Technological revolutions have long animated economic history. The concept of "creative destruction"--in which technological advancement destroys certain sectors of the economy while giving rise to new ones--has roots in some of the earliest economic thought.1 This process hinges on the idea that machines serve to supplement human labor, primarily labor dedicated to repetitive physical and cognitive tasks. At the moment, machines can solve intensive well-defined tasks but for the most part cannot be expected to define problems nor identify and traverse particularly complex systems without human oversight. Robots: A Retrospective The most primitive economies are essentially brawn-based. Human labor is largely priced by the ability to perform physical tasks associated with farming and building. A number of studies (e.g., Thomas and Strauss, 1997) show how in modern-day less-developed economies, men make more than woman as a function of body mass and thus perceived brawn, and that men with more brawn made more than those with less.

For companies that want to use small drones, a new era began Monday. That's when rules kicked in that free them from having to request special permission from the federal government for any commercial drone endeavor -- a waiver process that often took months. Although industry experts say the Federal Aviation Administration's new rules on commercial drones largely make it easier for companies to use the unmanned aerial vehicles, there are still a lot of constraints. Under the new commercial-drone rules, operators must keep their drones within visual line of sight -- that is, the person flying the drone must be able to see it with the naked eye -- and can fly only during the day, though twilight flying is permitted if the drone has anti-collision lights. Drones cannot fly over people who are not directly participating in the operation or go higher than 400 feet above the ground.

For companies that want to use small drones, a new era began Monday. That's when rules kicked in that free them from having to request special permission from the federal government for any commercial drone endeavor -- a waiver process that often took months. Although industry experts say the Federal Aviation Administration's new rules on commercial drones largely make it easier for companies to use the unmanned aerial vehicles, there are still a lot of constraints. Under the new commercial-drone rules, operators must keep their drones within visual line of sight -- that is, the person flying the drone must be able to see it with the naked eye -- and can fly only during the day, though twilight flying is permitted if the drone has anti-collision lights. Drones cannot fly over people who are not directly participating in the operation or go higher than 400 feet above the ground.

Megan McArthur has spent her life messing with microgravity. She was on the team that got the first commercial cargo mission to the International Space Station. She's watched her friends launch in a Soyuz rocket from Kazakhstan. And as a NASA aerospace engineer, she was the flight engineer on the space shuttle's last mission to repair the Hubble Telescope. For Earthlings stuck here in 1G, getting to operate a robotic arm that wrangles Hubble into an airlock might seem like enough excitement for a lifetime.

New rules governing the operation of drones, or unmanned aerial systems (UAS) as they are formally called, in United States airspace came into effect Monday. Called Small UAS Rule (Part 107), they were finalized by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in June and cover operating rules for drones as well as regulations for their pilots, and apply to drones flown for both business and pleasure. Drones have been flying around even before Part 107 came into effect, with about 3,000 exemptions already handed out to businesses, but the new rules simplify the process of flying UAS legally. If your UAS weighs under 0.55 pounds or if you are flying it indoors only, you don't require any registration. If your drone is under 55 pounds in weight and you don't fly it at night or above 400 feet and you always keep it within line of sight, you have it simple. Head over to the registration page on the FAA website and register yourself.

A protester holds a placard reading'Let's be realistic, ask for the obvious, 32h sharing of work time, Basic income, more jobs thanks to energy transition' during a demonstration called by youth organizations and students' unions on March 9, 2016, in Paris, during a nationwide day of protest against proposed labour reforms. In June of this year, Swiss voters saw an initiative on their ballots calling for an "unconditional basic income" that would "allow the whole population to lead a decent life and participate in public life." Put on the ballot by a petition drive after it was rejected in parliament, the initiative was rejected by 77 percent of Swiss voters, with 23 percent approving. The initiative lost badly, but even having a national vote on a universal basic income (UBI) shows how far the idea has come. Although people have advocated some type of universal basic livelihood or support for centuries, usually tied to concerns about poverty, recent advocacy is closely linked to fears about extensive job losses due to technology, especially artificial intelligence (AI) and robotization of work.

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Welcome to California Inc., the weekly newsletter of the L.A. Times Business section. Pharmaceutical company Mylan is still in the news after hiking the price of life-saving EpiPens by more than 400%. But keep this in mind: Of roughly 250 million raised for and against 17 ballot measures coming before California voters in November, more than a quarter of that amount -- about 70 million -- has been contributed by deep-pocketed drug companies to defeat the Drug Price Relief Act, which would limit drug prices charged to state healthcare programs. Spending on the measure could set a state record over coming weeks. No buzz kill: New federal rules for small commercial drones go into effect Monday.

Humans will journey to Mars in the 2030s accompanied by robots, if Nasa's ambitious plans become reality. The US space agency has launched a 1 million competition challenging engineers to develop the capabilities of humanoid robots, which will help astronauts on their long and arduous journey to the red planet. The Space Robotics Challenge will see teams program a virtual robot modelled on Nasa's advanced Robonaut R5 android, dubbed Valkyrie, to complete a series of virtual tasks that could save human crew members' lives, such as repairing leaks. Valkyrie is a six foot tall, 290 pound humanoid designed to work in extreme environments. It can'see' thanks to sensors and cameras in its head, walk, and grasp objects in its hands, which have three fingers and a thumb.

America's space agency is entering the second phase of a four-step plan to draw up rules for small drones that fly under 500 feet. The NASA project is meant to develop performance standards for drones that would be used for commercial purposes by companies such as Amazon and Google. The system will be designed to help drone operators deal with weather conditions, restricted air space, airport congestion, and other obstacles. NASA is looking to present its research to the Federal Aviation Administration by the end of 2019. By that time, it estimates there will be 7 million small drones in operation, including 2.6 million aircraft for commercial use.