The age of the ‘crypto bro’ could be coming to an end according to new data.
Women are diving into the male-dominated crypto space in increasing numbers with exchange Bitstamp registering a 198 per cent increase in female investors on its platform this year.
In the first three quarters of 2021 trade volume generated by female investors increased by 58 per cent over the same period last year, with women aged 30-35 found to be the most likely to trade on Bitstamp while the greatest volume generated came from women aged between 55 and 60.
Commenting on the figures, Bitstamp’s Chief Commercial Officer Mel Tsiaprazis, said, “it is a great step forward to see increasing numbers of women participating both as individual investors, and founding their own trading firms. 
Continue reading: https://www.cityam.com/crypto-bros-step-aside-as-female-investors-dive-into-digital-assets/

Financial advisors and the digital assets industry share a lot in common. They both deal with investments, technology, and the needs, wants, fears and concerns of people everywhere.
But they also share an unfortunate lack of diversity.
Only around one in five financial advisors are women, according to the CFP Board. Anecdotally, after years of talking to people in the space, I’ve come across only a handful of women in leadership roles in the digital assets industry.
Now, this may be as much technology’s fault as finance’s because diversifying tech in terms of both gender and race has been a decades-long struggle, just as it has in the financial industry. Perhaps the digital assets industry has inherited one of the worst attributes of both worlds – the relative lack of diversity of their participants.
A diversity issue in digital assets
“This is not a new world – blockchain and crypto are just part of it,” said Jacob Mullins, managing director of Shasta Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm active in the blockchain space.
Continue reading: https://www.yahoo.com/now/crypto-becoming-more-diverse-135000650.html

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird. It’s a plane! It’s…a swarm of robots?
Swarm robotics may be the future in agriculture, allowing farmers and ranchers to adjust the number of robots necessary to perform a variety of tasks.
“Agricultural robots, when used properly, can improve product quantity and quality while lowering the cost,” Dr. Kiju Lee, Texas A&M University associate engineering professor, said.
Lee is part of a multidisciplinary team of Texas A&M University System researchers working to establish a configurable, adaptive and scalable swarm (CASS) system of unmanned ground and aerial robots that will work collaboratively.
The work is funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture National Robotics Initiative 3.0 program.
Other researchers participating in the project are Dr. Muthukumar Bagavathiannan, Texas A&M AgriLife Research weed scientist; Dr. Juan Landivar, center director at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Corpus Christi; Dr. John Cason, AgriLife Research peanut breeder; Dr. Robert Hardin, agricultural engineering assistant professor; Dr. Luis Tedeschi, AgriLife Research ruminant nutritionist; Dr. Dugan Um, associate engineering professor, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi; and Dr. Mahendra Bhandari, AgriLife Research crop physiologist.
They are developing what Lee called “technical and theoretical groundwork” for a swarm system, including a digital twin simulator for low- and high-fidelity simulations and a user-friendly interface for farmers.
Optimal applications of fertilizer, water, herbicides and more are possible through adaptive swarm robotics. She noted using smaller, unmanned machines can reduce soil compaction and better target herbicide-resistant weeds through nonchemical methods.
Continue reading: https://texasfarmbureau.org/swarm-robotics-could-help-farmers-and-ranchers/

SYDNEY : Paramedics with jetpacks, border police in flying cars and city workers commuting by drone all sound like science fiction - but the concepts are part of a advanced air mobility (AAM) market that is expected to be worth as much as US$17 billion by 2025.
As urbanisation leaves city streets congested and advances in technology allow for vehicles considered impossible just decades ago, using the sky for small-scale aircraft has become increasingly attractive.
"We can't continue to use road transport; 3D mobility is really important," Anna Kominik, Asia Pacific Director at Wisk, said in an interview broadcast on Thursday at the Reuters Next conference.
Wisk, a unit of Boeing Co., has been testing Cora, an autonomous electric aircraft that takes off and lands like a helicopter, at its base in Tekapo, New Zealand, for four years.
Wisk is liaising with regulators, including the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, to get approval for public use of the air taxi, which can carry two passengers up to 100 kilometres (62 miles) at speeds of up to 150 km/h (93 mph).
"Sixty-seven percent of the world's population will be cities by 2030 ,so that ground infrastructure can't keep up and is costly to overhaul," Kominik said in a panel discussion recorded on Nov. 5. "We have to move to the sky as a resource."
Netherlands-based PAL-V is keeping one foot on the ground while taking to the air. Its two-seat gyroplane road vehicle Liberty, which has a maximum speed of 180 km/h and a flying range of 400 km, received approval for use on European roads this year.
Continue reading: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/jetpacks-flying-cars-and-taxi-drones-transports-future-skies-2356031

