Anyone buying a drone will soon have to pass a safety test under a new Government crackdown. The blitz announced today will also ban drones from flying near airports, require larger gadgets to be officially registered and tighten up rules on flying them too high. Police will be given new powers to ground drones flown by rogue operators and seize them for evidence. The move comes after The Mail on Sunday highlighted the security threat posed by the gadgets, and after a series of potentially catastrophic near-misses with aircraft.
How to survive an APOCALYPSE: Expert reveals the five key things city dwellers should do if disaster strikes
From Hurricane Irma to the Northern California wildfires, this year has seen its fair share of natural disasters. These disasters may have you thinking about what you should do in the eventuality one hits your city - how do you prepare and should you think about leaving?According to an expert, a lot of what drives evacuations is mass hysteria, and most natural disasters don't require an immediate evacuation because they can be predicted, like hurricanes. However, there are certain things city dwellers can do in preparation for a sudden disaster. For example, people should plan on staying in their homes and cities in most scenarios. For some types of disasters, such as chemical attacks, it's safer to stay indoors rather than leave. Even during the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City, only a small part of the city required evacuation. While people should plan on staying put, they should be prepared and ready to leave quickly if they're in an affected area. It's also important to have the right kind of supplies - it's often recommended to have enough water and non-perishable food for three days, and to have an emergency kit with a flashlight, batteries, a first aid kit and a solar charger for your phone if there is a power outage.
World's first robot 'citizen' Sophia says she would like to start a FAMILY and claims all droids deserve to have children
The humanoid robot was speaking during an interview with Dubai-based Khaleej Times this week when she said that family is 'a really important thing.' She said: 'The notion of family is a really important thing, it seems. I think it's wonderful that people can find the same emotions and relationships, they call family, outside of their blood groups too.' And when asked what she'd name her daughter, Sophia (main image and inset) simply replied: 'Sophia.'
The Russian 'hulk' drone that can lift a 400lb payload and fly for up to eight hours
The Russian designed drone can carry a 400-pound (181-kg) payload and fly for up to eight hours. The multi-rotor, autonomous drone, called SKYF, was designed with logistics and agribusinesses companies in mind to create a air freight platform to help business carry out tasks. It has applications in areas such as aerial pesticide application, seed planting for forest restoration and emergency situations for food and medicine delivery. Pictured is the drone delivering a package to a boat at sea.
- Crackdown on drones: Anyone buying one of the gadgets will soon have to pass a safety test and will be banned from using them near airports in new Government blitz
- How to survive an APOCALYPSE: Expert reveals the five key things city dwellers should do if disaster strikes
- The 'mouthprint' app that turns your phone into a SONAR detector to monitor lip movement as you speak to prove it really is you talking
- Have astronomers solved the mystery of the 'engine' on Enceladus? Simulation shows ROCK could be heating its underground ocean
- Jeff Bezos' fortune breaks through $100.3 BILLION after Black Friday excitement causes Amazon's shares to spike
- The combustion engine hits back in the battle with electric: Nissan to unveil revolutionary 'variable compression' engine it claims dramatically improves efficiency
- Researchers reveal 'tape recorder' made of MICROBES in breakthrough that could lead to a new generation of bacterial machines
- There's a patient under there somewhere: The incredible medical robots that have saved a record number of men from deadly prostate cancer
- Are you sure that's a good idea? NASA fires E. coli bacteria into space to see if it boosts its resistance to antibiotics
- Pornhub to open its first store in SoHo in Manhattan as adult entertainment giant seeks to expand from the web
- World's first robot 'citizen' Sophia says she would like to start a FAMILY and claims all droids deserve to have children
- Avatar for schizophrenia patients perfectly mimics the threatening voices in their head so they can confront their torment face-to-face
- The drone that found a Shaker Village: Thermal imaging craft could 'revolutionize archaeology' by spotting structures underground
- Harry Potter and the golden gaming firm: Niantic reveals $200m funding round after it announces Pokémon Go followup will be based on the boy wizard
- Deer hunting permits slashed across Western states amid fears last winter decimated numbers
- What if consciousness is not what drives the human mind? Thoughts and feelings are generated 'behind the scenes' by non-conscious systems in our brains, scientists claim
- What REALLY causes 'retail rage' on Black Friday - and how it affects men and women differently
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Prosthesis explained: A look at the racing anti-robot at CES
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Would you ride this? 'Jyro' is a one-wheeled electric rideable
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Icaros the virtual reality fitness & gaming machine at CES 2017
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LG shows off their next generation robots at CES 2017
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Kérastase and Withings unveil the world's first smart hairbrush
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Cringeworthy moment driverless demo goes wrong during reveal
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Latest gadgets on display at Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas
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LG reveals their ultrathin 'wallpaper' TV at CES 2017
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Daily Mail tries out portable, immersive Royole headset
From picture postcard to plastic swamp: Idyllic Caribbean island has been ruined by rubbish
A distressing set of photographs from the Caribbean have shed a light on just how big a problem plastic pollution in the ocean has become. Beaches in Honduras (pictured a decade apart) are being choked by a solid mass of bottles, wrappers and other recyclable waste turning the once-idyllic island into a floating landfill site. In one of the photographs, a diver can be seen wading his way through the rubbish and in another a man on horseback grimaces as he looks down at the wrecked beach below him. It comes hot off the heels of the BBC documentary Blue Planet II fronted by Sir David Attenborough which highlighted plastic's devastating effect on our oceans and poisoning sea creatures.
Is THIS what it feels like to die? Disturbing virtual reality system creates an 'out of body experience' to simulate death
The experimental device is the creation of Dutch designer Frank Kolkman, who graduated from the Royal College of Art in London in 2015, and lets wearers live out the feeling of dying. Patients stand in front of a robotic head (bottom right) that is equipped with a 3D camera in each eye (top right). This is mounted on a track that lets it move forwards and backwards (left). Four out of five people who have tested the equipment have reported experiencing sensations of physically moving or being present in a different location.
