Drones can do some incredible acrobatics. If you were somehow a passenger on that drone and weren't a trained fighter pilot (and maybe even if you were), you'd pass out and very likely die. Drones don't do a lot of passenger carrying at the moment, which is probably for the best, but we've seen enough crazy ideas to suggest that using autonomous drones instead of autonomous cars to transport humans is probably going to be a reality within a handful of decades.* At the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), in Switzerland, a group of researchers led by Dario Floreano is already worrying about how we're going to handle personal drone flights, especially in situations where a lot of drones are trying to go in a lot of different directions at the same time. They've come up with an algorithm that allows drones to avoid collisions with each other while also not turning humans into mounds of quivering goo.

A microdrones md4-1000 flies quickly over the water, reaches the swimmer far ahead of the swimming lifeguard, and drops a compact flotation device that automatically inflates. Drones could soon become a standard life-saving tool for lifeguards and rescue teams. Even just a few seconds in the water can mean the difference between life and death, and robots can fly much faster than people can swim. On his best day, Michael Phelps swims at 6 mph, but drones can reach speeds of 50 mph or more. Plus, smart drones equipped with sensors could help locate survivors lost at sea.