Are you considering buying an electric car, but have concerns about how you'll charge it while on the go? A new patent granted to Amazon might have the answer to this problem. The patent details a drone that can dock into electronic vehicles while they're moving to charge them. Pictured is an illustration from the patent file, showing an example of the drone docking system. The system would work by deploying a drone to connect to the docking mechanism, thereby allowing it to charge the vehicle while it's moving or stationary A new patent granted to Amazon details a system that would allow a drone to dock into electronic vehicles while they're moving in order to charge them.

One cold, dreary afternoon in 2014, Jordan Temkin took his drone to Chautauqua Park in Boulder, Colorado. He put on a pair of goggles that filled his view with the live video feed from the drone's tiny camera. He'd built the drone frame from scratch using a 3D printer, finishing it with parts he'd bought online. It took about a month for it to take off straight. Eventually, it could hover around his backyard, so one day he took it to the park and began gingerly flying around. You can still find the video feed of this first flight on YouTube. Temkin flies slowly and carefully at first, meandering around the asphalt path. But before long, he flies the drone up, over and then around a rocky peak before diving toward the ground and pulling up a split second before disaster. At one point, Temkin appears in the video, sitting on the asphalt path as the drone loops around. "It really felt like I was flying," he said.

Given the explosion of connected devices, also known as the Internet-of-things, it's natural that people would want to know just how many such devices are out there. But how do you go about figuring out just how many of these devices--like thermometers or light bulbs hooked to the Internet--are being used in a given city? The answer is apparently to enlist the services of a drone that can fly above the city proper and gather tons of data pertaining to the connected gadgets and appliances. A team of researchers at security company Praetorian wanted to discover how many IOT-friendly devices were being used in Austin, TX, and found that the best way to do so would be to outfit a drone with the company's custom built connected-device tracking appliance and have it fly over the city, Praetorian vice president of marketing Paul Jauregui told Fortune. Full how-to build guide coming soon!

Electric vehicles are the main market for Romeo Power Technology, the Vernon-based lithium-ion battery pack startup. But the company is also using its know-how to make portable battery packs for individuals. On Thursday it introduced the Saber, a ruggedized 2.2-pound bar-shaped device the company says can quick-charge a smartphone 10 times -- or, with the right connectors, 10 smartphones at once. It can also recharge tablets, laptops and small drone aircraft as fast as a wall charger, the company said -- it's "like having a wall-socket in your pocket," said Dion Isselhardt, the company's chief product officer. The Saber itself requires two hours of wall time for a refill.

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - The leader of Pakistani militant group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, who planned some of the deadliest suicide bombings in Pakistan in the last year, died on Thursday after being wounded in a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan, a spokesman said.

WASHINGTON – CNN received a waiver allowing routine drone flights above crowds, a milestone for the industry seeking greater use of the remote-controlled devices for everything from insurance inspections to covering news. The approval is the first time the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has granted a waiver for unlimited flights over people, the news network said in an emailed statement. The standards used in the application can be applied to other applicants, potentially opening vast new uses by the media and other industries for so-called unmanned aerial systems, or UAS. "This waiver signifies a critical step forward not only for CNN's UAS operations, but also the commercial UAS industry at large," said David Vigilante, senior vice president of legal affairs for CNN. The FAA currently prohibits drone flights overhead, although its regulations allow for waivers if applicants can show there's no risk of injury.

The FAA finally passed a set of rules for commercial drone aviators back in August 2016, which included a formal restriction from flying over crowds of people. Given how valuable aerial footage from UAVs is, that's been a difficult regulation for news outlets to stomach. But today, the agency granted CNN the first waiver to these rules, allowing it to fly its drones over people. But they can't just fly any drone over crowds. The waiver applies only to a specific micro-vehicle, the 1.37-pound Snap UAS, which is'deformable' with enclosed rotors. In other words, should it suddenly drop out of the sky, it will do less damage to people than standard drones, as The Verge demonstrates in this video of a staffer headbutting the UAV safely.

American police have certainly used drones before, but not on this scale. The Los Angeles Police Commission has voted in favor of letting the LAPD fly drones in a year-long pilot program, making it the largest US police department to ever rely on the robotic aircraft. The force will use the drones for aerial searches, recon in tense situations (think: standoffs) and other tasks where officers would otherwise be at risk. The machines could save lives, according to the LAPD, but there were numerous concessions made to address privacy concerns -- and some people still aren't convinced these limits will prevent abuse. The trial's rules restrict flights to SWAT team members in dangerous situations, such as when there's a heavily armed suspect on the loose.

Drones are becoming more and more popular these days, but to many people committing to one still seems intimidating. Buy a low-quality drone and you're likely to have a poor experience. Buy a high-end drone and you may just be setting yourself up for expensive beginner mistakes. Luckily, a lot of drones have beginner-friendly features to help: automated flight modes that easily get YouTube-quality sweeping shots, obstacle avoidance sensors that stop you from flying into a wall, and prop guards that protect the propellers from breaking when you inevitably crash anyway. And I can tell you from first-hand experience: you'll want a drone that is forgiving of mistakes, because you're going to crash.

Your next electric car might be fueled up by drone. Amazon was granted a new patent earlier this month that was only recently spotted by Green Tech Media. The patent explains how Amazon drones might one day latch onto an electric vehicle and charge it while it's driving -- a complicated balancing act between the car and the drone. SEE ALSO: Amazon's new Echo Spot is here to replace your alarm clock The drones could be fully autonomous, the patent claims, meaning that they would be able to plan and navigate their own routes without any human assistance. Here's how it would work: An electric vehicle would send a request for fuel on a network to which the drones are connected.