The iconic red border and masthead on Time magazine for the issue now nestled on newsstands wasn't created by graphic design software. The Time cover for the June 11 issue was instead created by 958 flying drones -- and shot by another drone. For the Time special-edition Drone Report, the magazine created the cover in the sky using Intel's Shooting Star, a fleet of drones and software used to create UAV light shows. The in-flight cover was shot in Folsom, California, on May 3, with the special edition issue available beginning today, June 1. Time's cover is the first that was shot on a drone.

Video A drone surveillance system capable of highlighting "violent individuals" in a crowd in real time has been built by eggheads. The artificially intelligent technology uses a video camera on a hovering quadcopter to study the body movements of everyone in view. It then raises an alert when it identifies aggressive actions, such as punching, stabbing, shooting, kicking, and strangling, with an accuracy of about 85 per cent. It doesn't perform any facial recognition – it merely detects possible violence between folks. And its designers believe the system could be expanded to automatically spot people crossing borders illegally, detect kidnappings in public areas, and set off alarms when vandalism is observed.

Researchers from the University of Bologna and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (otherwise known as the ETH Zurich) claim to have engineered the world's smallest autonomous drone, according to a recent report. When it comes to the nano-drone industry, the primary focus of which is to build capable autonomous UAVs with the smallest, most lightweight batteries, this is a milestone. With a smaller battery comes a decrease in power and flight time. For nano-drones, which are defined by maximum four-inch diameters, developing a model somewhere in between these two poles has been a longtime struggle for engineers. The two teams of European researchers may have finally achieved that task, however, by reducing the power requirements of the drone by using a newly-developed processor that can efficiently run the autonomous, artificial intelligence-infused navigation required, according to Fast Company.

Google's decision not to renew a controversial artificial intelligence (AI) contract with the Pentagon has reignited a debate about what Silicon Valley's role should be with regard to the military and war. Google, facing internal pressure, told employees during a meeting on Friday that it would not renew its contract with the Defense Department's flagship AI program, known as Project Maven, after it expires in 2019, according to multiple reports. The contract sparked a public relations crisis after a handful of employees reportedly resigned in protest and thousands of employees signed a letter urging the company's CEO not to allow Google to be drafted into the "business of war." Project Maven had recruited Google to help advance technology like surveillance drones, which are used to track the whereabouts of terrorist organizations and uncover devised plots before they unfold. Bob Work, a former deputy Defense secretary who established Project Maven in April 2017, told The Hill on Monday that he is still holding out hope that Google will reconsider.

MIT researchers developed a virtual reality-based system, "Flight Goggles", that allows UAV navigate rooms while avoiding virtual obstacles. "We think this is a game-changer in the development of drone technology, for drones that go fast," said Sertac Karaman, Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT. "In the upcoming years, we want to enter a drone racing competition with an autonomous drone, and beat the best human player," added Karaman. The virtual images collected by the UAV reportedly occur at 90 frames per second, which is triple, the speed that the human eye can capture. "The drone will be flying in an empty room, but will be'hallucinating' a completely different environment, and will learn in that environment," explained Karaman.

James Damore, the Google engineer who penned an anti-diversity manifesto that has shaken Silicon Valley, is seeking'legal remedies' after his firing. SAN FRANCISCO -- At Wednesday's shareholder meeting, a Google employee will step up to the microphone to argue that executive compensation should be tied to diversity goals. The push for a shareholder proposal opposed by parent company Alphabet marks a sharp escalation in the increasingly public disagreements between the Internet giant and some of its 80,000-plus staff. An employee revolt last week forced Google to back off a controversial and potentially lucrative military drone project. This week employees are finding their voices again by joining shareholder groups to pressure Google to increase the racial, ethnic and gender diversity of its workforce.

That plastic cup you've got sitting on your desk looks pretty harmless on its own. However, add it to the rest of the plastic that humanity throws away on a daily basis and you have the makings of the estimated 5 to 13 million metric tons of plastic trash which reportedly wind up in the world's oceans every year. U.K.-based Plastic Tide founder Peter Kohler got a glimpse of the scale of this problem a decade ago -- and it changed the course of his life. "About ten years ago, I went out to the South Pacific," he told Digital Trends. "I've always been fascinated by oceans, and this was pure paradise. But it was a paradise under siege. One of the most visible ways this paradise was being besieged was with litter. It was everywhere, although we were miles from anyone. When you're sailing in the middle of nowhere, it really gets you wondering where this litter comes from and how it gets here. I came back to England and spent the next few years puzzling over how best to answer that question."

Fortress UAV would be hosting Drone Day event at Plano, Texas on June 1, 2018. During the event, CyPhy Works will launch its tethered PARC drone over the area and Fortress UAV will broadcast live video of the event. Representatives from DJI, Yuneec and Stampede Global would also show their latest technology and development. The event will also cover the live flight demonstrations. "We are very excited to host our first Drone Day event at Fortress UAV. The event will showcase drone technology that is used for public safety and enterprise applications to the general public. Our intent is to take the Drone Day event on tour to different cities during 2018 and 2019," says Brendon Mills, CEO of Fortress UAV.

The US Navy and researchers from Florida Atlantic University have revealed plans to develop autonomous robotic'drone battleships' that can launch underwater and aerial attacks in order to protect US coasts. Last month, FAU was awarded $1.25 million by US Navy for research for unmanned marine vehicle platforms. The five-year project will undertake research in support of autonomous marine vehicle platforms for coastal surveillance, coastal surveys, target tracking and protection of at-sea assets. The US Navy and researchers from Florida Atlantic University are developing'motherships' that can launch aerial and underwater drones to protect the coast'Our focus will be on developing a multi-vehicle system that can safely and reliably navigate coastal waters with a high level of autonomy while performing assigned tasks,' said Manhar Dhanak, director of SeaTech, the Institute for Ocean and Systems Engineering in FAU's Department of Ocean and Mechanical Engineering. The researchers plan to develop new software to better improve multi-sensors and collision avoidance, as well as simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM).

It's been a busy year in delivery robot land. Starship Technologies sounded the starting gun to bring autonomous delivery vehicles to market with a $17.2 million round led by Daimler back in January 2017. Then in January this year the Mountain View, Calif.-based company Nuro raised the curtain on its own vision for robo-delivery with a whopping $92 million in funding. Meanwhile, upstart Robomart has its own notion for delivery vehicles that it unveiled at CES. And not to be outdone, everyone's favorite Chinese retail powerhouse, Alibaba, announced its own self-driving delivery vehicle.