, and project to a massive audience. But with that comes, you know, the vulnerabilities around misinformation and disinformation campaigns and the threat that that leads to, you know, potentially threatening democracies threatening, you know, various populations around the world. And another important branch of work that we're doing is studying campaigns and user generated content, and actually studying what's being said, at scale within these large audiences. We've done quite some work, Todd and I are with the Rights Lab for example, looking at analysing campaigns on Twitter. And this really comes down to trying to get into, exactly as you would study any other marketing campaign, looking at how do you cut through clutter? How do you achieve salience? But then also through to more practical functional matters of campaigns such as you know, driving guaranteed region awareness, policy influence donations, but we're just doing that at a much larger scale, which is facilitated, obviously, by the fact that we have access to social media data. Todd Landman  11:16  It's unmediated supply of information that connects the person who generates the content to the person who consumes it. Ben Lucas  11:23  Yeah. Todd Landman  11:24  Earlier you were talking about the media you're talking about academia and others, you know, there's always some sort of accountability peer review element to that before something goes into the public domain. Whereas here you're talking about a massive democratisation of technology, a massive democratisation of content generation, but actually a collapse in the mediated form of that so that anybody can say anything, and if it gains traction, and in many ways, if it's repeated enough, and enough enough people believe it's actually true. And of course, we've seen that during the pandemic, but we see it across many other elements of politics, society, economy, etc, and culture. And yet, you know, there we are in this emerging post truth era, not really sure what to do about that. We see the proliferation of media organisations, the collapse of some more traditional media organisations, like broadsheet newspapers and others have had to change the way they do things and catch up. But that peer review element, that kind of sense check on the content that's being developed is gone in a way. Ben Lucas  12:18  Yep and it's potentially very scary because there's no editor in chief for, you know, someone's social media posts. On top of that, they probably have or could potentially have a far greater reach than a traditional media outlet. And I think the other thing is, I mean, we were kind of for warned on many of these issues. The NATO Review published quite some interesting work on Disinformation and Propaganda in the context of hybrid warfare, I think around sort of starting in 2016, or ramping up in 2016, which is, you know, also very fascinating read. And then the flip side again of this connectivity that we have now, I guess the good side, you know, is when user generated content is used in a good way. And again, that's examples like, you know, examples we've seen around the world with the mobilisation of protests for good causes or fighting for democracy, grassroots activism, and in particular, that ability to get information out when journalists can't get in. Todd Landman  13:15  You know it's interesting we did a study years ago, colleagues and I, on the the mobilisation against the Ben Ali regime in Tunisia, and we were particularly interested in the role of social media and Facebook platform for doing that. And it turned out that a. there was a diaspora living outside the country interested in the developments within the country but within the country, those who were more socially active on these platforms more likely to turn up to an event precisely because they could work out how many other people were going to go so it solves that collective action problem of you know, my personal risk and cost associated protesting is suddenly reduced because I know 100 other people are going to go. And you know, we did a systematic study of the motivations and mobilisation of those folks, you know, try, trying to oust the Ben Ali regime, but it gets to the heart of what you're saying that this this you know, user generated content can have a tech for good or a social good element to it. Ben Lucas  14:08  Exactly. And I think another important note here, that's maybe some sort of upside is that, you know, there are a lot of academics in a lot of different fields working on understanding this massive proliferation of connectivity as well. In a kind of, I guess, strange silver lining to many of the new problems that this technology may or may not have caused is that it's also given rise to the emergence of new fields like so we're talking about Infodemiology, now we've got some amazing studies happening on the subjects of echo chambers and confirmation bias and these types of type of themes and I think it's really given rise to some really interesting science and research and I have some some confidence that we've got, even if we don't have those, again, editors in chief on social media, I have confidence because we certainly have some, you know, wonderful scientists coming at this scenario from a lot of different angles, which I think also helps to sort of moderate and bring some of the downsides to the public attention. Todd Landman  15:04  Yeah, and let me jump to research now, because I'm really interested in the type of research that people are doing in 3DI here at the university. Can you just tell us a little bit about some of the projects and how they're utilising this new infodemiology as you