Did you buy your first drone this Black Friday/Cyber Monday to explore this incredibly rewarding hobby or to give the perfect gift to a gadget-loving friend or family member? Now, it’s time to learn how to fly it safely and responsibly.
The first thing to remember is that a drone is not a “toy.” It’s an aircraft. You are the pilot, and it is your responsibility to keep the airspace as well as the general public safe, even if your drone weighs less than 250 grams.
In the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulates drone use with rules that every operator must follow. And seeing how drones are flying off the shelves this holiday season, the FAA has launched “12 Days of Drones” safety campaign to educate people about the rules, regulations, and best practices of operating a drone.
Related: FAA updates safety guidelines for recreational drone flyers
Over the next 12 days, the FAA will show you how to be a responsible drone pilot. The government agency will share important drone-safety information and resources that will help future pilots stay up-to-date with the latest rules. These safety messages will be posted on the FAA Drone Zone Twitter and Facebook accounts throughout the week, starting today. 
The “12 Days of Drones” campaign will run each weekday from December 2-17, with each day dedicated to a specific drone safety topic:
Day 1 (12/2): What do I need to know before I fly?
Day 2 (12/3): Register and mark your drone
Day 3 (12/6): Test requirements for recreational flyers: The Recreational UAS Safety Test (TRUST)
Day 4 (12/7): Test requirements: Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate
Day 5 (12/8): Where can I fly?
Continue reading: https://dronedj.com/2021/12/02/new-drone-pilot-faa-12-days-safety-campaign/

Marketing is crucial in any industry, and your cryptocurrency business is no exception. Cryptocurrency marketing helps your business grow and prosper. Previously blockchain was all about a fintech-focused company, and it has evolved in the last few years. Now blockchain is everything taken from supply chain management to publishing content. And that is why there are thousands of cryptocurrency businesses taking shape everywhere.
Marketing for other businesses is quite different than managing a crypto marketing project. As there is a lot more competition, marketers need to consider several factors to ace the marketing strategies in the cryptocurrency business. In this article, we will talk about the proven cryptocurrency marketing strategies that will lead to business growth.
Top Crypto Marketing Strategies You Cannot Miss
Leverage The Power Of Social Media
Social media is probably the most powerful tool in marketing today. In the modern era, we get to know about many things using social media. And that is why social media is the most crucial tool for crypto marketing as well. You can connect with many crypto communities and also know about their projects using social media. Apart from the traditional social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, and Twitter, businesses can also use crypto social networks for business growth.
Continue reading: https://ripplecoinnews.com/top-8-effective-marketing-strategies-for-growth-in-your-cryptocurrency-business/

Cryptocurrencies are increasingly becoming popular subjects among digital marketers. Bitcoin and other virtual currencies are the basis of many digital marketing campaigns targeting new users worldwide. Besides, Bitcoin adoption is growing and several businesses are constantly seeking more creative ways to attract online and crypto-friendly customers. 
While other promotional techniques exist, digital marketing is one of the most effective ways to interact with global audiences. That makes it an essential tool for Bitcoin since the latter also targets businesses and individuals worldwide. The following article explores the Bitcoin and digital marketing relationship. 
How Bitcoin Can Impact Digital Marketing 
Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have an enormous influence on the digital marketing landscape. Looking at the existing digital marketing practices related to crypto can help you to understand the effects better. Nevertheless, here is how Bitcoin impacts digital marketing.
Continue reading: https://gazette.com/sponsored/bitcoin-and-digital-marketing/article_e135e804-53a6-11ec-b8b8-ffed077b1dfd.html

