1. The Wright brotherswouldgaze inwonderatthe flyingmachinesof today.Notonlyare these
contraptionsflyingfasterandfartherthaneverbefore,butsome cando it all withoutsomuchas a
single humanbeingonboard.The daysof the dronesare upon us-- whetherwe like itornot.
Drones,whichare alsocalledunmannedaerial vehicles(orUAVs),are contraptionsthattake tothe air
withouthumanpilotsinthe cockpit.Instead,people control dronesfromthe groundor,increasingly,the
dronessimply flythemselveswithoutthe needforhumanintervention.
These machinestake all shapesandsizes,all made toaddressdifferentairborne tasks.Venture
capitalistsdumpedmore than$40 millionintodrone-relatedstartupsin2013, and salesof UAVscould
top $8 billionwithin10years[source:Bloomberg].Inspite of thisgrowthspurt,dronesare notwithout
controversy.
For years,droneshave beenmakingheadlinesall overthe world,asthe U.S.and othercountriesuse
themfor swiftandhard-to-anticipate militarystrikes.That'swhymanypeople associate droneswith
mechanized,facelessOrwellianwarfare.
But dronesdoa lotof otherjobs,too,none of whichhave anythingtodo withhurtingpeople.These
non-lethal dronesare onthe cusp of transformingall sortsof industriesandcouldrevolutionizeour
economyandlifestylesinwayswe couldhave onlydreamedof justafew yearsago.
Keepreadingandyou'll see all sortsof non-murderousmissionsforUAVs.Don'tfeardrone-darkened
skiesjustyet-- they maybe friendlierthanyouthink.
Farmingand ranchingare arduouslivelihoods,made all the more difficultwhenlandownersmust
traverse manymilesandthousandsof acresto checkon crops and livestock.Dronesskipthe slow,
muddyroadsaltogetherandtake the skiestolookfor signsof disease,examinecrops,orevenapply
chemicalslike fertilizerorherbicide.
Notonlydoesthissave farmersfroma lotof driving(andgas),it couldresultinbetterland
management,whichcouldthenincreaseoverall yields.Dronesalsohelpfarmerskeepaneye onall of
theirpropertyandequipment.
Most large farms inthe U.S. are inrural areas,where there are fewerconcernsaboutprivacyandFAA
(Federal AviationAdministration) policiesregardingsmall flyingcraft.Solongas the dronesremainat
lessthan400 feethigh,theyare legal forsuchpurposes.
The nexttime yousee whatlookslike atinycrop dusterinthe distance,lookagain –it couldbe that
your local farmeristakinghisagricultural technologyto new heights.
Let the paranoiabegininearnest.Asif ubiquitoussurveillance camerasweren'tenough,now digital
cameraswill be mountedtodronesthattirelesslyscourthe skiesaroundourcities,all inthe name of
maintaininglawandorder.
Police forcesmustapplyforthe properpermitsorwarrants before deployingdronestowatchcitizens,
and some have alreadydone so.They're usedtomonitorareasfor illegal drugtransactions,conduct
chases,or evenhelpwithcrime scene reconstruction.

2. Police canput dronestowork onsearch-and-rescue missionsortoperformroutine securitysweepsat
large,crowdedevents.Some manufacturersare exploringthe ideaof takingdronesastepfurther,
armingthemwithtear gas andothercrowd control measures.
Most forceshaven'tput dronestolarge-scale use justyet,though,inlarge partdue to privacyconcerns.
The AmericanCivil LibertiesUnion,inparticular,isveryoutspokenagainstthe use of dronesenmasse
withoutanysortsof real regulationsinplace.
You can expectthe hubbuboverpolice dronestoescalate inthe nextfew years,asdepartmentslookto
increase efficiencywhile cuttingcosts.
For all of the talkaboutlegitimate,non-murderouswaysthatdronesmaybenefithumanity,these
machinesappeal to the darkerside of humannature,too.Criminalswill have all sortsof usesfordrones.