call it, or new grasp and harnessing of these technologies? Ben Lucas  15:23  Yeah, so 3DI as the data driven discovery initiative, we're basically interested in all things applied data science. We have, I think, quite a broad and really wonderful portfolio of activity that we represent here at the University of Nottingham, in our Faculty of Social Science. Faculty of Social Sciences. This is everything from economics, to law, to business, to geography, and everything in between. We take a very broad exploratory approach to the kinds of questions that we're interested in solving, I would say. But we do tend to focus a lot on what we call local competitive advantage. So we're very interested in the region that we operate - Nottinghamshire - sectors and industry clusters where they have questions that can be answered via data science. Todd Landman  16:08  What sort of questions? What sort of things are they interested in? Ben Lucas  16:11  This is everything from the development of new financial services to really driving world class, new practice in digital marketing, developing and sort of advancing professions like law, where there is a very big appetite to bring in new sort of tech and data driven solutions into that space but a need to achieve those new sort of fusions and synergies. So that, that side is obviously very, you know, commercially focused, but very importantly, a big part of our portfolio is SDG focus. So Sustainable Development Goal focused, and we've got, I think, some really fascinating examples in that space. My colleagues in our N-Lab, which is a new demographic laboratory, based in the business school, are working on food poverty, for example. And they're doing this in what I think is really exciting way. They've teamed up with a food sharing app. So, this is very much driven by the start-up world. It's very much a marketplace offering. The platform is set up to combat, hopefully both hunger, but also food waste. So, we're talking SDG 2, and we're talking SDG 12, sustainable production and consumption. And they've then been able to expand this work not just from understanding the platform - how it works, not just helping the platform, how it can work and function better. But they've been able to take that data from the private sector and apply it to questions in the public sector. So, they are doing a lot of wonderful work. Todd Landman  17:37  So, people have a bit of surplus food, and they go on to the app and they say I've got an extra six eggs, and someone else goes on the app and says I need six eggs and then there's some sort of exchange, almost like an eBay for food. Ben Lucas  17:47  Exactly. Todd Landman  17:48  But as you say, people who are hungry get access to food for much less than going to the shop and buying it and. Ben Lucas  17:55  Or free. Todd Landman  17:56  And people with the extra six eggs don't chuck them out at the end of the week. They've actually given them to somebody right? Ben Lucas 18:01  Exactly. Todd Landman 18:02  And then from that you generate really interesting data that can be geo-located and filled into Maps, because then you can work out where the areas of deprivation then where people have, say, a higher probability of seeking less expensive food. Ben Lucas  18:15  Precisely. Yeah. And I think that's also a good segue into you know, so one of the other flagship projects we have is 3DI, which is tracktheeconomy.ac.uk where we've been looking at, again, taking data from the private sector, but also government data and looking at how economic deprivation might have been exacerbated or not or how it changed. In particular focused on COVID and what sort of shocks that brought about, but with the intention of taking that forward. And the biggest sort of revelations that we've had working on that project have been really around the need for better geographical granularity. The fact that a lot of our national statistics or you know, marketing research assessments that are made by companies are based on you know, bigger geographical chunks. Actually, if we can get more granular and get into some of that heterogeneity that might exist at smaller geographical levels, you know, that's that's really, really important. That really, really changes a lot of policy formulation, sort of scenarios and questions that policy makers have.  Todd Landman  19:19 One of the big problems when when you aggregate stuff, you lose that specificity and precisely the areas that are in most need. So I wonder in this research that your your colleagues been doing and that you've been doing, you know, what's the end game? What are we working towards here? And how is that going to help us in terms of it from a human rights perspective? Ben Lucas  19:41  I think speaking from a personal perspective, when I was a student when I was first taught economics, I was taught in a way that really highlighted that this is you know, economics was was just something that everyone as a citizen should know even if you don't want to become an economist or an econometrician, you need to know it as a citizen. The same now very much applies when we talk about technologies that might not be familiar to all folks like AI data science. I think there's a lot to be said, as far as what I would say is a big sort of mission for 3DI is to really boost the accessibility of technical skills to really benefit people in terms of prosperity, but also just in terms of understanding as citizens what's actually going on. You know, if machines are going to be making decisions for us in the future, that we have a right to understand how those decisions are made. Also, if we think about other challenges, in the