The future of deliveries may be "robovans." A Chinese startup called Neolix kicked off mass production of its self-driving delivery vehicles Friday -- saying it's the first company globally to do so -- and has lined up giants such as JD.com Inc. and Huawei Technologies Co. as customers. Neolix expects to deliver a thousand of the vehicles, which resemble tiny vans, within the first year as it broadens out. The implications are potentially huge: Billionaire Jack Ma predicts there will be 1 billion deliveries a day in China within a decade and the commercialization of the technology could provide lessons for autonomous vehicles carrying passengers. Neolix isn't alone in this space as Silicon Valley's Nuro raised almost $1 billion this year and is starting to deliver groceries in Arizona.

Here's how big data and the Internet of Things work together: a vast network of sensors (IoT) collect a boatload of information (big data) that is then used to improve services and products in various industries, which in turn generate revenue -- hundreds of billions of dollars annually -- from those products and services. And the cash flow is speeding up. "By 2025," according to Thingstream, "it's expected that more than 100 billion operational devices will be connected to the Internet of Things (IoT), generating a total revenue of nearly $10 trillion. This trend looks set to continue for many years of unprecedented growth. For example, the sensor market alone is expected to see an average annual growth rate of 26.91% by 2020."

Landing multi-rotor drones smoothly is difficult. Complex turbulence is created by the airflow from each rotor bouncing off the ground as the ground grows ever closer during a descent. This turbulence is not well understood nor is it easy to compensate for, particularly for autonomous drones. That is why takeoff and landing are often the two trickiest parts of a drone flight. Drones typically wobble and inch slowly toward a landing until power is finally cut, and they drop the remaining distance to the ground.

Visual Investigations Latest Video 10:45 How U.S. Weapons Ended Up Hitting Hospitals in Yemen Visual Investigations Latest Video 5:44 The U.S. Blamed Maduro for Burning Aid to Venezuela. Visual Investigations Latest Video 8:57 How an Elite Nigerian Unit Killed Dozens of Protesters Visual Investigations Latest Video 6:52 A Black Driver, a Marijuana Bust and a Body Camera That Turned Off Visual Investigations Latest Video 8:32 Killing Khashoggi: How a Brutal Saudi Hit Job Unfolded Visual Investigations Latest Video 1:31 The Bomb Suspect's Van Is Covered With Stickers. Visual Investigations Latest Video 7:07 How a Gang Hunted and Killed a 15-Year-Old in the Bronx Visual Investigations Latest Video 1:48 How a C.I.A. Drone Base Grew in the Desert Visual Investigations Latest Video 1:49 How Surveillance Cameras Tracked Two Russian Hit Men Visual Investigations Latest Video 3:04 How the Drone Attack on Maduro Unfolded in Venezuela Visual Investigations Latest Video 5:44 The U.S. Blamed Maduro for Burning Aid to Venezuela. The U.S. Blamed Maduro for Burning Aid to Venezuela. Visual Investigations Latest Video 1:31 The Bomb Suspect's Van Is Covered With Stickers.

Visual Investigations Latest Video 10:43 How U.S. Weapons Ended Up Hitting Hospitals in Yemen Visual Investigations Latest Video 5:44 The U.S. Blamed Maduro for Burning Aid to Venezuela. Visual Investigations Latest Video 8:57 How an Elite Nigerian Unit Killed Dozens of Protesters Visual Investigations Latest Video 6:52 A Black Driver, a Marijuana Bust and a Body Camera That Turned Off Visual Investigations Latest Video 8:32 Killing Khashoggi: How a Brutal Saudi Hit Job Unfolded Visual Investigations Latest Video 1:31 The Bomb Suspect's Van Is Covered With Stickers. Visual Investigations Latest Video 7:07 How a Gang Hunted and Killed a 15-Year-Old in the Bronx Visual Investigations Latest Video 1:48 How a C.I.A. Drone Base Grew in the Desert Visual Investigations Latest Video 1:49 How Surveillance Cameras Tracked Two Russian Hit Men Visual Investigations Latest Video 3:04 How the Drone Attack on Maduro Unfolded in Venezuela Visual Investigations Latest Video 5:44 The U.S. Blamed Maduro for Burning Aid to Venezuela. The U.S. Blamed Maduro for Burning Aid to Venezuela. Visual Investigations Latest Video 1:31 The Bomb Suspect's Van Is Covered With Stickers.

Fox News Flash top headlines for May 22 are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com Ford is developing self-driving delivery vehicles it plans to launch in 2021, but there's a problem. If there isn't a driver, who's going to bring the package or pizza to your door? In tests with faux-autonomous Domino's Pizza cars, Ford discovered that a lot of people were simply too lazy to make the trip to the curb to get their orders from the car themselves, so it came up with the obvious solution: robots.

The core objective of plant population ecology is to understand changes in numbers of individuals/organisms across time and space.1 Achieving this depends on methods that permit plants to be mapped and monitored at informative scales.2-4 Surveys of plant populations have been undertaken using a variety of different methods such as transect sampling, quadrat sampling and with unmanned aerial systems (UAS).5-7 Each of these methods has an inherent trade‐off between the area that can be surveyed and the intensity at which the subjects in that area can be studied.8 Transect and quadrat sampling can be used for either small area, high‐intensity studies or large area, low‐intensity studies, but typically not both.9 UAS present a unique opportunity for ecological monitoring because, potentially, they can yield data across both large spatial areas and at high survey intensity.

Microsoft's latest breakthrough could make DNA-based data centers possible

The US government is warning businesses about the risks of using Chinese-made aerial drones on claims they may pose a spying threat. On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security issued an industry alert over the alleged spying dangers, according to CNN. The alert doesn't name a specific company, but one of the biggest drone manufacturers in the world is DJI, which is based in Shenzhen, China. The department is worried the drone technologies can collect information and secretly send it back to their manufacturers in China. If this occurs, the Chinese government has the power to compel the manufacturer to hand over all the acquired data.

Wing, an offshoot of Google's parent company, Alphabet, will launch drone deliveries to one of Finland's most populous areas next month according to a recent blog post from the company. Pilot deliveries will be rolled out in the Vousari district of Finland's capital, Helsinki, and will deliver products from gourmet supermarket Herkku foods and Cafe Monami. As noted by Wing, deliveries will include'fresh Finnish pastries, meatballs for two, and a range of other meals and snacks' that can be delivered in minutes. Wing will launch deliveries for customers in Finland starting next month. Wing, the first commercial drone company approved by the FAA in the U.S. will start delivering in Virginia. The drones is powered entirely by electric and can fly up to 120 km/h (almost 75 mph).