International borders(andtheiraccompanyingborderpolice)are peskydeterrentsfordrugsmugglers.
Dronesofferpotential fordroppingdrugsandotherbootyacross borderfencesata muchlowerrisk.
Notonlyare droneshardfor the authoritiestospot,butin the eventthatthe drone is captured,the
criminalswill likelybe milesfromthe scene.
In 2011, a wannabe terroristnamedRezwanFerdausplottedtobombAmericantargetsbyaffixing
explosivestoadrone -- makingitpotentiallylethal.Butina scenariothat wascriminal,butnota danger
to humanlife,inaBrazil prisonin2012, authoritiesthwartedadrone helicopterloadedwithcellphones
intendedforinmates.
Andof course,it'snot at all hard to imagine weirdoesfromall overthe place spyingonpeopleusing
drone-mountedcameras.Inshort,the potential forairborne mayhemisskyhigh.
Scientistsare alwayslookingfornewwaystoprobe and investigate severe weather.Forobvious
reasons,theyprefertodotheirresearchwithoutriskingtheirlives.That'swhere UAVscome in.
In 2013, NASA begana program for investigatingtropical storms,hopingtofindbetterunderstandingof
whysome systemsturnintokillerhurricanes,while otherspeterout.Forthese missions,the researchers
selectedenormousGlobal Hawkdrones,whichhave awingspanaswide asa 737 and can flyfor 28
straighthoursat a maximumof 60,000 feet(18.3 kilometers),whichismuchhigherthanmostpiloted
planes.
Equippedwithscientificinstruments,the dronesprovideaconstantstreamof data regarding
atmosphericconditionsandstormintensity.Those instrumentsincludeascanninghigh-resolution
interferometersounderinstrumentandCloudPhysicsLidar,aswell asa dropsonde systemfromthe
National OceanographicandAtmosphere Association.
Together,these toolsstreamdataaboutlayeredtemperatureswithinastorm, cloudstructure and
more,providingscientistswithalookatthe internal structure of a weathersystem.Weatherhasmany
variablesthataffectstormstrength,butthanksinpart to drones,researchersare gettingabetterview --
and betterunderstanding -- of justhowall of the piecesgotogether.
UAVsoutfittedwith camerasandGPS capabilitiesare aboonto people whoneedtotrack wildlife.
Natural resource departmentsandscientistsoftenneedtotrackindividualanimals(whichmayormay

3. not be wearingtrackingcollars),aswell aslargergroupsof creatures,in order tobetterunderstandtheir
behaviors.
WithoutUAVs,scientistsare oftenstucksloggingthroughjunglesandovermountains,tryingtohaul
unwieldyandexpensive gearinordertoconduct theirstudies.Drones,however,letthemskimalong
effortlessly,observinghabitatandanimalsfromafar,sometimeswithlessdisturbance.
Dronesare alreadybeingusedtocombatpoachers.Google isfundingaprogramthat buysdronesfor
the World Wildlife Fund,whichfliescamera-equippedversionsabove areaswhere illegal hunting
threatensendangeredanimals.
Law enforcementcanuse the dronestomonitoranimalsandanticipate potential ambushareas.Small
and nearlysilent,these dronesare perfectforspyingoncriminalslookingtorobcountriesof their
natural resources.
You alreadyknowthatUAVs helpscientiststrackanddissectthe innerworkingsof hurricanes.But
dronescan alsohelpinthe aftermathof these huge stormsandother natural disasters.
Immediatelyafteranatural disaster,authoritiesneedtoperformdamage assessment,sothatthey
knowhowmany people are affectedandhow widespreadthe chaosmightbe.Dronesare a cheap,
efficientwaytoput manysetsof digital eyesinthe sky.
Outfittedwithstill,videoandinfraredcameras,dronesare also effective forsearch-and-rescue
missions.Theycanflyfarand wide throughanarea, followingaprecise searchpatterninorderto locate
missingpeople.
