Amazon has a mysterious experimental project that it wants to start testing, based on the application it sent to the FCC that Business Insider found. The e-commerce giant has requested for permission to test a wireless communication technology for five months in preparation for research scheduled next year. It kept the application pretty vague, only mentioning that it involves "prototype equipment and associated software designed to support innovative communications capabilities and functionalities." Since Amazon listed Neil Woodward as a contact for the filing, the technology could have something to do with Prime Air. Woodward was a NASA astronaut who's now the company's program manager for its delivery drone's flight tests and safety efforts.

Before he took office in 2008, Barack Obama vowed to end America's grueling conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. During his second term, he pledged to take the country off what he called a permanent war footing. "Our systematic effort to dismantle terrorist organizations must continue," he said in May 2013. "But this war, like all wars, must end. But Obama leaves a very different legacy as he prepares to hand his commander-in-chief responsibilities to Donald Trump. U.S. military forces have been at war for all eight years of Obama's tenure, the first two-term president with that distinction. He launched airstrikes or military raids in at least seven countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan. Yet the U.S. faces more threats in more places than at any time since the Cold War, according to U.S. intelligence. For the first time in decades, there is at least the potential of an armed clash with America's largest adversaries, Russia and China.

The Lily Camera, a throw-and-shoot camera, is displayed during CES Unveiled at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in Jan. 2016. On Dec. 20, Lily Robotics was up against a wall. It was five days before Christmas, and dozens of eager customers who had spent more than $499 to pre-order the company's flagship product were wondering if they were ever going to see it. A San Francisco-based startup that had promised to build an autonomous flying camera, Lily was among the most-anticipated consumer hardware companies in Silicon Valley. In May 2015, its splashy launch video, featuring a four-propeller robot whizzing around a kayaker and snowboarder, went viral and was watched 5.3 million times in its first month.

LAUREL, MD. – Deep in the woods of suburban Maryland the men and women of the security details for President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Pence are preparing for the worst on Inauguration Day. "We train for the scope of issues that can come up," one senior U.S. Secret Service special agent told Fox News before a training exercise Tuesday at the agency's James J. Rowley Training Center. Minutes later, while driving on a massive lot that doubled as a mock Pennsylvania Avenue, dozens of special agents, and the re-enactors playing those they were protecting, were run through a gauntlet of scenarios along the imitation parade route. Fox News embedded with the Secret Service for a training exercise that encompassed nearly 40 different scenarios that could take place over the course of the presidential ride from the steps of the U.S. Capitol to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Organizers of the operation spared no detail, setting up rows of barricades in front of spectators that flanked the route, complete with protestors and unruly onlookers. From a routine ankle sprain for the First Lady to an all-out armed assault on the motorcade, the security details – as with real life protective situations – were preparing to tackle anything and everything that could come their way on January 20.

Social media posts have revealed that ISIS has modified commercial drones to drop bombs. Coalition air forces have hit ISIS-made drones and drone production sites in both Syria and Iraq. According to press releases from the Combined Joint Task Force, coalition military forces conducted 32 strikes against ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq on January 12th alone, hitting an ISIS drone launch site in Northwestern Iraq. A US central command official told Defense One: 'Over the last two months, coalition forces have observed about one adversary drone every day around Mosul' With the exception of just one day (January 10th), the forces have hit ISIS drones, drone launch sites or drone production sites daily since January 7th. A US central command official told Defense One: 'Over the last two months, coalition forces have observed about one adversary drone every day around Mosul. 'The Coalition has struck a number of what we believed to be unmanned aerial vehicle facilities in Mosul.

Panasonic's relationship with robots is pretty well established at this point. Now the company is taking it one step further with the HOSPI(R) Autonomous Delivery Robot. From January 14th to the 18th, it'll inhabit the ANA Crowne Plaza Narita in Japan, delivering bottled drinks right from the fridge in its belly. It'll also be giving out bus directions according to a press release. Sounds a little bit less creepy than a robotic velociraptor checking you into a hotel, at least.

Drones took up a lot of floor (and air) space at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this year, but one of the most impressive displays of new drone tech came from Qualcomm. The chipmaker showed off the latest iteration of its Snapdragon Flight Drone Platform, which allows for flight control and machine learning in real time onboard a drone. With machine learning, drones can fly autonomously without knowing beforehand what they might encounter. Other drones have artificial intelligence that can do things like follow a moving object or avoid obstacles too, but Qualcomm's tech shows more advanced computing that can actually understand what the drone encountered in mid-air and create a flight path. Qualcomm put together a set at its booth at CES that resembled the inside of a cluttered warehouse, showing how its drone processing and decision-making technology is nimble enough to allow drones to operate indoors and in unpredictable settings without using any GPS.

Before he took office in 2008, Barack Obama vowed to end America's grueling conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. During his second term, he pledged to take the country off what he called a permanent war footing. "Our systematic effort to dismantle terrorist organizations must continue," he said in May 2013. "But this war, like all wars, must end. But Obama leaves a very different legacy as he prepares to hand his commander-in-chief responsibilities to Donald Trump. U.S. military forces have been at war for all eight years of Obama's tenure, the first two-term president with that distinction. He launched airstrikes or military raids in at least seven countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan. Yet the U.S. faces more threats in more places than at any time since the Cold War, according to U.S. intelligence. For the first time in decades, there is at least the potential of an armed clash with America's largest adversaries, Russia and China.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell said Thursday that his agency will begin deploying an unmanned aerial device to aid deputies responding to arson scenes, suspected bombs and hostage situations, but he promised the device would not be used to surveil residents. The use or attempted use of drones by law enforcement elsewhere has come under fire from privacy and civil liberty advocates, and McDonnell and other agency officials avoided using the word "drone" during a 20-minute news conference unveiling the department's latest technological addition. Instead, the sheriff praised the $10,000 device as a useful tool that can give deputies a life-saving advantage in potentially deadly situations. "The dangers of law enforcement can never be eliminated," he said. "However, this technology can assist us in reducing the impact of risks on personnel."

Drone makers have pulled inspiration from nature for their latest design – a drone that makes perched landings like a bird. Researchers combined a morphing wing drone and machine learning algorithms to create a system that lets the machine perform perched landings on the ground. The fixed wing aircraft also has the ability to land in small or confined places, which could be used to deliver aid in humanitarian disasters. Researchers combined a morphing wing drone and machine learning algorithms to create a system that lets the machine perform perched landings on the ground. Researchers from the University of Bristol and BMT Defence Services have designed a drone that make perched landings like a bird.