FILE - In his photo April 4, 2017 file photo, provided by the Syrian anti-government activist group Edlib Media Center, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows victims of a suspected chemical attack, in the town of Khan Sheikhoun, northern Idlib province, Syria. A senior U.S. official says the U.S. has concluded that Russia knew in advance of Syria's chemical weapons attack last week. FILE - In his photo April 4, 2017 file photo, provided by the Syrian anti-government activist group Edlib Media Center, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows victims of a suspected chemical attack, in the town of Khan Sheikhoun, northern Idlib province, Syria. A senior U.S. official says the U.S. has concluded that Russia knew in advance of Syria's chemical weapons attack last week. WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United States has concluded Russia knew in advance of Syria's chemical weapons attack last week, a senior U.S. official said Monday.

If you want to put an eye out, by all means, fly a quadcopter indoors. Shred the houseplants and ruin the linens. Give the dog a complex. After all, they'd be immensely useful for, say, decommissioning chemical and energy plants by providing a view of overhead pipes and such that terrestrial rovers can't reach. Rescue roboticist Robin Murphy of Texas A&M may have solved this problem--with marsupials.

Flights of nearly all unmanned aircraft, or drones, have been banned over 133 U.S. military facilities due to security concerns over the use of unauthorized drones, the Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday.

The FAA's agreement with the Defense Department restricts drone flights to up to 400 feet (120 meters) high within the boundaries of the facilities. The restrictions are effective beginning April 14. Only a few exceptions will be permitted and they must be coordinated with the individual facility or the FAA.

Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your Automaton bloggers. We'll also be posting a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next two months; here's what we have so far (send us your events!): Let us know if you have suggestions for next week, and enjoy today's videos. This video was published on March 31, not April 1, which I assume means that Pepper's fish mode is going to be a real thing: In fact, it's possible that this capability has already been enabled, so feel free to toss your Pepper into the nearest lake and let us know how it goes. Kinema Pick is the world's first Deep Learning 3D Vision system for industrial robots.

This 2015 file photo shows U.S. soldiers from Dragon Troop of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment discuss their mission during their first training exercise of the new year near operating base Gamberi in the Laghman province of Afghanistan. WASHINGTON – The Trump administration opened a new military front Thursday when it ordered dozens of cruise missiles against a Syrian air base, adding to a growing list of recent U.S. military forays. A look at where the United States has fought in the 21st century. After al-Qaida attacked the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001, the U.S. led an invasion of Afghanistan that ousted the Taliban. Though the U.S. and NATO formally ended their combat mission in Afghanistan at the end of 2014, the war -- now in its 16th year -- drags on.

Mike Leyva from Epson, demonstrates the company's Moverio augmented reality smart glasses during the Drone Rodeo held annually before the Consumer Electronics Show. Connect the Moverio BT-200 ($699) Smart Glasses to your drone, ditch the regular viewfinder, and with the dorky shades over your eyes, look up and see what the drone sees. I'm supposed to have it in my line of sight, per the Federal Aviation Authority. If my drone is flying over the ocean and takes a turn, I could lose the unit, and that's a rather scary feeling. To be fair, the Moverio, from printer manufacturer Epson, doesn't totally engulf your vision like virtual reality headsets.

The recent weaponization of drones has seen its share of inventiveness. But now, militants in Yemen are foregoing clever hacks and add-ons for a far more blunt approach: ramming drones into anti-missile systems, to keep them from knocking ballistic missiles out of the sky. It shows how militant groups and smaller military forces in the Middle East are exploiting gaps in the air defenses of better-equipped forces by using drones in new and unexpected ways, increasing demand for counter-drone technologies in the process. The United Arab Emirates, as part of a Saudi-led coalition, has been trying to oust the Houthi Ansar Allah movement in Yemen since Houthi militants seized control of the country from then-President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi in 2015. Recently, according to a report from weapons-tracking research organization Conflict Arms Research, the UAE picked up seven drones, used by the Houthi militia to render the coalition's Patriot ballistic missile defense systems unable to intercept missiles fired from Yemen into Saudi territory.

DJI's Mavic Pro may already be a small and compact quadcopter drone, but the manufacturer appears to be preparing to launch an even smaller drone. Photos of the new drone, allegedly called the Spark, have surfaced online and the device appears to possibly be an entry-level, selfie-taking drone. The Spark first popped up on the Chinese DJI forums, but the webpage has now been shut down. Luckily, TechCrunch was able to save a few photos of DJI's new drone and it looks like its going to be even smaller than the Mavic Pro when its propellers are extended. The Spark appears to have non-extendable arms and brushless motors.

Verizon is working on getting service to you after a crazy storm or other emergencies. This week, the company announced it tested a large drone that could provide service during an emergency using a "flying cell site." The technical test took place at Woodbine Municipal Airport in Woodbine, New Jersey and was made to simulate an environment in which commercial power would be out completely after severe weather or other dangerous events that affect communications services. The drone is owned and piloted by American Aerospace Technologies, Inc. (AATI). The test follows a previous successful run in October in Cape May, New Jersey which delivered 4G LTE network from the drone.