Beyond military drones – the future of unmanned flight

Beyond military drones – the future of unmanned flight: "In April of this year, a BAE Systems Jetstream research aircraft flew from Preston in Lancashire, England, to Inverness, Scotland and back. This 500-mile (805 km) journey wouldn't be worth noting if it weren't for the small detail that its pilot was not on board, but sitting on the ground in Warton, Lancashire and that the plane did most of the flying itself."

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KeyMe stores keys digitally, cuts them when you forget yours

KeyMe stores keys digitally, cuts them when you forget yours: "Getting locked out of the house is especially frustrating when you’ve forgotten the “safe” place where you hid the spare key. As an alternative to sleeping in the garden shed or emergency locksmith fees, KeyMe allows you to store a digital version of your house key in the cloud from which a duplicate key can be cut on demand."

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Wi-Vi system uses Wi-Fi to see through walls

Wi-Vi system uses Wi-Fi to see through walls: "Researchers at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory have developed what could become low-cost, X-ray vision. The system, known as "Wi-Vi," is based on a concept similar to radar and sonar imaging, but rather than using high-power signals, this tech uses reflected Wi-Fi signals to track the movement of people behind walls and closed doors."

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All systems go for Planetary Resources' Arkyd 100 space telescope

All systems go for Planetary Resources' Arkyd 100 space telescope: "Planetary Resources, Inc., the asteroid mining company based in Bellevue, Washington, completed its Kickstarter campaign on Sunday after a 33-day run that raised US$1,505,366 from 17,600 backers. The purpose of the campaign was to raise public interest in the company and asteroid mining in general by crowdfunding an Arkyd 100 space telescope that will be made available to the public."

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James Bond’s submersible Lotus Esprit going under the hammer

James Bond’s submersible Lotus Esprit going under the hammer: "While the pursuit to develop flying cars and Star Warsian land-speeders rages on, the dilemma around developing a functioning underwater vehicle was solved decades ago … by the British Secret Service's Q Branch. In the film The Spy Who Loved Me, James Bond escapes from the obligatory hoard of bad guys by driving one very versatile white Lotus Esprit into the ocean. That fully submersible vehicle, is now set to go to auction this September"

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Is it a Jeep? Is it a speedboat? No, it's WaterCar's Panther amphibious vehicle

Is it a Jeep? Is it a speedboat? No, it's WaterCar's Panther amphibious vehicle: "Recreational amphibious vehicles are nothing new, but most are one-offs, and most tend to be boats that can creep on land, or cars that slosh slowly through water. There are exceptions, notably entries from Gibbs, but arguably, amphibious vehicles have not made the grade as true all-round vehicles that can be driven to work during the week, and on the lake on weekends. WaterCar's new Panther straddles the divide."

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