sort of AI and automation space around, you know, potentially people losing jobs because it's become automated. I think we have a right to know how and why that is. I think another big sort of an extension of that point is really in learning and getting technical skills out there to people for you know, potentially benefiting prosperity and the labour market. We really need to keep that very tightly paired with critical thinking skills. You know, we're very good as academics, thinking about things and breaking them down and analysing them especially you know, we as social scientists, you know, coding is probably going to be language of the future to borrow your quote Todd, but who's going to use that coding and what for? So I think we need to keep people in a good mindset and be using this this this technology and this power for good. And then the last point would be as something that's been done very well on this podcast in the past, is getting people to think both researchers and again, definitely citizens to think about the inextricably intertwined nature of the Sustainable Development Goals. You know, so for us at 3DI we're looking for those problems at scale, where we have measurements at scale, where we can do data science and crack big challenges, but I think whether you're doing you know, much more focused work or work with the SDGs at scale, it's all really interconnected. An obvious example, what is climate change going to do for you know, potentially displacing populations and the flow on, the horrible flow on effects that's going to have? So I really, I think that's yes, sort of our our mission, I would say, moving forward. Todd Landman  22:07  That's fantastic. So you've covered a lot of ground, Ben, it's been fascinating discussion, you know, from the dual use of technology and this age old question of the good and the bad of any kind of new technological advance. You've covered all things around the, you know, the mobilizational potential problems with post truth era. The expanse and proliferation of multiple sources of information in a sense in the absence of of that mediated or peer reviewed element. And this amazing gap between the speed of technology and the slowness of our regulatory frameworks, all of which have running right through them major challenges for the human rights community. So we're really excited about this series because we're going to be talking to a lot of people around precisely the issues you set out for us and many more. In the coming months we've got Martin Sheinin who is a great human rights expert, former UN Special Rapporteur, but now a global, British Academy global professor at the Bonavero Institute at the University of Oxford working on precisely these challenges for human rights law, and this new digital world. And that's going to be followed by a podcast with Diane Coyle, who's the Bennett Professor of Economics, University of Cambridge. It's interesting because she wrote a book in 1997 called The Weightless World, which is about this emerging digital transformation coming to the economy, and has now written a new book called Cogs and Monsters. It's a great take on the modern study of economics and the role of digital transformation. But for now, I just want to thank you, Ben, for joining us. It's exciting to hear about the work of 3DI. We appreciate the support of 3DI for this series of The Rights Track. We look forward to the guests and I think by the end of the series we would like to have you back on for some reflections about what we've learned over this series of the Rights Track. Ben Lucas  23:50  Happy to. Thank-you for having me. Christine Garrington  23:53  Thanks for listening to this episode of The Rights Track, which was presented by Todd Landman and produced by Chris Garrington of Research Podcasts with funding from 3DI. You can find detailed show notes on the website at www.RightsTrack.org. And don't forget to subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts to access future and earlier episodes.      

Season 2 - Episode 7 //This week we discuss the continued build-up of military forces on Ukraine's borders, the impact of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles on modern warfare, and more! //Featuring @KyleJGlen, @air_intel and @Osinttechnical //Guest appearances from @AceJaceu //Made in collaboration with the UK Defence JournalSupport us at: https://www.patreon.com/theosintbunker

On this episode of the I See Dead Plants Podcast, host Ed Zaworski speaks with Dr. Xavier Phillips about detecting the impact of fungicides on soybeans using unmanned aerial vehicles (also known as drones). This interview is based on research published in the journal Agronomy, called “Estimating Soybean Radiation Use Efficiency Using a UAV in Iowa.” Dr. Phillips is currently a field crop researcher with Syngenta. Additional Resources: Remote Sensing in Agriculture Special Issue of the journal Agronomy. Fungicide Efficacy for Control of Soybean Foliar Diseases from the Crop Protection Network. Fungicide Use in Field Crops web book from the Crop Protection Network. How to cite this podcast Zaworski, E. (Host) and Phillips, X. (Interviewee). Flying Saucers and Fungicides: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Used to Measure Soybean Stress. S1:E5 (Podcast). November 17, 2021. In I See Dead Plants. Crop Protection Network. Https://www.ipm.iastate.edu/podcasts/i-see-dead-plants/flying-saucers-and-fungicides-measuring-soybean-stress-unmanned-aerial

