If a major disaster like Fukushima or Chornobyl ever happens again, the world would know almost straight away, thanks to an array of government and DIY radiation-monitoring programs running globally.

BRUSSELS - NATO and the EU on Wednesday sought ways to boost anti-drone defenses, as Europe scrambles to counter the threat from Russia after a series of air incursions. High-profile incidents in Poland and Estonia have set off a flurry of activity from European officials to plug gaps in the continent's defenses. NATO has launched a new mission and beefed up forces on its eastern border, but it is playing catch-up as it tries to tap Ukraine's experience and get to grips with the drone threat from Moscow. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday signed executive orders to bolster defenses against threatening drones and to boost electric air taxis and supersonic commercial aircraft, the White House said. In the three executive orders, Trump sought to enable routine use of drones beyond the visual sight of operators -- a key step to enabling commercial drone deliveries -- and reduce U.S. reliance on Chinese drone companies as well as advance testing electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. The order should boost eVTOL firms including Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation. Trump is establishing a federal task force to ensure U.S. control over American skies, expand restrictions over sensitive sites, expand federal use of technology to detect drones in real time and provide assistance to state and local law enforcement.

Despite this reputation among rank-and-file service members--and maybe because of it--Flash has also become a source of some controversy among the upper echelons of Ukraine's military, he tells me. The Armed Forces of Ukraine declined multiple requests for comment, but Flash and his colleagues claim that some high-ranking officials perceive him as a security threat, worrying that he shares too much information and doesn't do enough to secure sensitive intel. As a result, some refuse to support or engage with him. Others, Flash says, pretend he doesn't exist. Either way, he believes they are simply insecure about the value of their own contributions--"because everybody knows that Serhii Flash is not sitting in Kyiv like a colonel in the Ministry of Defense," he tells me in the abrasive fashion that I've come to learn is typical of his character.

The Internet of Things (IoT) didn't just create smart houses and enable predictive analytics for industrial applications. Sometimes, all those things happen at once. At least, that's my takeaway from a new partnership between AT&T and Dedrone, a drone detection technology startup based in San Francisco. According an AT&T spokesperson, "AT&T and Dedrone are teaming up to deploy IoT sensor technology to protect against malicious drones. Powered exclusively by AT&T, and using sensor data like radio frequency, visual, and radar, Dedrone detects and classifies approaching drones, pinpointing their locations and triggering alarms to alert security."

If drones could eat other drones, the SparrowHawk would sit somewhere near the top of the flying-robot foodchain. On a baking stretch of 110-degree dust an hour west of Phoenix, the six-rotored arachnoid rises with a menacing buzz, like a swarm of several dozen hornets' nests. Then the 14-pound, hexagonal drone lurches forward, towards its prey, a 3D Robotics quadcopter that its five-and-a-half-foot armspan dwarfs. The two drones perform a brief, mid-air dance before the SparrowHawk overtakes the quadcopter, and pulls it into a rectangular net that hangs beneath its body, tangling the smaller drone's rotors. The SparrowHawk then lowers to the ground, the captured quadcopter still twitching in its web.

The French military is developing a new, unusual defense weapon to combat terrorism. Four golden eagles, d'Artagnan, Athos, Porthos and Aramis are being trained to attack drones that enter into restricted French air space according to the Washington Post. Terrorists are beginning to experiment with drones in Iraq and the French presidential palace has had numerous drones fly within its restricted air space in recent years. Terrorists are reportedly using store bought drones and turning them into weapons. Jean-Christophe Zimmermann, a French air force general, told Reuters the military chose to use eagles for defense to avoid using guns.