This Startup Wants to Use Drones to Drop Blood, Not Bombs

Everyone seems to have an idea for making them useful--Amazon wants to use them for deliveries, Facebook sees them beaming the Internet to remote areas--but so far it all seems so very outlandish. A California startup called Zipline has a practical plan to use the devices for good. Later this year the company, working with UPS and vaccine distributer Gavi, plans to deploy a fleet of drones in Rwanda, where the machines will deliver medical supplies. The goal is to see 15 autonomous aircraft flying out of a centralized hub make 150 deliveries each day to 21 medical stations throughout the western half of the country. The Rwandan government, which has embraced drone technology and recently approved remarkably progressive guidelines for its use, is working with Zipline to measure the success of the venture.