The legal case for using drone strikes outside of armed conflict needs "urgent clarification" from ministers, a cross-party parliamentary committee has said. The government insists it does not have a "targeted killing" policy, but the UK was clearly willing to use lethal force overseas for counter-terrorism, the Joint Committee on Human Rights said. It follows the killing of a UK citizen in Syria last year by an RAF drone. The government says it takes "lawful action" over direct threats to the UK. Reyaad Khan, a British member of the so-called Islamic State group, was killed by an RAF drone in Syria last August.

The drone feature will work just like broadcasting from a GoPro -- a feature that was introduced back in January. Users will be able to switch on the fly from the DJI Drone, a GoPro and an iPhone. While video is being shot, people will be able to narrate and sketch on the footage from their handsets. For folks who want their broadcasts to last longer than 24 hours, the upcoming saving feature will not only save the video but also the chat and likes. Periscope recently implemented a beta version of the upcoming save feature that required users to add #save to the title.

Patients in the most remote regions of the world may soon be casting their eyes skyward for medical supplies. Delivery company UPS is backing a start-up using drug-dropping-drones in Rwanda to transportlife-saving blood supplies and vaccines. Rather than sending supplies by road, firms are looking to the skies to get the medical supplies to where they are needed, with the automated air deliveries 20 times faster than by land. Delivery company UPS is backing a start-up using drones in Rwanda to transport life-saving blood supplies and vaccines. UPS will provide 800,000 ( 554,000) to a partnership including Gavi, agroup providing vaccines to developing countries, and robotics companyZipline International for drone flights in Rwanda startingin August.

Drone operators dread the thought of their vehicle losing power mid-flight, and not just because of the expensive crash that's likely to follow -- it's that the drone might hit something or someone on its way down. ParaZero thinks it can set those pilots' minds at ease, however. It recently unveiled a reusable parachute system, SafeAir, that slows drones when they're in free fall. The concept isn't completely novel, but it promises extremely quick reactions that could avoid accidents. As you'll see in the clips below, the chute deploys within milliseconds and can rescue a craft even if it's at very low altitudes.

Everyone seems to have an idea for making them useful--Amazon wants to use them for deliveries, Facebook sees them beaming the Internet to remote areas--but so far it all seems so very outlandish. A California startup called Zipline has a practical plan to use the devices for good. Later this year the company, working with UPS and vaccine distributer Gavi, plans to deploy a fleet of drones in Rwanda, where the machines will deliver medical supplies. The goal is to see 15 autonomous aircraft flying out of a centralized hub make 150 deliveries each day to 21 medical stations throughout the western half of the country. The Rwandan government, which has embraced drone technology and recently approved remarkably progressive guidelines for its use, is working with Zipline to measure the success of the venture.

While we normal folk can operate drones merely within direct line-of-sight, the military can control a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) over Afghanistan from the other side of the world. Now, French company UAVIA is bringing that more advanced approach to the civilian world. With UAVIA's technology, users can operate a drone remotely via the Web. The vehicle is given its instructions via a 4G internet connection that also sends back an HD video feed from the onboard camera. If the signal cuts out the drone can either continue its pre-planned flight or make a safe landing automatically.

LAC, LA BICHE ALBERTA – Fire-ravaged Alberta will use drones to investigate the cause of a huge blaze that has scorched the Canadian province and displaced some 88,000 people. Elevated Robotic Services, which has also deployed drones for mining and construction companies, has contracts with the Alberta government and insurance broker Hub International Ltd., said Mat Matthews, the Edmonton company's operations and safety manager. The drones use cameras outfitted with infrared, ultraviolet and traditional optical cameras to pinpoint the hottest part of the fire and trace it to its source based on time, wind and other factors. The cameras will shoot about 800 images, which are then stitched together in a process called fire-mapping. "It's like Google Maps but 100 times better," Matthews said at a police roadblock south of Fort McMurray, Alberta, as smoke from the 156,000-hectare (385,000-acre) fire blackened the sky.

When will the technology arrive that makes you obsolete in your current job? It's no idle question, and one that none other than Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella took up this week in remarks to hundreds of Seattle technology and business leaders. We'll explore his comments, a new offering from Textio, the media's failures in covering the presidential primaries; have some fun with drones, Star Wars, Disney's Frozen, and STEM education; and wash it down with a cold home brew in this edition of Xconomy Seattle's Week in Review: He shared his view of Microsoft's unique culture, and how that gives the company an advantage. One aspect is Microsoft's global mindset, which Nadella, born in Hyderabad, India, talked about in a personal way. "I wouldn't be CEO of Microsoft if it was not for Microsoft's technology being a global force," Nadella said.

For someone who is in need of an organ transplant, every second counts. To save more lives, a group of scientists in India have designed a new method of transportation that is much faster than hauling them in the back of an ambulance. Called, Rs 100-crore National Programme for Micro Air, the project is set to use unmanned aerial vehicles to delivery of hearts and other vital organs, cutting time by more than 50 percent. A group of scientists from India are working on a way that will transport hearts and vital organs much faster than hauling them in the back of an ambulance. Currently the team has two options: design a drone with technology to preserve organs or variants that are able to carry the organ in a special box.

Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your slow-running Automaton bloggers. We'll also be posting a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next two months; here's what we have so far (send us your events!): Let us know if you have suggestions for next week, and enjoy today's videos. Snake Monster (a hexapod built with snake robot parts) has gotten even more monstrous. A demonstration of mobile manipulation with "Snake Monster," a hexapod robot built with modular actuators in the Biorobotics Lab, at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University.