Unregistered Drones

Unregistered Drones

     About 370,000 drones have been registered. Last year, 700,000 drones were estimated to have been shipped. This shows, even without drones from earlier years, that not all drones have been registered. On Saturday, any people flying drones without registering them will be fined with $27,500 for civil penalty and either $250,000 or three years in jail as a criminal fine. All this money and/or time is a waste when you could have just paid $5 to register your drone or registered your drone when it was free. Michael Huerta (FAA Administrator) says that the registration of your drone is for the owners safety. That it is an opportunity to educate you, the people. But some people think of the $5 fee as a "drone tax". People already pay taxes and most likely don't want to pay more, even if it is just $5. This might be why some people haven't registered. Another reason may be that some people just don't use there drones, so they don't think that it is worth it to sign up\register.

Drones and Prisons

Drones and Prisons

     People are using drones to help/assist criminals in prison. In Maryland, Ohio and Oklahoma this has happened. In Illinois, lawmakers want to pass a law that doesn't allow drones to be flown over prisons. It is called Bivins' bill because a Republican named Bill Bivins is sponsoring it. In Wisconsin, there is already a bill that says if you fly a drone over a prison, then you have to pay a fine of up to $5,000.

            In Maryland, two people were already arrested for planning to use a drone to drop off a phone and drugs in a prison. People are trying to figure out how to stop drones from flying over prisons over all. They have come up with using radio waves to mess with the waves that control drones. This would be smart,but however this might also end up blocking cell phone reception in and around the prison (including neighborhoods).

Anit-Drone "Devive" Rebellion?

Drone-v.s.-Animal 2

      

     Eagles have strong talons, great eyesight, and can be trained. These features make eagles a target for a new anti-drone device. The Dutch police want to use eagles to take down rouge drones instead of using bigger drones with nets or radio wave guns. But some people don't think that this is a very good idea.      

     Some people are questioning weather or not the eagles were obtained legally or not. They say that the birds are illegal to own in America without a permit and not native in Europe, which is were the company Guard from Above (the company that trains eagles in the Netherlands) trains them. Other people think that if they have been training eagles for 25 years, then is it really there best interest to train them for this purpose?

     Some people are bringing up a good point that the blades on a drone can hurt animals like eagles. Mythbusters proved that carbon fiber blades on a drone damage animals, so if an eagles were to hit the blade, then bye bye eagle. Once again, I ask, is this a good idea or not?  

New Anti-Drone "Device?"

Drone-v.s.-Animal

     Drones are causing trouble everywhere and not many things can stop them. Anti-drone technology includes radio jammer and other drones, but one more thing might be added to this list, birds. A company called Guard From Above is training eagles and hawks to swoop down and catch drones in their talons. They can easily crush drones because their talons are 10 times stronger than the human hand at 400 pounds per square inch. With this strength they can crush mammal bones! 

     There are lots of worries about this too. For instance, will the blades on the drone hurt the birds talon? The answer is no. The talons on a bird are able to hold a struggling piece of prey alive and have scales that protect their feet and legs. Scientists also are trying to add another layer of protection. 

     Who will buy these birds? Well, right now the Dutch  police have been looking for a way to get rid of unwanted drones, so they will most likely but this. A police men also told Dutch News.nl that the birds are still in testing but is a "real possibility". These birds are a low tech answer for a high tech problem.