The "AI Impact Challenge" is meant to inspire organizations to ask Google for help in machine learning, a form of AI in which computers analyze large datasets to make predictions or detect patterns and anomalies. Inc (AMZN.O) tout "AI for good" initiatives too. Focusing on humanitarian projects could aid Google in recruiting and soothe critics by demonstrating that its interests in machine learning extend beyond its core business and other lucrative areas, such as military work. After employee backlash Google this year said it would not renew a deal to analyze U.S. military drone footage. Google AI Chief Operating Officer Irina Kofman told Reuters the challenge was not a reaction to such pushback, but noted that thousands of employees are eager to work on "social good" projects even though they do not directly generate revenue.

DJI's stacked consumer drones output spans entry-level fliers (the Spark) to high-end behemoths (Mavic 2 Pro). Now it's expanding its commercial lineup with the launch of the Mavic 2 Enterprise (M2E): a starter drone for businesses that don't require the bells and whistles the full-fat Matrice series offers. The latter is already being utilized by Disney and Japanese construction giant Komatsu -- but DJI's newcomer is eyeing the emergency services sector and small-to-medium-sized businesses. The M2E is essentially a Mavic 2 Zoom tweaked for enterprise. It comes equipped with a 12 megapixel camera, stabilized by a three-axis gimbal for "smooth video and images," and 2x optical and 3x digital zoom.

Intel, which is making a name for itself in the space, is bringing an army of mini drones to New York for the holidays. Specifically, the UAVs will be the backing act for the Rockettes at this year's Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Intel says that it'll be the first large-scale indoor theatrical drone performance, with the craft choreographed to dance with the Rockettes. The tech will be used to create holiday-themed shadows for the show's big finale, entitled Christmas Lights. And, rather than a one-off, this is Intel's first crack at making drones work for a long-running production, since there'll be 200 performances of the event.

The Christmas Spectacular starring the Radio City Rockettes -- an annual holiday stage show presented at Radio City Music Hall in New York City -- began one year after the Music Hall's opening night in 1933, which featured the Missouri Rockets dance troupe out of St. Louis. What was originally a two-week, 30-minute performance featuring an overture, a ballet, and a handful of vignettes expanded into a 90-minute extravaganza complete with real-life animals, a 36-person cast, 1,100 costumes, and 11 digital projectors that's been viewed by more than 75 million people. And this year will mark the addition of something new to the mix: more than 100 specially designed Intel drones choreographed over the stage. Intel says it's the first time its Shooting Star Mini drones have been incorporated into a theatrical indoor performance, and it claims it'll be the world's largest interior drone show. "We are constantly exploring new venues for Intel's drone light shows. It is an honor to partner with Radio City Music Hall to integrate Intel's innovative technology into the iconic Christmas Spectacular," said Natalie Cheung, general manager of Intel's drone light shows.

The military is authorized to shoot down drones flying over bases, but at least two naval bases are still struggling to get operators to stop getting too close. Now, the FAA has issued a stricter warning against flying drones too near Naval Base Kitsap (Washington) and Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay (Georgia) in order "to address concerns about potentially malicious drone operations over certain, high-priority maritime operations." More specifically, the FAA is restricting drone flights near the US Navy and US Coast Guard vessels operating in those bases. Kitsap is one of Navy's strategic nuclear weapons facilities, while Kings Bay houses the country's nuclear missile submarines. At the request of the @DeptofDefense and @USCG, the #FAA is restricting #drone operations near two naval bases in #Washington and #Georgia.

Flying robots that can carry objects 40 times of their own weight and even open doors have been developed in a collaboration between Stanford University and Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland. Called FlyCroTug the tiny robots have advanced gripping technologies and the ability to move and pull on objects around it. When working in pairs, two FlyCroTugs can jointly lasso the door handle and heave the door open. The clever bots can adhere themselves to surfaces using adhesives inspired by the feet of geckos and insects. These sticky'hands' allow the robust to pull objects 40 times their weight, such as door handles, cameras or water bottles.

Japan Post Co. has said that it will start test deliveries using a drone between post offices in Fukushima Prefecture. The transport ministry on Friday approved an application by the company for flying a drone without an operator watching the airborne device or an assistant who monitors its movements. In past test flights, operators flew drones with assistants checking the movements of the devices by eye. This time, flights will be conducted without such an assistant for the first time. The mail delivery arm of Japan Post Holdings Co. is expected to start the test flights early next month.

Imagine this breakthrough: the ocean off South Carolina being explored by drones that act like flying fish -- zipping over the sea surface and diving below. They're considered drone "gliders," flying to specific programmed spots in the ocean before going under to take measurements before resurfacing to fly back. "Just imagine, in a few years, we will have swarms of these things," said Christian de Moustier, IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society president. With that and other emerging technology, "we will have an amazing amount of data, ways to monitor the changes in the ocean and see where the changes are going," he said. And there will be torpedo-like, remotely operated submarines that will record and give forecasters temperatures in the water under a storm's core -- a critical, previously missing piece of data that already helped forecast Hurricane Florence's strength and track.

From virtual reality police training programmes to gun-toting drones and iris scanners, a public security expo in China showed the range of increasingly high-tech tools available to the country's police. The exhibition, which ran Tuesday to Friday in Beijing, emphasised surveillance and monitoring technology just as the Communist government's domestic security spending has skyrocketed. Facial-recognition screens analysing candid shots of conference attendees were scattered around the exhibition hall, while other vendors packed their booths with security cameras. From virtual reality police training programmes to gun-toting drones and iris scanners, a public security expo in China showed the range of increasingly high-tech tools available to the country's police. More innocuous applications, like smart locks for homes and big data applications to reduce traffic congestion, also occupied large swathes of the conference.

Seven members of a gang which used drones to fly more than £500,000 worth of drugs into prisons have been jailed. The gang was responsible for 55 drone deliveries into prisons around the country between April 2016 and June 2017. Police described the drone conspiracy as the "biggest ever seen" in the UK. The men were sentenced for between three and 10 years and six other gang members were given suspended sentences at Birmingham Crown Court earlier. The gang flew an estimated £550,000 worth of drugs - mainly cannabis and synthetic cannabis - along with amphetamines, crack cocaine and heroin to inmates' windows, West Midlands Police said.