Drone users in the UK will be required to do safety awareness tests as part of planned new legislation on their usage. Police will also be given new powers to crack down on illegal use of the unmanned aerial vehicles. The government hopes to harness new drone technology which could see them used on oil rigs, in construction, for organ transport and parcel deliveries. The bill has been welcomed by the pilots' union, which has warned of near misses involving drones and aircraft. Balpa said there had been 81 incidents so far this year - up from 71 in 2016 and 29 in 2015.

More than a decade after the improvised explosive device became the scourge of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon is battling another relatively rudimentary device that threatens to wreak havoc on American troops: the drone. Largely a preoccupation of hobbyists and experimenting companies, the vehicles are beginning to become a menace on the battlefield, where their benign commercial capabilities have been transformed into lethal weapons and intelligence tools. Instead of delivering packages, some have been configured to drop explosives. Instead of inspecting telecommunications towers, others train their cameras to monitor troops and pick targets. Instead of spraying crops, they could spread toxic gas, commanders worry.

A new drone designed by Russian researchers is the hulk of the quadcopter world - and can carry a 400-pound (181-kg) payload and fly for up to eight hours. The multi-rotor, autonomous drone, called SKYF, was designed with logistics and agribusinesses companies in mind to create a air freight platform to help business carry out tasks. The vertical take-off and landing drone has applications in areas such as the aerial application of pesticides and fertilizers, seed planting for forest restoration and emergency situations for food and medicine delivery. The drone, designed by Russian company ARDN technology, has a maximum flight speed of 70 kilometers per hour (43.5 miles per hour) at a maximum height of 3,000 meters (9,843 feet) and has a positional accuracy of 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) The drone, designed by Russian company ARDN technology, has a maximum flight speed of 70 kilometers per hour (43.5 miles per hour) and is 5.2 meters (17 feet) by 2.2 meters (7.2 feet). It can fly at a maximum height of 3,000 meters (9,843 feet) and has a positional accuracy of 30 centimeters (11.8 inches).

Scanning an empty field that once housed a Shaker village in New Hampshire, Jesse Casana had come in search of the foundations of stone buildings, long-forgotten roadways and other remnants of this community dating to the 1790s. But instead of a trowel and shovel, Casana and his Dartmouth College colleague Chad Hill are using a drone equipped with a thermal imaging camera and mapping instruments. The camera can identify remnants of buildings and other structures up to several feet below the surface, since the temperatures of that brick or stone material is often warmer than the soil around it. Dartmouth's Chad Hill readies a drone to be flown over a site of a Shaker Village in Enfield, NH. The team was able to recognize traces of long-removed historic buildings and pathways at the Shaker Village in Enfield, N.H. The community once housed nearly 100 buildings but was sold in the 1920s and is now an outdoor history museum.

For the past several years, Jesse Casana and his colleagues have been flying drones equipped with a thermal imaging camera over a dozen sites from New Hampshire to Cyprus. The equipment uses heat to differentiate stone and brick structures from surrounding soil.

But instead of a trowel and shovel, Casana and his Dartmouth College colleague Chad Hill are using a drone equipped with a thermal imaging camera and mapping instruments. The camera can identify remnants of buildings and other structures up to several feet below the surface, since the temperatures of that brick or stone material is often warmer than the soil around it. And by using the drone, the researchers can survey an area in minutes that might take months with traditional methods.

Rare drone footage has captured up to 800 whales frolicking and socialising in the endangered channel where they come to give birth. The beautiful belugas were filmed as they sought out the safety of Lancaster Sound which lies off the coast of Devon Island, in northern Canada. The mammals majestically swirl through estuaries to their temporary home, playing and socialising in groups with a vocal chirp that earned them the nickname'canaries of the sea'. They were filmed by Sea Legacy, who are campaigning to make Lancaster Sound into a marine protected area to save the surrounding, wondrous wildlife and environment. If successful it will prevent oil exploration, additional tanker traffic and development of the area.

Case in point, the SKEYE Nano 2 FPV Drone is the world's smallest camera drone, but it boasts an unrivaled flying experience. With adjustable gyro sensitivity and 6-axis flight control system, this tiny drone is easy to control for even the most novice pilots, making it a perfect gift for the aspiring aviator on your list. Plus you can take an extra 20% off its sale price when you plug in the BFRIDAY20 coupon code at checkout, bringing the total to just $51.20, down from $99. Featuring Ready to Fly Technology, the SKEYE Nano 2 FPV Drone makes operation easy for beginner pilots. You can take off, land, and hover easily with built-in auto-functions, and it can capture real-time, first-person video with its HD, WiFi-controlled camera.

In another addition to the ever-expanding list of things robots can do better than humans, artificial intelligence has beaten one of NASA's world-class pilots in a drone race. Researchers at NASA's jet propulsion lab in Pasadena, California, revealed Tuesday the results of two years spent developing algorithms for autonomous drones using technology also used for spacecraft navigation, funded by Google. The space agency put its AI to the test on October 12, finding that their robot was nimbler and did not get tired like a human pilot. Related: A robot mocked Elon Musk and his grim AI predictions. The race, held on October 12, pitted NASA drone pilot Ken Loo against custom-built drones named after comic book characters Batman, Joker and Nightwing, capable of reaching speeds of up to 80 miles per hour.

NASA has pitted a professional drone racer against its AI. The space agency took on pilot Ken Loo on a specially designed course using three purpose built drones named Batman, Joker and Nightwing. While the human prevailed, NASA found its craft, which were funded by Google, were far more consistent - and didn't suffer from tiredness. The space agency took on pilot Ken Loo on a specially designed course using three purpose built drones named Batman, Joker and Nightwing in a project funded by Google. Loo averaged 11.1 seconds, compared to the drones 13.9 seconds The team built three custom drones (dubbed Batman, Joker and Nightwing) and developed the complex algorithms the drones needed to fly at high speeds while avoiding obstacles.