Microsoft tests AI powerless aircraft that mimics birds

Microsoft is working on an autonomous aircraft that can fly for long periods of time without any power. Rather than a motor, the glider relies on artificial intelligence that mimics how birds fly, autonomously finding thermals, or invisible columns of air that rise due to heat, to carry it for long distances. A recent test of the 16.5-foot aircraft - called a sailplane - conducted in the middle of the desert in Hawthorne, Nevada proved successful - the algorithms researchers developed to help it predict where thermals would appear next worked and kept it aloft. Microsoft is working on an autonomous aircraft that can fly for long periods of time without any power. 'Birds do this seamlessly, and all they're doing is harnessing nature,' Ashish Kapoor, a principal researcher at Microsoft, said.