The recent boom of NFTs has led many to think of blockchain, the underlying technology that supports them, as a solution seeking a problem — sometimes rightfully so. Yet, blockchain’s potential to decentralize virtually any organization and establish uniqueness and ownership of digital content makes it possible for individuals to interact in a trusted manner without the involvement of third parties. This redefines and redistributes value in an all-digital world, placing it back in the hands of its respective creators and owners, and pushing all industries to rethink how they envision the future.
This new paradigm has revealed unprecedented possibilities for artists, creators, and consumers. The rise of cryptocurrencies and NFTs is a direct, though still cluttered, outcome from this disruption on digital economies, especially in the art and financial sectors, respectively. But the climate of distrust and disapproval set by early applications of blockchain should not overshadow the latent trend behind the craze. Online, individuals, and communities have evolved as co-creators and stakeholders of digital worlds and experiences, now expecting that their content, data, or time could produce value they too can benefit from.
The gaming industry is no exception. Players have long taken an active role in co-creating gaming experiences, supported by the ongoing expansion of the gaming ecosystem across mobile, streaming, and esports, as well as the rise of online multiplayer and user-generated content. This has led to a major transformation of the industry’s development and revenue models. For example, the growth of free-to-play games and games-as-a-service provide players with new, affordable content on a regular basis while giving their developers the revenue required to continue creating more content and supporting those games. However, these models don’t recognize or reward the value generated by content creators and communities at the heart of those game experiences.
Continue reading: https://venturebeat.com/2021/12/02/blockchain-is-only-a-game-changer-if-players-are-stakeholders/

The firefighters were standing outside on a summer day when a drone — its blades whirling in a high-pitched whine — headed right for them, sending them scurrying, authorities said.
Then it came again.
“They had to dive out of the way to avoid being struck,” said Christopher Kavanaugh, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia. Some city police officers also were sent scrambling.


The harassment outside the Salem, Va., firehouse — located feet from a monument of steel beams retrieved from the wreckage of the World Trade Center’s North Tower — continued until the first responders retreated into the station. The drone then followed them into the garage, investigators with the U.S. Department of Transportation said.
As the popularity of drones has grown in recent years, so has their misuse. The proliferation of small aircraft involved in untoward actions has led federal investigators to try to rein in some of the most egregious behavior.
The Virginia case is among a handful of drone-related prosecutions that have led to recent convictions.
Ultimately, the drone smashed into a pole, and no one was injured. James Russell Weeks III, of Salem, pleaded guilty recently in connection with the July 2019 incident.
Under a broad provision in federal law, Weeks was charged with flying an unregistered aircraft, which covers drones that weigh more than 0.55 pounds. Prosecutors say that catchall charge and other similar provisions offer straightforward tools for dealing with a range of crimes using drones.
In June, a Georgia man who was jailed for armed robbery was sentenced to 12 months for allowing someone else to use, or try to use, his unregistered aircraft. Federal prosecutors said the man and his brother had plotted to smuggle cellphones and tobacco into Telfair State Prison, but his brother and an accomplice were stymied by sheriff’s deputies in nearby woods.
Continue reading: https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2021/12/03/drones-flying-prosecutions/

In the 1990s, the business world underwent a seismic shift with the advent of the internet. It changed the way companies did ever y thing from creating their products to selling them to consumers. These days, companies are poised on the edge of another massive transition toward artificial intelligence and machine learning. “AI is going to touch every company, in every industry, in a material way,” says Rodrigo Liang, cofounder and CEO of AI solutions provider SambaNova. “It’s going to be such a competitive advantage.”
Yet, AI and machine learning isn’t accessible to every company. In-house AI systems typically require large staffs and heavy investments in infrastructure, putting the technology out of reach for many organizations. Liang and SambaNova co-founders Kunle Olukotun and Christopher Ré rejected that resource-intensive approach, aiming instead to democratize AI with an extensible subscription-based machine-learning service platform that doesn’t require an army of experts to make it work. “Some of the top companies have the ability to establish AI labs with hundreds and hundreds of AI scientists and data scientists,” Liang says. “But the large majority of companies in the world aren’t doing that.”
Continue reading: https://www.fastcompany.com/90701629/making-ai-accessible-to-every-enterprise