Theycan helpfirstresponderslikepolice andfire unitsfigure outwheretosetuptemporarystaging
areas.Theycan spotsurvivorsorevenlistenforsoundsthattheymake,orpinpointthe locationsof
bodies.
Evenif streetsare clutteredwithimpassable debris,dronescanimmediatelytake tothe airand begin
providingcritical data.Thiskindof instant-oncapabilitymaymake the differenceof life ordeathfor
untoldnumbersof people.
Wildfirespose majorriskstopeopleandtowns,especiallyinthe westernareasof the U.S. Forest
managersuse watch towersandhelicopterstospotnew blazesandtotrack active ones,butthese are
time-consuming,expensiveandexhaustingtasks.
Launch a drone to keepaneye on the forests,though,andsuddenlythisjobbecomesmucheasier.In
one case,the CaliforniaDepartmentof ForestryandFire ProtectionlaunchedaPredatordrone,courtesy
of the state'sNational Guardunit.The Predator,whichisroughlythe size of a Cessna,wasloadedwith
camerasand infraredimagingunitstohelpittrack the infamousRimFire,whichburnedthroughforests
aroundYosemite National Park.
In additiontomonitoringfiresandlookingfornew ones,dronescanhelpfirefightersstrategize.They
can track the directionof ablaze and keeptabsonweatherconditionsthatpushthe flamesinone
directionoranother,andalertfirefighterstounsafe conditions.Theycanevendropflame retardantto
douse firesthatthreatentoburn outof control.

4. Hoveringdronescanalsoamplifycell signalssothatfirefighterscanstayin touchwithheadquarters.
Thisis a huge benefitbecausesomanyforestfireshappeninlocationswhere cellservice isweakornon-
existent.ForgetSmokeythe Bear.Dronesare the forestfirefightersof the verynearfuture.
Professionalandamateurphotographersandfilmmakersare some of the biggestproponentsof UAVs.
Theybuymany of the more affordable models,tweakthemtotheirliking,anduse themforall sorts of
still image andvideoprojects.
Many current dronescome withmountingkitsthatletyouattach a camera to the underside of the
machine.Withthe camerain place,anyphotographerorvideographerhasanew worldof creative
potential athisor herfingertips.
At the BurningMan festival inNevada,dronesflyinarcsoverthe crowdbelow,capturingthe event's
creative spiritfromabove.Weddingphotographersnow hoveroverthe bride andgroom, tocapture
unique viewsof the ceremonyandreception.
Before affordable dronescame along,those kindsof viewswere simplyimpossible togetwithouta
helicopterorgiantlift.Now,the skiesare opentoanyone who'swillingtotrusta small drone withtheir
priceyphotographygear.
We tendto assume thatdronesare airborne machines.Butas drone technologyprogresses,these
devicesare bypassingthe heavensandinsteadlearningtoswim.
Many newmodelsof drone now"fly"throughwateronall sorts of missions.Some are usedtoperform
underwaterinspections.Companiesdeploythemtocheckon oil rigs,fishfarms,assessstormdamage,
searchwater filtrationsystems,andview the hullsof ships.
The military usesunderwaterdronestosearchfor mines.Police canuse similarmodelstolookforsigns
of subsurface drugsmuggling.Salvage expertsandrecreational diverscanuse dronestoinspectsunken
shipsor eventolookfortreasuresbeneaththe waves.
Justas withairborne drones,there are limitlessusesforunderwaterdrones.All of thesedronesare
literallyopeningnewhorizonsforall typesof businessesandorganizationsthatneedremote control
robotsfor jobsthat are toohard or too dangerousforpeople toperform.Andwhilemostgovernments
will limitthe usesof dronesuntil theyhammeroutregulationsandrules,the daythatdronesfillsthe
skiesandseasiscloserthan youmightthink.