Time for the first of two Patreon-fueled shout-outs: Do you suffer from Classical Music Insecurity Complex? That is, you like classical music you hear, but you feel intimidated by all the stuffy etiquette and specialized knowledge? Suffer no more!WTJU is hosting Classical Listening Parties, a series of four free, casual events on Tuesdays in November. These four events are led by Chelsea Holt, pianist, teacher, and one of WTJU’s newest and youngest classical announcers. She’ll guide you through all the eras of classical music beginning Tuesday, Nov 9th, 7 p.m.: Early & Baroque. For a list of the others, visit wtju.net to learn more and sign up! On today’s program:Development updates from Albemarle’s Pantops Community Advisory Committee including an update on transit expansion Home sales were down slightly in the third quarter of 2021 according to the Charlottesville Area Association of RealtorsStatistics on early voting in the Charlottesville areaThe Charlottesville Fire Department will deploy dronesAnd the 5th and Avon CAC gets an update on Albemarle’s future Biscuit Run ParkEarly voting resultsElection Day is tomorrow, and the time for early voting is over. While the result aren’t in, there are some significant numbers to review. In Charlottesville, 6,241 ballots were recorded in early voting. That’s according to data made available by the Virginia Public Access Project. There are 33,549 registered voters. And the rest of the area: Albemarle has 18,545 early votes recorded. There are 81,738 registered voters. Louisa has 5,170 early votes recorded. There are 28,177 registered voters. Fluvanna has 5,790 early votes recorded. There are 20,282 registered voters. Greene County has 3,442 early votes recorded. There are 14,394 registered voters. Check out the Virginia Public Access Project for a comparison of how that compares with early voting in 2017. Resources: Department of Elections page with registration statisticsVPAP Early Voting pageCAAR reportHome sales were down slightly in the region in the third quarter of 2021, but sales prices continued to increase with a median increase of 12 percent. That’s according to a report out this morning from the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors, which covers Albemarle, Charlottesville as well as Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, and Nelson counties. There were 1,393 homes sold between July 1 and September 30, a four percent decrease from the same period in 2020. The median sales price was $365,000, $38,000 more than in 2020. The report notes inventory is limited. “There were 643 active listings across the CAAR footprint at the end of the third quarter, 30 percent fewer listings than this time last year,” reads the report. When looked at by jurisdiction, transactions in Charlottesville were up 28 percent with 187 residential transactions. Albemarle saw 598 sales, or a three percent increase. Sales in Louisa were down 18 percent and sales in Nelson were down 28 percent. I’ll have an anecdotal summary of Charlottesville’s transactions coming up in a future edition for paid subscribers to this newsletter. Check out September’s here. More municipal dronesThe Charlottesville Fire Department will begin to use drone aircraft in their responses to public safety calls. In a release today, the department announced that several of its employees have completed a three-day drone pilot certificate at the Piedmont Virginia Community College. “As a 21st-century all-hazards department, CFD is now prepared to implement [Unmanned Aerial Vehicles] to support building inspections, firefighting operations, swift-water rescue, response to trails, and other emergencies,” reads the announcement. The next step will be to update procedures to incorporate the drones into operational policies. The department will be using DJI Mavic 2 drones which including thermal imaging cameras.You’re listening to Charlottesville Community Engagement. Time for a second Patreon-supporter shout-out. In today’s subscriber-supported Public Service Announcement, the Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards continues to offer classes and events this fall and winter to increase your awareness of our wooden neighbors and to prepare for the future. This week there is a three part class on Winter Invasive Plant Identification and Treatment. The first begins tomorrow virtually with identification. A field session will be held at Azalea Park this Saturday. Learn more at charlottesvilleareatreestewards.org. (register for Tuesday’s session) For the rest of today’s newsletter, development updates from Albemarle County. We start first with the October 25 meeting of the Pantops Community Advisory Committee. Supervisor Bea LaPisto Kirtley had the task of providing the new information, such as the next tenant for the former Malloy Ford building on the north side of U.S. 250. (Watch the CAC meeting)“The old Malloy Ford site, that is being renovated and there are permits for signs for Flow Automotive, Flow Volkswagen,” LaPisto Kirtley said. Plans for a new hotel to be built in the parking lot of the Rivanna Ridge Shopping Center have been through two sets of review.“There is an associated special use permit to remove a previous condition for a landscaped buffer where the hotel is planned for,”  LaPisto Kirley said. An additional community meeting will be held on the Overlook Hotel project in the future. Albemarle transit expansion Discover Transit Month may be over, but the input period for Albemarle County’s Transit Expansion Study is still underway. Boris Palchik is with Foursquare ITP, one of the companies hired to conduct the work.“The expansion study is meant to identify short-range opportunities to expand transit service in key population employments in the county,” Palchik said. These are the U.S. 29 north corridor, Pantops, and Monticello.  