Embedded with Iraqi special forces, Ben C. Solomon was on the front lines in Mosul when a threat came from above: An ISIS drone dropping a grenade.

In late February, the UN-Secretary General held a press conference, highlighting the risk of starvation in East Africa and the necessity to raise funds to address the emergency situations in Somalia and South Sudan. Drought has been back in these countries and their neighbours since 2016, leading to a huge current food crisis. While governments are trying to handle the situation, how could technology innovations help prevent starvation and improve agriculture management in the future? We met with Laurent Rivière, a French 30 years-old entrepreneur, who shared with us his view on the subject with a combination of engineer pragmatism and changemaker idealism . Founder and CEO at Sunbirds for two years, he explained to us how his "bird of the sun," his solar drone, is addressing the agriculture challenges of the 21st century.

Workhorse Group Inc. of Loveland, Ohio, received permission Wednesday from the Federal Aviation Administration to begin testing a delivery drone nicknamed HorseFly that is launched from atop the company's electric trucks. SAN FRANCISCO – The world's largest drone maker has teamed up with the nation's largest thermal camera company to create ready-to-fly drones that can see in the dark. The drone maker is DJI, a China-based company that currently has about 70% of the world drone market. The camera is by FLIR Systems, a Wilsonville, Ore.-based thermal and infrared imaging company. The collaboration will produce drones that can be used in search-and-rescue, firefighting, security and surveillance.

While DJI's Phantom 4 Pro strictly targeted filmmakers, folks who wanted that form factor were stuck paying the long dollar ($1,500 - $1,800) for it. Sure, it might've been overshadowed by the company's less expensive Mavic Pro ($749 - $999), but not everyone wants a foldable UAV. That's where the newly announced Phantom 4 Advanced and Advanced come in, offering sizable improvements for less money. Oh and if you were a fan of the base Phantom 4, know that it's being discontinued soon. The Advanced's onboard camera has a 1-inch, 20-megapixel image sensor, larger than the standard Phantom 4's and inline with the Phantom 4 Pro.

While Amazon continues refining its delivery-by-UAV dream, Yelp is gearing up to test a grounded method to autonomously transport take out. The company is partnering with Marble to use their wheeled drone, which is designed to carry perishable cargo, to try out unmanned food delivery for its Seamless-like Yelp Eat24 service. Specifically, they're sending Marble's robots on trips around SF's Mission and Potrero Hill districts, so lucky Eat24 patrons might get the option to have their grub delivered via the boxy drones -- and their humans. Handlers will "chaperone" the autonomous bots to make sure their initial forays into the world go smoothly. The robots use NVIDIA's TX1 Jetson supercomputers to digest environmental data coming from a suite of cameras, LiDAR, and ultrasonic sensors, the same sensors used by autonomous cars. As they expand delivery to more neighborhoods, Marble and Eat24 will use their drones to map the city's sidewalks and develop optimized routes.

From drone warfare to self-checkout lines at the grocery store, the change is clear. Sales of automated industrial "robots" rose 15% year-over-year in 2015, to reach an annual record of 253,748 units, according to the International Federation of Robotics. Those units were valued at $11 billion, 9% more than the year before. That lifted the total installed base, worldwide, to 1.6 million industrial bots, a number that the IFR projects will reach 2.6 million in 2019. For investors, it smells like opportunity.

Volcán de Fuego stands 12,346 feet overlooking Guatemala's former capital, Antigua, and because it erupts multiple times every hour, researcher have yet to closely study what is happening deep beneath it – until now. A team of UK volcanologists are employing a fleet of drones fitted with special sensors to make the treacherous journey to the peak and'take measurements that would otherwise never have been possible'. The data will help researchers investigate how the massive mountain changes overtime, allowing them to better protect the 60,000 people that are at risk of it erupting. Volcán de Fuego stands 12,346 feet tall overlooking Guatemala's former capital, Antigua, and because it erupts multiple times every hour, researcher have yet to closely study what is happening deep beneath the volcano – until now Volcán de Fuego is one of Central American's most active volcanoes and is one of three large stratovolcanoes overlooking Guatemala's former capital, Antigua. It was formed when the Meseta volcano collapsed about 8,500 years ago, which caused an avalanched that traveled 31 miles (50 km) onto the Pacific coastal plain.

The term "selfie drones" may suggest an added level of convenience, but in reality, these machines still share one common pain point with conventional offerings: they need to be connected to a mobile device for initiation, mode selection and landing. The folks over at Zero Zero Robotics, however, are tackling this issue with a software update for their Hover Camera Passport. As we previewed back at CES, this foldable, fully-enclosed drone is finally getting an "Owner Mode," in which it can follow and record its owner without ever having to turn on the smartphone. Of course, in order to get the drone to recognize its owner, there is a one-time setup in the app for it to remember one's face. After that, it's simply a matter of booting up the device, let it fly in place, and once it spots its owner it'll automatically start recording video while following around.

Sharing a sidewalk with one of DoorDash's delivery robots is a bit like getting stuck behind someone playing Pokémon Go on his smartphone. The robot moves a little bit slower than you want to; every few meters it pauses, jerking to the left or right, perhaps turning around, then turning again before continuing on its way. These are the sidewalks of the future, technology evangelists promise. Autonomous delivery robots, once the exclusive purview of 1980s sci-fi movies, are coming to a city near you, with promises of reduced labor costs, increased efficiency, and the reduction of cars. But as robot fleets proliferate – Starship robots perform food deliveries for DoorDash and Postmates in Redwood City, California, and Washington DC, while Marble robots will begin making deliveries for Yelp Eat24 in San Francisco on Wednesday – the question none of these companies seems to want to answer is this: are these the sidewalks that we actually want?

Once the preserve of videographers with big production budgets, drones have now dropped in price by up to 30%, and not a day go by without a new drone being announced. Just recently DJI announced the latest addition to its Phantom range, the DJI Phantom 4. So 4K video shooting and high definition aerial photography can now be all yours for around £500. So here's a look at just what you can do with a drone… not all of them are entirely serious. The trouble with starting out on your own as a freelance photographer or videographer is that you're entering an incredibly crowded market. There are a lot of good people out there, using a lot of good kit, and it's tough to stand out.