Notwithstanding the maturity levels of AI deployment, companies need to prioritize building trust amongst stakeholders such as customers, regulators, and governments to achieve scale.
Across the globe, artificial intelligence (AI) continues to have a fundamental influence on business due to the pandemic induced disruption and growing use cases. 
Various studies show that AI adoption is nearing a tipping point and would shortly become a ubiquitous technology. Almost one-third of IT professionals in a global survey by IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) said their company was using AI, even as half of them revealed their companies were exploring the technology. 
In India, over half of Indian IT professionals reported that their companies had accelerated the roll out of AI. As AI adoption rises, what is the roadmap that companies should consider, particularly those who are either evaluating adoption or have not yet achieved maturity in deployment? 
Before unravelling the game plan, it is crucial to understand the factors driving AI adoption by companies from varied sectors.
Continue reading: https://www.businesstoday.in/opinion/columns/story/artificial-intelligence-a-pathway-to-success-for-enterprises-314318-2021-12-03

The incorporation of drones in logistics, security, exploration, agriculture, and transport has led to a projected growth of the drone market to $129.2 billion by 2025. Of course, one hurdle to that growth, and the future integration of drones into our daily lives, is the need for effective monitoring of drone activities and operations to ease not only the public’s perception of drones, but to assist in securing the safety of the skies.
The industry is currently working on a drone tracking method that is user-friendly and can provide information in real time. The idea is that bystanders can determine whether the drone flying above their heads is there for law enforcement, parcel delivery, to assist with a construction project, or perhaps a malicious use, such as invading their privacy. Mobile apps might be an easy way for the public to determine the operators of any aerial activity in an instant.
Continue reading: https://www.natlawreview.com/article/tracking-drones-real-time

Much of what comes together in the Internet of Things depends on the first node in the network, which is most often a sensor. Transformational Industry 4.0 analytics and automation require even better input, which has kept vendors busy trying to bring smarter embedded sensors to market. 
This is among the drivers leading Allied Market Research projecting the global IoT sensor industry will grow from $12.37 billion to $141.8 billion by 2030, achieving a CAGR of 28% over that period. 
As in the past, today’s embedded sensors must measure temperature, humidity, pressure, proximity and a wide assortment of other phenomena. Miniature accelerometers, magnetometers and other devices have come to form complex sensor fusions that combine disparate types of sources. 
Read more: https://www.iotworldtoday.com/2021/12/02/embedded-sensors-and-intelligence-on-the-new-edge/

Edge computing is fast becoming essential to industrial environments, bringing compute, storage, and analytics closer to where content is created or consumed. The edge enables real-time processing and decision-making by eliminating cloud latency.
That being the case, do industrial environments need 5G? The answer is a resounding yes. Putting 5G wireless connectivity and edge computing together creates a powerful combination that supports significant advances in industrial settings through automation and virtual and augmented reality technologies.
How industrial edge computing and 5G work together
Three-fourths of industrial companies view 5G as a key digital transformation enabler, according to CapGemini. This is because 5G boosts connection quality, minimizes latency, increases bandwidth, and delivers speeds five times faster than 4G. It also strengthens security and efficiency through network slicing, enabling organizations to prioritize specific data, such as that used in mission-critical, real-time activities.
As such, 5G provides the perfect complement for edge sites that need real-time wireless connections. The symbiosis of 5G and edge computing can significantly advance Industry 4.0 adoption. It will lead to the development of applications we haven't even thought of yet. Remember when the internet was little more than a curiosity? Now it affects just about every aspect of our lives. In time, 5G connectivity may to do the same.
Pilot programs for edge computing and 5G
The list of scenarios where edge and 5G can work symbiotically is limited only by the imagination, considering the potential for applications in factory floors, smart cities, warehouses, smart grids, oil and gas pipelines - you name it.
Projects combining edge and 5G technologies are already underway. In one test case, Schneider Electric teamed up with telecom giant Orange for a project at Schneider's Le Vaudreuil, France, factory.The project is the first to use 5G in a French industrial setting.
A platform combining 5G and edge infrastructure supports the use of augmented reality for maintenance activities and a telepresence robot. The augmented reality piece allows technicians to superimpose real-time data and virtual objects onto manufacturing equipment to access information for troubleshooting and maintenance - or to check performance status. This approach helps stop problems before they occur, minimizing downtime and streamlining maintenance operations while reducing the potential for error.
The telepresence robot also delivers significant benefits by cutting travel time and costs and helping to reduce the factory's carbon footprint. It accomplishes this by giving remote technicians an on-site experience through high-quality video and audio.
In another project, Orange and Nokia are working with French rail company SNCF on a project at the train station in Rennes. A 5G network handles a number of functions, including tracking the movement of equipment with cameras, real-time connectivity for process control, and analysis of real-time video feeds to look for graffiti or hatches left open by maintenance crews.
Continue reading: https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/SCHNEIDER-ELECTRIC-SE-4699/news/Industrial-Edge-Computing-and-5G-Friends-or-Foes-37197405/

