The Terrifying World Of Drones

Drones – they’re terrifying, aren’t they? Little remote-controlled aircraft flying about the place, blowing stuff up, watching things… There could be a drone watching you right now!

Drones strike terror into the hearts of people but they couldn’t have had more whimsical beginnings. The first drone creators were dreamers, the sort of men who looked at air balloons and thought: “Hey, you know what’d be better than flying in this thing? Strapping bombs to it and sending it at people!” Which is exactly what they did. Of course, the problem with that was that it was an air balloon. A gust of wind or a man with a particularly long prodding stick sent it hurtling back to base, right on the heads of its unfortunate creators.


However, that initial whimsy went away with the advent of the Cold War. Drone warfare became a serious man’s game. Surveillance was the main push during this period and Cold War paranoia means that much of the details are either unknown or top secret. (Still, if there’s any justice, documents will be found written by those first dreamers… unwaveringly trying to convince their government to invest in bomb-dropping penguins and polar bears with cameras – cold war – geddit?)
 
Slowly but surely, drones entered the public consciousness. However, it was only at the advent of the War on Terror that it was revealed how much they were being used by world powers. Obviously, people brought up ethical issues in their usage but, well, everyone had already bought so many. What could they do but use them? Then new concerns sprang up:

a) civilian companies were using drones to “definitely not spy on you…seriously” and
b) it occasionally blew up civilians instead of its actual target

The drones were officially given what’s call a “bad rep” in “the biz”.
 

 

Despite all these fears, there seems to be no end in sight for advancement in drone technology. Just a few days ago, the US Office of Navy Research tested a drone, the Ion Tiger. It runs on liquid hydrogen and can go for two days, non-stop. Its electric engine means it can’t be detected below a kilometre and leaves no contrails behind. It’s a pretty impressive piece of technology. It’s a worrying one, too, and a far cry from those bomb-laden air balloons.

Yet there is some consolation to all this doom and gloom. There are other usages for drones, especially in the civilian areas. They can be used to search for survivors after natural disasters like floods. Tiny drones can get into places that would otherwise be dangerous for people, like power lines. They also have agricultural usages: drones can be programmed to spray pesticides or bring water to crops, helping farmers and potentially reducing environmental damage, too. Maybe if companies promoted research into drone technology that focused on those usages, people would have less to fear… or maybe we’d start realising decades in that our HelpfulMaidDrone™ is simultaneously stealing from us, spying on us and lying about it.. but that’s another article.

Featured Image: Wikimedia Commons