The study comes at a time when Charlottesville Area Transit is also reviewing its opportunities in the U.S. 29 north area. “While there are a lot of different ways to provide transit service and to improve transit service, each of those ways that we are considering has its own ideal operating environment and when we look at fixed-route transit service which is what CAT operates today, fixed route transit service is really dependent on density,” Palchik said.Another key factor is a functional sidewalk system that allows people to get to and from stops. Palchik said initial work in the study has reviewed existing land use patterns. Fixed-route service is recommended when there is a density of five people or five jobs per acre. Currently the north side of U.S. 250 on Pantops falls short of that threshold, but that could change in the future. The preliminary study recommends an additional fixed-route service in this area. “This additional route, additional fixed-route would serve the growing residential population up there as well as some of the key destinations like the Social Security office,” Palchik said Charlottesville Area Transit has prepared route changes which would eliminate Route 10 service on Stony Point Road. However, there is no date set for when those changes would be made. The preliminary study does not indicate who would run that service but it would require at least one additional vehicle. Another recommendation is study a demand-response service. “Demand-response-service is buses that can come to a passenger wherever they are, sort of a a point to point service that can take them to their home,” Palchik said. This can also be provided by the private sector but micro transit technology is seeking to extend that convenience with public transportation.“The main difference between Uber and Lyft and what we call micro transit in the transit industry is that micro transit has a dedicated fleet of vehicles so you have purpose-built vehicles that are designed for transit service, designed for share rides,” Palchik said. Fares on micro transit would be regulated and more predictable than the cost of private sector rides. The study recommends two vehicles to be operating at any one time. A survey to get additional input is open through November 18. There’s an English and a Spanish version. (take the survey)Biscuit Run ParkLet’s go back in time for a bit further back to the October 21, 2021 meeting of the 5th and Avon Community Advisory Committee. They got an update on planning for the county’s Biscuit Run Park from the Albemarle planners. The county has a long-term ground lease with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation to operate and build what had been expected to be a state park. Tim Padalino is the county’s parks planner. (download his presentation)“In 2018, the final park master plan was reviewed by the Board of Supervisors at a public hearing and adopted with DCR’s endorsement and blessing,” Padalino said. Currently, the park is not open to the general public. Padalino said that’s because the county does not have the staff to do the necessary maintenance.“And in terms of public safety, there’s no signage and there are no maps for a large, relatively wild and undeveloped landscape, and there’s incomplete cell phone coverage,” Padalino said. The land is mostly undeveloped, which means its serving as a piece of green infrastructure almost entirely covered by forest. “And that’s effectively a carbon sink that’s purifying the air and sequestering carbon dioxide in a way that is supporting the climate action plan,” Padalino said.Work to open the first phase is underway. That includes an entrance into a parking area off of Route 20 about 500 feet south of the southern end of Avon Street Extended. There will be a parking area and bathrooms. “It is one of the county’s top strategic plan goals as identified by the Board of Supervisors, and that’s apparent in that this is a fully-funded project through the county’s Capital Improvement Program,” Padalino said. “The budget is about $2.1 million.” Padalino said if all approvals are granted, construction of this could be completed by the end of next summer. Planning for trails is also underway. There are about nine to ten miles of existing trails. Tucker Rollins is the county’s trail maintenance supervisor. “What we’re hoping to create is a trail system that will make lots of different users happy,” Rollins said. “We’re expecting lots of hikers, trail-runners, mountain-bikers, bird-watchers, lot of native plant folks. So we’re trying to create something that will allow all of these different types of people to get in there and spread out and be happy.”Rollins said the park’s size can accommodate about 35 miles of trails while leaving lots of space to be left untouched. Parks staff has been working with the Charlottesville Area Mountain Bike Club on a multi-use loop that would be open around the same time the parking lot opens. Planning is also under way for dedicated mountain bike trails, one of which will be funded by CAMBC.  Watch the whole 5th and Avon CAC meeting to review the whole presentation. (watch)Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Made in AZ: The Rise of Arizona’s Manufacturing Sector E19 Made in Arizona. It's a phrase that is becoming more familiar as the state's manufacturing sector continues to grow and add a rapidly increasing number of manufacturing jobs. Between the development of technologies improving efficiency and reducing costs, automation of manufacturing processes and a business-friendly […] The post Made in AZ: The Rise of Arizona’s Manufacturing Sector E19 appeared first on Business RadioX ®.