Between 2018 and 2021, more than one in 33 U.S. residents were potentially subject to police patrol decisions directed by crime-prediction software called PredPol.
The company that makes it sent more than 5.9 million of these crime predictions to law enforcement agencies across the country—from California to Florida, Texas to New Jersey—and we found those reports on an unsecured server.
Gizmodo and The Markup analyzed them and found persistent patterns.
Residents of neighborhoods where PredPol suggested few patrols tended to be Whiter and more middle- to upper-income. Many of these areas went years without a single crime prediction.
By contrast, neighborhoods the software targeted for increased patrols were more likely to be home to Blacks, Latinos, and families that would qualify for the federal free and reduced lunch program.
These communities weren’t just targeted more—in some cases, they were targeted relentlessly. Crimes were predicted every day, sometimes multiple times a day, sometimes in multiple locations in the same neighborhood: thousands upon thousands of crime predictions over years. A few neighborhoods in our data were the subject of more than 11,000 predictions.
The software often recommended daily patrols in and around public and subsidized housing, targeting the poorest of the poor.
“Communities with troubled relationships with police—this is not what they need,” said Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst at the ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. “They need resources to fill basic social needs.”
Continue reading: https://gizmodo.com/crime-prediction-software-promised-to-be-free-of-biases-1848138977?mc_cid=1e441f5787&mc_eid=9e56404948

Timnit Gebru, a prominent artificial intelligence computer scientist, is launching an independent artificial intelligence research institute focused on the harms of the technology on marginalized groups, who often face disproportionate consequences from AI systems but have less influence in its development.
Her new organization, Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research Institute (DAIR), aims to both document harms and develop a vision for AI applications that can have a positive impact on the same groups. Gebru helped pioneer research into facial recognition software’s bias against people of color, which prompted companies like Amazon to change its practices. A year ago, she was fired from Google for a research paper critiquing the company’s lucrative AI work on large language models, which can help answer conversational search queries.


DAIR received $3.7 million in funding from the MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, Kapor Center, Open Society Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.
“I’ve been frustrated for a long time about the incentive structures that we have in place and how none of them seem to be appropriate for the kind of work I want to do,” Gebru said.
Gebru said DAIR will join an existing ecosystem of smaller, independent institutes, such as Data & Society, Algorithmic Justice League, and Data for Black Lives. She hopes DAIR will be able to influence AI policies and practices inside Big Tech companies like Google from the outside — a tactic Gebru said she employed during her time at Google.
Even as the high-profile co-lead of Google’s Ethical AI group, Gebru said she was more successful at changing Google’s policies by publishing papers that were embraced externally by academics, regulators and journalists, rather than raising her concerns internally about bias, fairness and responsibility.
Continue reading: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/12/02/timnit-gebru-dair/?mc_cid=1e441f5787&mc_eid=9e56404948

ALGORITHMS PLAY A growing role in our lives, even as their flaws are becoming more apparent: A Michigan man wrongly accused of fraud had to file for bankruptcy; automated screening tools disproportionately harm people of color who want to buy a home or rent an apartment; Black Facebook users were subjected to more abuse than white users. Other automated systems have improperly rated teachers, graded students, and flagged people with dark skin more often for cheating on tests.
Now, efforts are underway to better understand how AI works and hold users accountable. New York’s City Council last month adopted a law requiring audits of algorithms used by employers in hiring or promotion. The law, the first of its kind in the nation, requires employers to bring in outsiders to assess whether an algorithm exhibits bias based on sex, race, or ethnicity. Employers also must tell job applicants who live in New York when artificial intelligence plays a role in deciding who gets hired or promoted.
In Washington, DC, members of Congress are drafting a bill that would require businesses to evaluate automated decisionmaking systems used in areas such as health care, housing, employment, or education, and report the findings to the Federal Trade Commission; three of the FTC’s five members support stronger regulation of algorithms. An AI Bill of Rights proposed last month by the White House calls for disclosing when AI makes decisions that impact a person’s civil rights, and it says AI systems should be “carefully audited” for accuracy and bias, among other things.
Elsewhere, European Union lawmakers are considering legislation requiring inspection of AI deemed high-risk and creating a public registry of high-risk systems. Countries including China, Canada, Germany, and the UK have also taken steps to regulate AI in recent years.
Julia Stoyanovich, an associate professor at New York University who served on the New York City Automated Decision Systems Task Force, says she and students recently examined a hiring tool and found it assigned people different personality scores based on the software program with which they created their résumé. Other studies have found that hiring algorithms favor applicants based on where they went to school, their accent, whether they wear glasses, or whether there’s a bookshelf in the background.
Continue reading: https://www.wired.com/story/movement-hold-ai-accountable-gains-steam/

