SAN FRANCISCO – Researchers have discovered a disturbing pattern: dozens of ships whose GPS signals tell them they're on land -- at an airport no less -- even when they're far out to sea. An investigation released this week by the Washington D.C.-based Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation and Windward Ltd., a maritime data and analytics company, has found multiple instances of so-called GPS spoofing in Russian waters. As recently as Monday, two vessels' GPS told them they were at Sochi Airport near the site of the 2014 Sochi Olympics, 12 miles away from the harbor where the vessels actually were. Researchers are calling these "mass GPS interferences" and they appear to be linked to the intentional transmission of false GPS signals to provide incorrect time or location information, possibly to veil certain facilities from attack. Familiar to anyone using a smartphone or built-in auto navigation system to map out a route, the satellite-based system is also the main way ships and trucking fleets find their way.

A few years ago, Davide Scaramuzza's lab at the University of Zurich introduced us to the usefulness of a kind of dynamic vision sensor called an event camera. Event cameras are almost entirely unlike a normal sort of camera, but they're ideal for small and fast moving robots when you care more about not running into things than you do about knowing exactly what those things are. In a paper submitted to Robotics and Automation Letters, Antoni Rosinol Vidal, Henri Rebecq, Timo Horstschaefer, and Professor Scaramuzza present the very first time an event camera has been used to autonomously pilot a drone, and it promises to enable things that drones have never been able to do before. The absolute cheapest way to get a drone to navigate autonomously is with a camera. At this point, cameras cost next to nothing, and if you fuse them with an IMU and don't move very fast and the lighting is reliable, they can provide totally decent state estimation, which is very important.

Driverless tractors, combine harvesters and drones have grown a field of crops in Shropshire in a move that could change the face of farming. The autonomous vehicles followed a pre-determined path set by GPS to perform each task, while the field was monitored by scientists using self-driving drones. The project, called hands Free Hectare, began with autonomous tractors drilling channels to precise depths for the barley seeds to be planted. The tractor was also used to plant seeds and spray fungicides, herbicides, and fertilisers. An automated combine harvester then harvested the field of barley.

Nvidia, the company which is renowned for making smartphone and PC Graphics Processing Units, is increasingly investing in evolving technologies such as self-driving and drones. The company has partnered with retailer JD.com for an outdoor robotics initiative, which will use drones for making deliveries, helping in rescue operations and agriculture. The retail giant's innovation lab, JD X has created two new robots called the JDrone and JDrover. While the JDrone will be an autonomous aerial vehicle, the JDrover will be a ground-based drone and will use the Nvidia Jetson platform for embedded artificial intelligence (AI) based navigational intelligence to navigate different terrains. "Complex outdoor situational awareness requires a platform that delivers unprecedented capabilities for deep learning and visual processing in a small form factor. The high performance of Jetson combined with its low power consumption and cost was the reason why we selected it for all of our logistics and delivery initiatives," Yuqian Li, head of JDrover team at JD X stated in a press release.

Dubai was serious when it said it wants to be first in the world to offer a flying taxi service. That's why on Monday, it staged a maiden test flight for one of its potential taxis: a two-seater, 18-rotor unmanned flying vehicle made by German firm Volocopter, which is backed by fellow German company Daimler. The automated vehicle, which lifts and lands vertically like a helicopter, whisked Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed away for a five-minute flight 200 meters above a patch of sand. It was a short exhibition, but Dubai and Volocopter ultimately want to be able to offer longer rides that last up to 30 minutes. They envision a future wherein you'll be able to hail a flying taxi like an Uber -- simply book one through an app and wait for it at a nearby "voloport."

Dubai has showcased a flight for what it said would soon be the world's first drone taxi service under an ambitious plan by the United Arab Emirates city to lead the Arab world in innovation. The flying taxi developed by German drone firm Volocopter resembles a small, two-seater helicopter cabin topped by a wide hoop studded with 18 propellers. The vehicle was unmanned for its test flight. Dubai has showcased a flight for what it said would soon be the world's first drone taxi service under an ambitious plan by the United Arab Emirates city to lead the Arab world in innovation Meant to run without remote control guidance and with a maximum flight duration of 30 minutes, it comes with plenty of fail-safes in case of trouble. These include back-up batteries, rotors and, for a worst case scenario, a couple of parachutes. Volocopter is in a race with more than a dozen well-funded European and US firms, each with its own science fiction-inspired vision for creating a new form of urban transport that is a cross between a driverless electric car and a short-hop, vertical takeoff-and-landing aircraft.

High-tech weapons that the Secret Service is not trained to cope with pose a'grave threat' to the White House, a former agent has warned. Swarms of weaponized drones or even 3D printed plastic guns could be used to launch unforeseen attacks on the president, according to Dan Bongino, author of Protecting the President. While drones have long been on their radar, recent technological developments could allow for'spectacular swarm attacks' that exploit the agency's ground-based approach, the Washington Examiner reports. High-tech weapons that the Secret Service is not trained to cope with pose a'grave threat' to the White House, a former agent has warned. One of ISIS's recently captured drones is pictured above ISIS is increasingly using drones on the battlefield, and the Pentagon hopes that the new cash programme will help to combat these weapons.

Last month, nearly a dozen army contractors took to the desert in New Mexico to test a range of new technologies to take down enemy drones. While some of the tests were successful, Pentagon officials have warned that many of the technologies are'still immature' and require'further development.' In response, the Pentagon has launched a $700 million (£517 million) cash programme to combat ISIS' lethal fleet of drones. The Pentagon has launched a $700 million (£517 million) cash programme to combat ISIS' lethal fleet of drones. ISIS is increasingly using drones on the battlefield, and the Pentagon hopes that the new cash programme will help to combat these weapons.

Alexander the Great's'lost city' was a magical place where people drank wine and naked philosophers imparted wisdom, ancient accounts claim. Now, nearly 2,000 years after the great warrior's death, archaeologists believe this illusive city may have finally been discovered in Iraq. Experts first noticed apparently ancient remains in the Iraqi settlement, known as Qalatga Darband after looking at declassified American spy footage from the 1960s. The images were made public in 1996 but, due to political instability, archaeologists were not able to explore the site properly for years. Using more recent drone footage, experts have now established there was a city during the first and second centuries BC which had strong Greek and Roman influences.

When it comes to drone regulations, the FAA's rules trump anything local governments conjure up. That's what a federal court in Massachusetts has proven when it ruled in favor of a commercial drone owner who sued the city of Newton over its drone ordinance. Newton resident Michael Singer filed the lawsuit in a bid to eliminate some of the city's rules that don't align with the FAA's, including having to register with every municipality it has to fly over and to maintain an altitude of 400 feet and above over private and Newton city property. Two of the rules he chose not to challenge prohibit operating drones in a reckless manner and the use of drones to spy on people. Singer argued that having to register with every municipality would make flights impossible, since an unmanned flying vehicle could cross several for a trip that takes a few minutes.