Age of The Drone, The 1x52

A revolution is happening overhead. Super-surveillance drones that can see objects as small as six inches across and track human movements are starting to appear in our skies. Amazon.com plans to deliver goods door-to-door using drones, startups in Silicon Valley are figuring out how to use drones to deliver medicine where there are no roads, and farmers in Japan already spray 90 percent of soy crops with drones. Anyone can buy and fly their own remote piloted drone for a relatively small cost, and by 2020 the United States Federal Aviation Agency anticipates that more than 20,000 drones will be in the air in North America, not including amateur operators. These drones raise many issues about privacy and safety—anyone can fly a drone up into restricted airspace, endangering lives—and although there are regulations governing drone use, they are almost impossible to police. Drones are overhead and here to stay, but who should be allowed to use them, and how?

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