A stunning new drone video from SpaceX has shown off the'megarocket' Elon Musk hopes will pave the way for humans to explore the solar system. The Falcon Heavy has been raised on its Cape Canaveral launchpad for the first time ahead of engine tests expected within days. It is expected to blast off soon after on an unmanned mission with a unique payload - Elon Musk's cherry red Tesla roadster car, which will be launched toward Mars. If all goes according to plane, the Falcon Heavy will lifting off and enter orbit before two of its booster rockets separate off and return to Earth at Cape Canaveral in controlled landings. The centre core of the rocket will separate from the main module, containing Musk's car, and then begin its own controlled descent back to Earth, landing on a drone ship.

While the United States, the U.K., France, Australia, and many other nations have introduced rules and regulations pertaining to drones, they remain very much in flux. The guidelines are often complex and difficult to understand even for people who work in the drone industry, much less casual pilots who received a drone for Christmas. Making matters worse, aviation authorities, like the FAA often lack the resources or the mandate to effectively locate and penalize rule-breakers.

BiographyBhoopathi Rapolu (@bhoopathi) is Head of Analytics, EMEA, at Cyient. He is responsible for technology solutions development, customer engagement, and business development. He has 16 years of experience in business intelligence and technology management. He has conceptualised and delivered technology solutions powered by advanced analytics, primarily for Utilities, Telecom, Aerospace, Transportation, Heavy Engineering and Medical Technologies. Bhoopathi is a speaker, author and blogger on business & emerging technologies.Abstract Automated Areal Asset InspectionsFacebook recognizes over a billion people on this planet. Now, imagine such artificial intelligence (AI) examining the asset condition from drone videos, satellite imagery, etc., and spotting the defects, if any, automatically.

AUGUST 2008: Border agents recovered this 2-foot-high drone that was seen swooping over the border fence in southern California. Drug cartels are using unmanned drones to carry drugs across the southern border, challenging the U.S. technological ability to stop the advance. Brandon Judd, an agent and president of the National Border Patrol Council, warned that the border patrol does not have the technology to contain drones. "The number is just astronomical," Judd told The Washington Times. At least 13 drones believed to be carrying drugs were spotted in November alone, agents said, according to the Times.

While Amazon and United Parcel Service pour considerable resources into finding ways of using drones to deliver such things as shoes and dog treats, Zipline has been saving lives in Rwanda since October 2016 with drones that deliver blood. Zipline's autonomous fixed-wing drones now form an integral part of Rwanda's medical-supply infrastructure, transporting blood products from a central distribution center to hospitals across the country. And in 2018, Zipline's East African operations will expand to include Tanzania, a much larger country. Delivering critical medical supplies in this region typically involves someone spending hours (or even days) driving a cooler full of life-saving medicine or blood along windy dirt roads. Such deliveries can become dangerous or even impossible to make if roads and bridges get washed out.

The United States also alleges senior Afghan Taliban commanders live on Pakistani soil. In 2016, the then-Taliban leader Mullah Mansour was killed by a U.S. drone strike inside Pakistan and in 2011, al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was found and killed by U.S. troops in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad.

At least, that's the concept that Kevin Peterson is trying to achieve with his robotics company, Marble. It recently made news for deploying food delivery robots onto the streets of San Francisco. Peterson, Marble's co-founder and software lead, joined this week's AI Podcast to talk about their efforts to integrate AI into the delivery process. Marble's robots, all named "Happy," look like a white boxcar about the size of a mobility scooter. They're complete with a trunk, where it stores packages.

They were the mischievous creatures blamed for causing mechanical failures and faults on aircraft during World War Two - before starring in a hit film as destructive monsters. Now, the gremlins are back - as a new type of killer flying drone. The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) research arm is pitting Dynetics and General Atomics (maker of the Predator drone) against each other in a contest to make the craft. Darpa said the program has been deliberately named Gremlins after the imps that British pilots during Wold War Two adopted as their good luck charms. The program envisions launching groups of UASs from existing large aircraft such as bombers or transport aircraft - as well as from fighters and other small, fixed-wing platforms - while those planes are out of range of adversary defenses.

As the Internet of Things (IoT) revolution gathers pace, we will soon be living in a world where virtually everything is connected to the internet and the cloud – cars, homes, televisions, coffee machines, and even our showers. "Even babies are controlled by the Internet," Israeli cyber-security guru Gil Shwed said recently at Israel's CyberTech conference, referring to a WiFi-enabled crib he had bought. The increase in wireless connections among objects and people is phenomenal. Research firm Gartner estimates that the number of connected devices and objects will grow from 6.4 billion in 2016 to nearly 21 billion by 2020 – and that excludes smartphones, tablets and computers. The numbers are undoubtedly staggering, and Israeli companies are significantly contributing to these statistics. According to venture capital firm Innovation Endeavors, there are roughly 330 Israeli IoT companies in a myriad of markets, such as AgTech, healthcare, transportation, smart homes, and consumer products ranging from sportswear to pet care.

A top Chinese drone manufacturer and a police-backed facial recognition firm are among dozens of companies set to receive state subsidies as China seeks to become a global powerhouse in internet technology, big data and artificial intelligence. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planning agency, said on Wednesday that 56 projects were in the first batch to receive the support in a key national scheme. They include "e-governance" systems developed by provincial authorities as well as drones and robots manufactured by private companies. The NDRC launched the national programme to promote what it described as "internet plus, artificial intelligence and the digital economy" with a call for submissions in October. The 56 projects are the first to qualify for the state support and will gain subsidies if there is no objection in the next week.