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Tiny Surveillance Aircraft Fly in Tucson
An anonymous reader writes "Science Daily reports that thirteen teams from the United States, Korea and Germany will be in Tucson April 9-11 to compete for $6,000 in prize money during the 8th International Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) Competition. MAVs are tiny, radio-controlled airplanes that carry video cameras."
MAV- micro air vehicle Its just the people who want to use them that dictates they have cameras, all the early ones were purely micro air vehicles, nothing more, just people proving they could make stuff that small that flew under remote control. Why doesnt it surprise me that someone not only found a questionable use for them, but managed to subvert the entire acronym?
do they care that the technology they're helping develop will be used to KILL people in future wars, perhaps even against their own country?
I think nothing sums up the problem with american society today.
Actually as a country the USA does more to save lives than it does to kill. Groundbreaking research in medical and safety innovations, in search and rescue, being at the head of the forefront when natural disasters strike around the world, more donations to foreign nations in need for food, medical supplies and fresh water, and better care worldwide in general due to US invention.
I think if you look at the number of deaths it pales into insignificance. Let these kids play with their planes, it's all in fun
RST
Think: Fly on the wall.
Before this is over, everybody is going to know everything about everybody, at which point nobody is going to give a shit about anybody. Crooks excepted, of course. Should prove interesting.
Is it fascism yet?
Cool. I've stopped 2 kids from running out into traffic (both my own) and perhaps helped save many others by being volunteer traffic warden at their school. I figure with the blood donations I've given I've also helped save the lives of perhaps 3 other people in total. And no doubt having gone to defensive driver training I've perhaps prevented the death of an entire family over my 35 year driving history.
That's almost 10 people I've saved. By your logic, how many am I allowed to kill now "all in fun" ?. May I start with you?
how will we make something reliable out of this?
Research is done in small steps, or did you hear the anouncement of a Warp engine in the next decade? Right now we are at "mega ultra sonic speed" for under 60 seconds. Next time it will be 5 minutes...
Grundgesetz * 23. Mai 1949 - 30. November 2007 - http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/
Building the better mousetrap is simply more fun than catching the mice.
Fine. Will you approve then if the USA kills you in order to save other people? You will be glad then to acknowlege that your death would "pale into insignificance" compared to the good it came out of your sacrifice.
This kind of inmature reasoning is what keeps the society in a loop of war and hate.
Technology doesn't kill people. People kills people...
I think you're a bit late to start the moral debate over who's the greater evil: the developer of a potential weapon, or the users of the devices. This debate has been going on for some time.
:P)
I think it would be pretty damm difficult anyway, to kill someone directly with a "MAV" (although you could, with a bit of semantic jiggery-pokey define a lump of lead as a "micro flying vehicle"
There are far more destructive inventions up for the gold medal in this debate: nuclear weapons, the gun, TNT (old Alfred was clearly so upset when someone used *his* neat little invention for killing other people, he sponsored a prize for peace), etc etc.
We have had technology to snoop on each other from orbit for years now - our streets are lined with CCTV (well they are in the average UK city)so why get so fired up about a small aeroplane with a camera in it? Reconnaisance was after all, the first real military use for full size 'planes.
Do you really think "nothing" somes up the problem with American society Today? Surely there's always room for improvement!
hehehe Perhaps you're right. But I dont suggest that the world is evil because it creates tiny spy planes. Its surely an acheivement, and is an impressive goal (tiny airplanes) but i think we could devote our money and genious ideas to somehow enrich our lives a little more rather than create yet another technology to spy with. Whats next? Will they figure out a way to fire a projectile weapon from it? Why not figure out how to make an autonomous machine that automatically detects potholes in roads and fixes them automatically? Why does everything have to be about spying and war? There are other ways to use technology to enrich our lives. The autonomous soccer robots was an example. Its an exercise in inovation that inspires the best parts of us rather than that element that inspires us to continually build tanks and so forth. I dont know.. Maybe i just like smiling when i see something nice and innocent and fun while others just love to smile because they found a new way to blow shit up. And hey... i like to blow shit up too :) But our culture needs to be inspired by other things as well.