IEEE Spectrum reports on a successful text by the University of Maryland Medical center involving drone transportation of organs. "When a patient who needs an organ transplantation is finally matched with a donor, every second matters. A longer wait between when an organ is removed from a donor and when it is placed into a recipient is associated with poorer organ function following transplantation. To maximize the chances of success, organs must be shipped from A to B as quickly and as safely as possible—and a recent test run suggests that drones are up to the task. One transplant surgeon’s personal experience at the operating table, waiting for organs to arrive, prompted him to think of new forms of delivery. 'I frequently encounter situations where there’s simply no way to get an organ to me fast enough to do a transplant, and then those life-saving organs do not get transplanted into my patient,' says Dr. Joseph Scalea of the University of Maryland Medical Center. 'And that’s frustrating, so I wanted to develop a better system for doing that.'"

A recent article in Popular Mechanics touts the benefits of drone technology in firefighting.  "The Menlo Park drone program got started in April 2014, after Calvert saw a drone at another firefighter’s bachelor party and realized it would be an important tool for emergency workers. Drones outfitted with cameras help firefighters get a better idea of the scope and damage to the surrounding area or perform search-and-rescue operations. Today, MPFD personnel are in demand as experts on integrating technology into fire response. And despite (or maybe because of) his youth, McCandless is a crucial part of the program, which includes a fleet of fourteen DJI drones of various sizes and capabilities. He has an intuitive ability for getting the drones to cooperate and interconnect with other firefighting tech, and he also fabricates custom accessories for the MPFD drones from his home workshop, in a role Calvert says is 'basically research and development.' He’s added mounts for devices like gas meters and Geiger counters. He’s currently testing a mechanism that could throw life preservers or lifelines during water rescues."

Commercial UAV News recently penned an article touting the benefits of drones in researching climate change. "Efforts to understand why plants emit certain compounds have been hindered because scientists like Dr. Martin haven’t been able to spatially map out which plants are emitting these compounds at which times and for which reasons. That’s the 1km-type resolution in the horizontal that has been missing and which drones are able to provide. A couple of the key insights from his presentation centered on how drones are resetting the expectations that scientists like him have going into such projects. A single drone and fleet can tackle some science questions that traditional platforms cannot even get out of the gate for, and it’s made a difference in terms of the approach and findings for such projects. Additionally, Dr. Martin talked through the challenges associated with the political and social environment surrounding the Rainforest, which simply underscores the fact that there will always be challenges when it comes to operating a drone, regardless of the environment."

An article in The Sacramento Bee touts the potential of drone technology in fighting back against California wildfires. "Drones are another tool to consider; with trained pilots, unmanned drones can operate in high temperatures, fly at night and in heavy smoke and get to the scene quicker than a fire engine. The Interior Department flew nearly 5,000 drone missions over public land last year to minimize danger to human lives. One drone model drops flammable spheres to set controlled fires to reduce the spread of a wildfire. Mark Bathrick, director of the department’s Office of Aviation Services, told The Wall Street Journal that drones in Oregon detected a fire before it was reported and responders extinguished the blaze before it became a threat. Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale, told a congressional hearing that drones are a great tool in remote and rugged terrain. More than 910 U.S. law enforcement, fire and emergency agencies have acquired drones, including several in California."

An article in the New York Times overviews a drone damage survey of the Fuentidueña apse, which dates to the 12th century. "The drone survey will let Ms. Kargère compare the drone photographs to images taken in the 1990s. The drone made it easier to see into high-up crevices and peer at the figures on the corbels, the brackets just under the roofline. Sunny weather helped, too. The survey in the 1990s was done in late winter. 'Everyone was freezing,' Barbara Bridgers, the head of imaging for the Met, recalled. This time around, the drone was sitting in the cobblestone driveway behind the apse, not far from a tent that had been set up as Mission Control. 'It’s like you’re walking into a James Bond set,' one Met official said, looking at the paraphernalia — a laptop, a portable monitor and extra batteries for the drone and the camera. A fully charged battery keeps the drone flying for about 20 minutes."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE       
October 3, 2018      
Contact: Jenny Rosenberg
jtr@droneinnovation.org 

Washington D.C. — The Alliance for Drone Innovation congratulated and thanked the House and Senate today after final passage of the 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act, which provides funding for the FAA for five years and takes important steps to further integrate unmanned aircraft into the national airspace system.

The Spokane Review touts the potential benefits of drones with respect to police investigations. "Olsen said the drones would be used for investigating crime and crash scenes through aerial mapping and could also be used to track down people who were missing or fleeing from law enforcement at night through thermal imaging. Drones could be used to search for people at difficult-to-access locations, such as along the Spokane River, or to monitor dangerous hostage situations or bomb incidents. Once the department purchases drones, they would be used by the SWAT team or investigation units, and in north and south Spokane. The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office has already purchased two drones and has been training with the devices for about a month, Spokane County Undersheriff Dave Ellis said. The drones, which are upgraded versions of what is commonly available on the market, are equipped with accident reconstruction and thermal imaging software." 

Bloomberg reports that a fleet of drones is being deployed to identify and fix damage caused by Hurricane Florence. "With the remnants of Hurricane Florence continuing to deluge the southeastern U.S., a small army of drones is being deployed to identify and fix damage caused by flooding. At least 53 drone teams have been recruited to help with damage assessment, said Brian Reil, a spokesman for Edison Electric Institute, the Washington-based industry group coordinating utility recovery efforts. Each team usually brings more than one drone and the force collectively includes about 100 to 160 operators, he said. While the storm has weakened into a tropical depression, Florence continued to dump record rainfall while areas of North Carolina are experiencing unprecedented flooding. Hundreds of roads have been shut in the region, making it dangerous or difficult to access areas to restore power. 'Drones are being used in the communities where the wind and rain have died down,' Reil said in an email Monday. 'In many cases, crews are not able to gain access to the most heavily damaged and flooded areas until the storm clears and it is deemed safe for them to enter.'"

An article in Smithsonian Magazine notes that a Rice University project using drones' sensors and AI are being used to find and track harmful gases. "Not a week goes by, it seems, without more news of how drones are going to make our lives so much easier or what they can do now to entertain us. Most recently, there were reports of the flying devices delivering food to golfers on a course in North Dakota and being used as backup dancers at Drake’s shows. But far away from the back nine and concert stages, autonomous flying vehicles are doing serious business, from helping to save lives during hurricanes to lending aging farmers a hand. And, if a Rice University research project comes to fruition, a swarm of drones could one day work together to sense toxic gases in the atmosphere and map out a safe perimeter. Boosted by a recent $1.5 million National Science Foundation grant, the scientists, in collaboration with the Baylor College of Medicine and Technology For All, a Houston nonprofit, will focus on giving drones the intelligence to sniff out where dangerous pollution has spread following explosions or leaks, particularly after extreme weather events."

Texas Public Radio reports on how drones can be used for geographical research. "For years, commercial drones have improved with better battery life, stronger motors, lower cost and are easier to use. Researchers are increasingly turning to drones to collect data they couldn’t before, including biologists using them to count trees and officials to monitor snow depth.  Surpless and his students are exploring what these exposed, striated rock outcroppings — the result of stresses from tectonic plates — can tell them about the fault zone below. They are asking questions like: 'How permeable is it' and 'what does the network of fractured rock look like?' The answers, he said, have implications for oil and gas exploration, understanding of how water moves through these areas and, most importantly, how far and where an earthquake’s waves would travel."