AI researchers often say good machine learning is really more art than science. The same could be said for effective public relations. Selecting the right words to strike a positive tone or reframe the conversation about AI is a delicate task: done well, it can strengthen one’s brand image, but done poorly, it can trigger an even greater backlash.
The tech giants would know. Over the last few years, they’ve had to learn this art quickly as they’ve faced increasing public distrust of their actions and intensifying criticism about their AI research and technologies.
Now they’ve developed a new vocabulary to use when they want to assure the public that they care deeply about developing AI responsibly—but want to make sure they don’t invite too much scrutiny. Here’s an insider’s guide to decoding their language and challenging the assumptions and values baked in.
accountability  - The act of holding someone else responsible for the consequences when your AI system fails.
accuracy  - Technical correctness. The most important measure of success in evaluating an AI model’s performance. See validation.
adversary  - A lone engineer capable of disrupting your powerful revenue-generating AI system. See robustness, security.
alignment  - The challenge of designing AI systems that do what we tell them to and value what we value. Purposely abstract. Avoid using real examples of harmful unintended consequences. See safety.
artificial general intelligence (phrase) - A hypothetical AI god that’s probably far off in the future but also maybe imminent. Can be really good or really bad whichever is more rhetorically useful. Obviously you’re building the good one. Which is expensive. Therefore, you need more money. See long-term risks.
 
Continue reading: https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/04/13/1022568/big-tech-ai-ethics-guide

Blockchain is a rapidly growing emerging technology with the potential of transforming information and data in ways never before imagined. But the underlying technology is oftentimes abstract and poorly understood. As a result, IT professionals have found it difficult to determine a robust and logical path to learning and implementing its use.
To help, CompTIA’s Blockchain Advisory Council has created Blockchain Learning Paths, a document to use as a starting point for professionals wanting to begin their blockchain learning journey. This resource contains guidance on how to learn more about blockchain in four different areas: Blockchain Foundations, Business Path, Technology Path, and Government Path.
Download the PDF: https://connect.comptia.org/content/guides/blockchain-learning-paths

Drones have a lot of uses, and more people every month are discovering they either need drone photography or they’d like to learn to fly them.
Chris Peura, owner of Above-Us in Clarksville, is a local expert and drone instructor, and he was able to answer several common questions about drones and how they’re used.
Drones during a flying lesson, courtesy of Above-Us in Clarksville.
Q: What are drones used for?
A: Anyone can fly a drone for fun or as a hobby, but most commercial aircraft are used for some form of remote sensing – carrying cameras for photographers, 3D scanning infrastructure and providing first responders with thermal imaging. As drones become incorporated with more autonomy, they will contribute to increasing agricultural production, private security, delivering parcels and other phenomena.
Q: How do you control them?
A: Most drones from the store will include a remote control or have an app for your phone. Commercial drones might be controlled by laptops or have artificial intelligence that can fly by itself, but virtually all drones incorporate some level of autonomy through self-leveling and GPS systems.
Q: What types of drones are there?
A: Recreational drones are flown for fun and are the easiest to fly – these are usually smaller camera drones that come with everything you need to get started and are available at major retailers. Commercial drones are used and customized by professionals and require federal licensing and special training.
Continue reading: https://clarksvillenow.com/local/pets-of-the-week-157/