Is India the next hot spot for unmanned business? Ankit Mehta is Co-founder & CEO of ideaForge, India's largest manufacturer of drones for defense, homeland security and industrial applications. Founded in 2007, the company has a consistent market share of over 90% in the Security & Surveillance segment. It is also the first company to indigenously develop and manufacture Vertical Take-off and Landing UAVs in India. IdeaForge is the pioneer in the UAV industry in India and has multiple IPs to its credit, including the then world's lightest autopilot in 2009.  The company has deployed over 1000 systems and has trained more than 1400 pilots in defense, public safety and security.  The company is continually innovating and experimenting to transform its aerial platforms, to offer greater performance, higher reliability and autonomy. At ideaForge, Ankit is leading the charge to deliver cutting-edge technology that is Made-in-India and second to none.  One of those innovations is the IdeaForge SWITCH UAV, a first of its kind VTOL and fixed wing hybrid Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. SWITCH features advanced flight time, higher safety and simple operation with additional fail-safe redundancies.  It is used for long duration operations, long endurance surveillance and security, inspection and photogrammetry. It is so good, the Indian Army selected the Switch above all others earlier this year to strengthen its unmanned presence. In this edition of the Drone Radio Show, Ankit talks about IdeaForge, the Switch UAV and how the company became India's leading drone manufacturer.

Drones are finding more applications than ever before. But is your privacy protected if you have a drone-obsessed neighbour?

Jason Braverman is the CTO at SkyX Systems, a company that is revolutionizing the way we manage long-range assets. SkyX (www.skyx.com) integrates AI with custom-built drone systems to accumulate and analyze data on assets like pipelines, railways, and more. Their long-range drones are able to collect comprehensive data on assets that would normally take humans days to check. In this episode, Jason discusses the exciting future that SkyX is building, and how the SpaceX ISS launch makes him confident that it won't be long before privately built Unmanned Aerial Vehicles will change the way that we live. The future of UAV looks thrilling and I can't wait for you to join us on this ride!

In this episode of The STEM Brothers podcast we take a look at Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) related career opportunities that have been [...]

Drones and law enforcement, Disney and Google drone patents, a call for anti-drone systems, and a drone that looks and flys like a drone. The Bionic Bird News Modesto Police Unveil New Crime-Fighting Drones The Modesto, California police department has a DJI Phantom painted like a patrol car and recently they used it to track a suspected robber. Three officer pilots will use the drones for official police work only. Fox News reports: “The Modesto Police Department said their drone footage is subject to the same rules as their officers' body cameras.” Cops get eyes in the sky as N.J. county deputizes drones A New Jersey county has an exemption to operate drones for emergency response missions. Initially, there was just one pilot - a police officer with a fixed-wing pilot's license. But now, other public officials can fly drones after taking an aviation ground school class at a local college. They have used drones to search for a homicide suspect, a missing person, and a berm breach. 1st-ever civilian drone death? Woman killed in police pursuit after UAV spotted over prison Police received a report of a drone flying over Wandsworth prison in England. Officers chased a car seen leaving the scene, which crashed and the driver, a woman in her 20s, was pronounced dead at the scene.  She may be the first person to die in a non-military drone-related incident. Disney Might Be Building Drones To Use In Its Theme Parks Disney applied for three drone-related patents: Aerial Display System with Floating Pixels, which contemplates using drones as floating pixels (or flixels) that could replace fireworks. Aerial Display System with Floating Projection Screens, which describes drones that can carry a full-sized projector and a screen for images and video. Aerial Display System with Marionettes Articulated and Supported by Airborne Devices, which explains a swarm of multicopter drones operating marionettes and puppets. Google wants to have drones buzzing around offices, projecting our faces at meetings Google was awarded a patent (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Collaboration) for a small drone fitted with a projector and optionally a small screen that can be used as a mobile telepresence system in an office environment. Interior Ministry announces tender for drone-killer system Czech police don't have a way to bring rogue drones down, so the Czech Interior Ministry has announced a public tender for an anti-drone system. It would be used to take down drones in no-fly zones and other restricted areas. This Startup Wants to Build a Drone-Proof Fence to Protect Your Property The founder of Drone Go Home believes that the proliferation of inexpensive consumer drones will lead to the need for electronic perimeter fences around properties, such as prisons, power grids, and backyards. The company has a video, Drone Go Home Proof of Concept Demonstration. Video of the Week This drone looks and flies just like a bird The Bionic Bird is a drone designed to look and fly just like a real bird. The drone can fly up to 12 miles per hour for 10 minutes at a time. A patented control system uses wing bending, enabling fast and instantaneous maneuvers.  

The President and Congress envision thousands of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles filling US airspace. What are the possible consequences for the "friendly skies, safety and privacy?