The dawn of the 21st century has been called the decade of the drone. Unmanned aerial vehicles, remotely operated by pilots in the United States, rain Hellfire missiles on suspected insurgents in South Asia and the Middle East. Now a small group of scholars is grappling with what some believe could be the next generation of weaponry: lethal autonomous robots. At the center of the debate is Ronald C. Arkin, a Georgia Tech professor who has hypothesized lethal weapons systems that are ethically superior to human soldiers on the battlefield. A professor of robotics and ethics, he has devised algorithms for an "ethical governor" that he says could one day guide an aerial drone or ground robot to either shoot or hold its fire in accordance with internationally agreed-upon rules of war. But some scholars have dismissed Mr. Arkin's ethical governor as "vaporware," arguing that current technology is nowhere near the level of complexity that would be needed for a military robotic system to make life-and-death ethical judgments.

The North Dakota Army National Guard reportedly deployed an "anti-drone missile system" at the site of the Dakota Access oil pipeline on Tuesday. North Dakota Guard spokesman William Prokopyk confirmed to The Daily Beast the presence of the Avenger missile system. He added that the system was put in place "strictly in the observation role." The Morton County Sheriff's Department echoed Prokpyk's statements, adding that the systems "are used strictly for observation of ungoverned encampments to help protect private property and maintain public safety," according to The Daily Beast. Jon Ziegler, who describes himself as a "citizen journalist," spotted the surface-to-air missile launchers at the site.

The Federal Aviation Administration may have loosened its regulations on drones last summer, but it's still cracking down on those who violate the rules. The administration issued its largest civil penalty ever Tuesday to drone company SkyPan International. The settlement agreement between the FAA and SkyPan will require the Chicago-based company to pay $200,000 for conducting 65 illegal drone flights in congested airspace over Chicago and New York City, the FAA said. Beyond the civil penalty, SkyPan agreed to pay an additional $150,000 if it violates FAA regulations in the next year, and $150,000 more if it fails to comply with the terms of the settlement agreement. Even with the looming threat of additional penalties, SkyPan managed to escape with considerably less of a penalty that was initially proposed by the FAA.

Roughly 20 people took to downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday and called on the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to immediately suspend plans to deploy a drone in emergency situations, saying they feared the device will be used for warrantless surveillance. Hamid Khan, founder of the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, said his group rejected the use of drones in all forms, even in response to bomb threats or hostage crises. In announcing the pilot program last week, Sheriff Jim McDonnell said the drone would not be used for surveillance, but Khan said he feared the agency could change that policy at any time. "What this represents is the rapid escalation and militarization of police," Khan said. Last week, sheriff's officials said they would use the drone only to help deputies gain crucial advantages when dealing with barricaded suspects, suspicious devices, hazardous materials situations, and similar scenarios where it would be dangerous for a deputy to approach on foot.

Drone footage shows an Antarctic ice crack which opened late last year. The British Antarctic Survey is to pull all staff out of its space-age Halley base in March because of the crack.

Yesterday, the Halley VI Research Station was forced to close its Antarctic research base amid rising fears it could fall into a huge ice chasm. Shocking new drone footage has now been released that shows just how massive the growing crack in the ice is. The worrying footage has forced the British research base to relocate 14 miles (22 km) across the Brunt Ice Shelf and close its doors for the winter. The footage shows a 25 mile-long (40km) crack that appears to be a few feet deep. In some areas, the crack has split into two, leaving behind small islands of ice.

As Theresa May outlined her plans for the UK to hard exit Europe, the Mobile Games Forum kicked off in London today with a solid international line up from the likes of Rovio, Bandai Namco, Twitch, King and a huge delegation from Korea to name a few. Revenue, monetization and retention were unsurprisingly key themes of the day but surprisingly esports received more interest than VR. Motti Colman, Optimove's Director of New Business believes companies need to fix missed opportunities; "Traditionally, games companies look at three segments; new, active and churn. Churn is often [deprioritised] but 18% of first-time churners, on average, can be reactivated which means multi-time churners - thanks to the zig-zag phenomenon (where active users leave and then come back repeatedly) - can be identified and incentivised differently. James Dean, MD of ESL UK believes beyond audience diversification we will see smarter business plays from brand and developers; "Rather than just a pure marketing play, we will see brands create a dedicated strategy and retain control over their revenue models rather than create simple strategies and badging exercises.

A drone company apparently made the most futuristic flying camera ever made – but has now been hit with disappointed customers and lawsuits. Lily announced this month that it was winding itself down and would refund everyone who pre-ordered his drone in the middle of 2015. It was the ignominious end of an 18 month period that saw the company soar to the top tech world with its stunning features. But it slowly dawned on many of its customers over the following months that it actually was. Now its customers claim that it had duped them with the flashy and splashy video that introduced the technology.

Massimiliano "Max" Versace traces the birth date of his startup to when NASA came knocking in 2010. The U.S. space agency had caught wind of his military-funded Boston University research on making software for a brain-inspired microprocessor through an IEEE Spectrum article, and wanted to see if Versace and his colleagues could help develop a software controller for robotic rovers that could autonomously explore Mars. NASA's vision proved no easy challenge. Mars rovers have limited computing, communications, and power resources. NASA engineers wanted artificial intelligence that could rely solely on images from a low-end camera to navigate different environments.

Cities are growing worldwide and traffic as we know it will only get worse. Airbus Group's urban air mobility division predicts that by 2030, 60 percent of the population will live in cities, up from 50 percent today. The aircraft giant, second in size only to Boeing, is developing three separate solutions to urban congestion and they all look to the skies. Airbus is working on a single-passenger vehicle, package delivery drones, and autonomous buses. Airbus CEO Tom Enders spoke about the company's projects in Munich at the DLD conference where he told attendees he hopes the company will demonstrate a single person flying vehicle by year's end, Reuters reported.