The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, a network of NGOs and academics, has done us all a valuable service by drawing attention to the development of unmanned systems that are able to kill without direct…
Soon they will buzz around you much like flies.
arselectronica
Robotic aircraft, or drones, are a much-debated military technology. But while this change in military capability challenges our shared senses of threat and protection, robotic aircraft have also been…
Animal rights groups have been using drone technology to monitor farmers’ compliance with welfare laws. Under US style “ag gag” laws any footage taken could not be distributed.
flickr/eschipul
The “remotely operated Hexacopter drone” may sound like something out of the latest Hollywood sci-fi, but this new technology is about to take centre stage in Australia’s animal welfare debate. Drones…
Australian police efforts to get more drones pay scant attention to how poorly they’ve worked overseas.
grimjaws
Before the election, Tony Abbott reaffirmed the Coalition’s commitment to purchasing unmanned “drone” aircraft for military use, but he emphasised the need to review their efficacy and cost effectiveness…
Much of the current debate about drones (or unmanned aerial vehicles, UAVs) is about whether their deployment to countries such as Pakistan and Yemen is legal or ethical. This debate is predominantly focused…
It’s getting crowded up there.
Copyright, European Space Agency, ESA
George Clooney revealed details last week about “his” spy satellite over Sudan, which he funds to keep an eye on the Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, who has been accused of war crimes. The Satellite…
The state is still in control, it’s when drones and robots develop their own interests that Terminator becomes a true story.
AAP / Alan Porritt
Anxiety about lethal autonomous robots has some substance. The state of play as currently constituted, however, already provides enough cause for concern. The Terminator scenario Monash associate professor…
Misplaced faith in the possibility of risk-free warfare may end up putting more lives at risk.
L.C.Nøttaasen
The topic of killer robots was drawn back into the public sphere last week with the widely publicised call for a moratorium on the development and use of “lethal autonomous robotics” by a top UN human…
Non-governmental organisations have joined forces to stop the increasing use of drones in warfare - do governments need to develop guidelines for their use?
EPA/Jim Lo Scalzo
The increasing use of drones, especially by the United States against the Taliban in Pakistan, has prompted wide anti-drone activism. Human Rights Watch has called for a “pre-emptive and comprehensive…
Imran Khan has been accused by political opponents of having links to the “Jewish lobby”.
EPA
This piece was originally published on May 8 but has since been updated to reflect overnight developments. Imran Khan sustained head and back injuries due to a fall as he was preparing to address a rally…
Despite the UN recently passing the Arms Trade Treaty, little has been done to regulate the use of drone warfare.
EPA/Yahya Arhab
After over a decade of lobbying and at least three years of protracted negotiations, an overwhelming majority of the United Nations General Assembly voted to adopt the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) in late March…
The arrival of 66 asylum seekers by boat on the mainland coast of Australia at Geraldton has prompted the opposition to promise tough new border security measures, including the use of drones to detect boats at sea.
AAP/Mark Cairn
After relying on immigration policies taken from the copy book of John Howard, the Liberal party has turned to defence technology for its latest policy innovation involving drones detecting boats carrying…
The rise in CCTV means many of us are under near constant observation, a trend that will only be exacerbated by the rise of drones.
Flickr/ogglog
In the late 1970s I found myself wandering the mostly deserted streets of East Berlin, having successfully negotiated Checkpoint Charlie and a horde of East German border guards. I remember commenting…
How can UAV or “drone” technology be used for purposes outside combat?
NZ Defence Force
It’s becoming rare to see or hear coverage of combat and conflict without the mention of unmanned “drones” and their use in targeted killings. The subject rated a mention in last year’s US presidential…
President Barack Obama officially nominates Chuck Hagel as Secretary for Defence.
EPA/Jim Lo Scalzo
Battle is being joined in Washington, where President Barack Obama, has nominated a former Republican senator, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, to be the next Secretary of Defense. He has also nominated John Brennan…
Barack Obama and Mitt Romney finally discussed the war in Afghanistan during the third debate on US foreign affairs.
EPA/Michael Reynolds
For a war that has gone on for more than a decade, cost the American taxpayer some US$500 billion, claimed the lives of more than two thousand GIs and inflicted many more thousands of wounded, the conflict…
Al-Qaeda deputy Abu Yahya al-Libi was killed by a drone strike last week.
EPA/IntelCentre
With boots on the ground being costly politically, economically and diplomatically, it seems that week after week, drones are the most important front line weapon against Washington’s opponents in the…
An LED light-trail shows a self-guiding bullet correcting its trajectory mid-flight.
Sandia National Laboratories
At the beginning of this year Sandia Labs in the United States announced it had patented a design for a self-guided bullet that could help soldiers at war. The technology is expected to prevent the need…
Military drones, such as the Predator, are only part of the equation.
balazsgardi
The Federal Government is considering allowing the US to base military surveillance drones on the Cocos Islands – an Australian territory located in the Indian Ocean between Australia and Sri Lanka. The…
When you’re swimming at an unpatrolled beach, a UAV could help keep you safe.
opacity
For the past hundred-odd years, commercial aviation has relied on a human pilot sitting behind the controls of an aircraft. Today, designers and engineers are beginning to ask: “Is it even necessary to…