QUADCOPTERS THESE DAYS are so precious. They take off and hover, taking pictures or whatever, and then land, recharge—and blah. If these drones were birds, they’d be prey. But the Stereotyped Nature-Inspired Aerial Grasper, or SNAG, would be their apex predator. This new quadcopter has legs, each loaded with four 3D-printed talons that lock around whatever makes contact with them, be it a branch to rest on or perhaps, someday, other drones flying where they’re not supposed to. That’s right, it’s a drone that might hunt drones.
Over the years, quadcopters have mastered the skies, but not so much the landing: A drone is liable to tip over and bork its rotors on a moderately uneven surface. Birds, by contrast, can wrap their feet around just about anything, getting a grip with their toe pads and talons, which get a purchase on the roughness of a branch. “Everything is a landing strip for a bird,” says David Lentink, a biologist and roboticist at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, coauthor on a new paper describing the robot in the journal Science Robotics. “To us, this is really inspiring: The whole idea that if you would just design different landing gear, you might be able to perch just anywhere.”
SNAG is specifically inspired by the peregrine falcon, a predator among predators. This raptor dive-bombs at speeds up to 200 miles per hour, slamming into other birds in midair and sinking its talons into their flesh. It’s the fastest animal on earth and an absolute menace in the sky.
Continue reading: https://www.wired.com/story/this-drone-uses-piercing-talons-to-perch-or-snatch-things/

The industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) market is growing as different industries have found ways to incorporate IoT technology into workforce management initiatives, automation, and customer experience. 
Industries from retail to healthcare to automotive manufacturing are finding industrial IoT solutions that enhance their current initiatives and future planning.
Read on to learn about some of the top IIoT trends of today and how experts are predicting these trends will shape the future of industrial IoT:
5 Industrial IoT Trends To Watch

1. Rising popularity of the IIoT digital twin
2. Developing an intelligent IIoT edge
3. Improved functional safety for IIoT equipment
4. Addressing the expanded IIoT cyber attack surface
5. Working with persona-based IIoT
   [/LIST=1]
   Continue reading: https://www.datamation.com/trends/industrial-iiot-trends/

On November 19th, the very first medical delivery by drone in Sierra Leone was completed as part of a collaboration between the Sierra Leone Directorate of Science Technology & Innovation (DSTI) and UK based drone specialist UAVaid, with support from their VTOL technical partner SWOOP.
Carried out as part of the Medical Drone Delivery Project (MDDP) to improve access to medicines in remote parts of Sierra Leone, one of the most impoverished countries in the world, the delivery was conducted to test and demonstrate the use-case of the MDDP at the Mabang Community Health Post in Sierra Leone’s Moyamba District. The project received funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in partnership with The Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS), and Crown Agents.
The inaugural flight from Rotifunk village to Mabang MCHP was completed in a mere 13 minutes, a significant improvement over what typically takes 2 hours via vehicle. The event was witnessed by dignitaries and ministers, including Sierra Leone CIO Dr.Sengeh, who explained the role of innovation and technology in improving access to medicines.  The flight also assembled officials from The Ministry of Health and agencies such as the National Medical Supplies Agency, Ministry of Basic and Senior Education, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Fisheries, UNICEF and other development partners and community stakeholders.
MDDP Project-Lead David Manley explained that the project would initially focus on improving deliveries to 250 Community Health Centres (CHCs) and hospitals across Sierra Leone, with plans to significantly improve access to medicines for communities in remote areas of the country. 
Continue reading: https://dronelife.com/2021/12/01/a-2-hour-trip-now-takes-13-minutes-uavaids-medical-drone-delivery-in-sierra-leone

Drones are ideal for observations and measurements in environments too hostile for humans. 
Flying over an active volcano sounds like a bad idea. Of course, given that the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program defines as active any volcano that's erupted in the past 10 000 years, the danger may be a bit less immediate than you think.
Even when they're not erupting in a spectacular cataclysm of fire, lava and ash, active volcanoes still emit gases that can be dangerous to nearby communities. They can also release particulates into the atmosphere, which are really bad for aircraft, making flying over active volcanoes a risky proposition, which is exactly why Black Swift Technologies needs to fly over active volcanoes.
Black Swift Technologies develops unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to monitor what you might call extreme scenarios: volcanoes, hurricanes and wildfires, as well as comparatively pedestrian glaciers. The company builds its own autopilot systems and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), including a fixed-wing aircraft, a vertical take-off and landing aircraft, and a multi-copter.
Close calls
It's all well and good to monitor a volcano from afar, but sometimes you have to get up close and personal. This was the case on a project in which Black Swift collaborated with NASA to measure the amount of CO2being released from vents in a series of Alaskan volcanoes. The challenge here was twofold: the atmosphere contains a reasonable level of CO2, and the gas disperses into the air extremely rapidly. 
For these reasons, to obtain accurate measurements, the fixed-wing UAV had to fly incredibly close to the ground in winds gusting up to 93km/h, strong downdraft and heavy cloud cover limiting visibility to near-zero. Maintaining accurate altimetry (height above ground) in these circumstances is absolutely crucial.
Storm warning
As if that wasn’t challenging enough, Black Swift is also involved in hurricane research and observation. In 2019, the company was awarded a contract by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to develop a UAS that could perform hurricane observations close to the ocean surface and the eye wall – that's the most violent part of the storm, far too dangerous for crewed vehicles.
The goal is to measure pressure, humidity, temperature, sea-surface temperature, and three-dimensional wind velocity. In addition, the drones also measure the height of the ocean and rough swells. This data is used to help measure the intensity and predict the direction of storms and contribute toward more accurate hurricane modelling. Understandably, operating in such extreme conditions requires precise control and altimetry.
Enter LiDAR
To help its aircraft operate safely in such extreme conditions, Black Swift Technologies fitted them with LightWare LW20 LiDAR sensors, which assist with precision take-off, landing, hovering, height-above-ground measurement and altimetry functions. 
LiDAR stands for “light detection and ranging” and operates by rapidly pulsing lasers at the objects and landscapes around it, measuring their distance by the time it takes for the light to bounce back to the sensor. LiDAR can build highly detailed 3D maps and is used in many applications, including meteorology, autonomous vehicles, robotics, and even search-and-rescue.
Continue reading: https://www.geoweeknews.com/blogs/extreme-accuracy-for-extreme-conditions

The market opportunity in blockchain technology for managed service providers (MSPs) is significant, as more businesses look to implement blockchain and change the way they store and access data and complete transactions.
MSPs are not alone in embracing this technology. The blockchain market size is projected to grow from $4.9 billion in 2021 to $67.4 billion by 2026, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 68.4 percent. Other market drivers include increased venture capital investments, growing blockchain adoption in finance, new use case in mitigating cyberattack risks, high adoption of blockchain solutions for payments, rapid deployment of blockchain driven smart contracts, digital identity management, and continued interest to use blockchain in government.
Members of CompTIA’s Blockchain Advisory Council said MSPs should begin to educate themselves on how they can integrate blockchain into their current and future solutions offerings to customers. Here are five reasons council members cited for why it’s time to start talking blockchain with customers.
1. Protecting Digital Assets Is Critical
While digital assets have been part of IT conversations for many years (consider all the discussions IT professionals have had over the years around protecting digital assets on laptops, tablets, and PCs), business leaders today are paying more attention than ever to digital asset risks. As the average consumer educates themselves on blockchain, cryptocurrency, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), there’s plenty to learn and discuss with customers about asset protection.
“Increased protection of an individual’s privacy with regulations such as GDPR and HIPAA make the collecting and distributing of data paramount,” said Barry Mosakowski, program director of IBM CloudPak Bring-Up Lab at IBM. “Violations are not just a mistake but a crime. Currently, the concept of an NFT has been associated with digital art. In reality, an NFT is a unique and non-interchangeable unit of data stored on a blockchain. By using blockchain technology, an individual can have total control of all their personal NFTs to include things such as birth certificates, driver’s licenses, mortgages, etc.”
Despite challenges with adoption facing organizations, blockchain technology may be able to provide the protection digital assets require. “In some ways, you can think of this not a blockchain but a ‘life-chain,” he said. “It provides all the total immutable protection while allowing access to the data all within the individuals control.”
2. Limitless Applications/Vertical Opportunities
According to council members, blockchain eliminates a company’s need to create their own implementations of the technology and operate on their own rails. Multiple companies can operate on the same network which creates a larger network effect.
A blockchain-based network and automate the execution of a contract between multiple parties by writing to the blockchain the relevant results of the business process and revealing or obscuring the results according to the contractual terms. The immutable nature of the blockchain ledger eliminates the need for layers of approvals that slow down the business process. A complex process that has eight different entities operating in concert would spend thousands of hours manually checking documents to manage payments and reporting. A blockchain network seamlessly ties these companies together to make a complex process occur without continuous manual review.
Continue reading: https://connect.comptia.org/blog/5-reasons-blockchain-should-matter-to-solution-providers