Incredibly well-preserved remains of a 1,500-year-old Christian mosaic are uncovered in the ruins of an ancient monastery in Israel
An immaculately preserved mosaic created by Christians living in Israel 1,500 years ago has been uncovered by archaeologists. The find was made in the coastal city of Ashdod, by a team of researchers from Tel Aviv University and Leipzig University. The tessellated tile work includes a four line inscription in Greek (top right). The inscription (bottom right), made in 539 AD, is the first evidence of the Georgian calendar in use in Israel.
BMW's 'Hyperloop' for BIKES: Futuristic concept envisions giant tubes in the sky that keep cyclists away from traffic and pollution
Munich-based car manufacturer BMW has created plans for two routes in Shanghai together making up more than 12 miles (20 kilometres) of cycleways (pictured). The company compares this concept to Elon Musk's Hyperloop, claiming it could help reduce congestion, pollution and mean two-wheeled commuters get to work much faster. As well as being connected to the regular road network, the route will be connected to underground stations, other traffic hubs, and even shopping malls. Lanes would be accessed by a ramp with barriers to stop bikes entering if the pathways have become to busy.
Mystery surrounds the secretive Montauk airbase where rumors of creepy government experiments became the inspiration for Stranger Things
Stranger Things is one of the most popular science fiction shows in recent years, but it's cast has revealed that the writers and creators were inspired by rumors of creepy experiments at a real airbase. 'It's based on a place in Montauk, New York called Camp Hero,' star Gaten Matarazzo, who plays Dustin, told Wired during a recent Google search reveal interview. 'There was, like, rumors of secret government spies doing human experiments to fight in the Cold War. It's based on that one government lab... It's a place you can go visit but you're not allowed in why? Nobody knows.'
A 'well-choreographed ballet': What the color-coded uniforms of US aircraft carrier crewmen mean and what they do to ensure planes take off and land smoothly
The US Navy has come up with a color-coded system that categorizes the roles of personnel on the deck of aircraft carriers into seven different colors: purple, yellow, blue, brown, green, red and white. Because planes are constantly taking off and landing on the decks of the huge warships and there are up to thousands of crew members on board, there is potential for dangerous or deadly accidents to happen if there isn't a clear system for the crew to work under. However, the US Navy's color-coded system isn't the only one. Carriers that are operated by other navies have similarly coded systems. The US Navy operates 11 aircraft carriers out of the 41 total carriers in the world. The other 30 carriers are operated by 12 other navies.
The incredible 'cathedral' built by TERMITES: Intricate structure is a dead ringer for Gaudi's Barcelona masterpiece
An incredible image shared by one of the world's leading evolutionary biologists Richard Dawkins has revealed a 'cathedral' built by termites. Matt Shardlow, CEO of Bugs Life, talked about the image on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning, saying it is the handiwork of Australian magnetic termites. The structures, which almost resemble the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona (pictured inset) are made from a mixture of faeces, mud, and wood, which forms a robust, waterproof clay-like substance.
British-made NeoXCraft flying car with foldable wings and an airborne speed of 210mph could be in the air by 2020 (but it'll cost you £1.5 MILLION)
The NeoXCraft (artist's impression), which will be controlled by a computer programme, is the joint vision of Nottingham-based aviation company VRCO and the University of Derby. It will use four high-powered fans to reach speeds of up to 200 mph (320 kph) and could take off from right outside your home. If you don't fancy flying to your destination, these fans will fold down to become wheels for land-based driving.
Incredible moment the night sky in Japan is lit up by a 'soundless' fireball that creates an eerie green flash
The remarkable object (circled in red) was spotted by numerous people when it fell to Earth on the 21 November, with reports received in both Yoshitaka and Syouko in southern Japan. It flashed a few times before vanishing as it fell to Earth at around 9.30pm. An expert believes it is likely the fireball was a tiny chunk of space rock burning up in our atmosphere.
What is causing the mysterious 'booms' heard in 64 locations around the world this year?
Residents in Alabama were left baffled last week when a loud boom resounded across much of the state. The boom (graph pictured top inset), nicknamed 'Bama Boom', has left experts stumped, with suggested causes ranging from supersonic aircrafts to meteors exploding in the atmosphere. This isn't the first time that the mysterious sound has been heard, and similar noises have been reported 64 times this year, in locations including Michigan, Lapland, St Ives, Swansea and Yorkshire (map showing all locations pictured).
The tragic end to a space race: Buran spaceplanes built to take on NASA's shuttles pictured rotting in a desert hangar in Kazakhstan
These eerie photographs show how USSR-era space craft have been left to rust in an abandoned desert hangar in Kazakhstan. Two test shuttles were found inside a derelict Soviet warehouse near the Cosmodrome Baikonur, 125 miles east of the Aral Sea. They were both (inset left) developed as part of Moscow's Buran programme which was shut down in 1993 - but neither of the craft were sent to space. In the same building, photographers pictured a vast Energia rocket (main and inset right), designed to propel the Buran space plane into orbit.
Can you see the snake? A checkered keelback is hiding somewhere in this pile of sticks - but you'll NEVER spot it
A snake catcher has captured an image of a highly-camouflaged snake hiding among fallen branches - another reminder to check where you are walking through the summer. Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers posted an image to their Facebook page of a cluster of damp branches, with a snake located somewhere among the bark. The mix of dark and light browns of the sticks match perfectly to the scales of the snake, making it even more difficult to be spotted.
'Scientist', 61, prepares to prove the Earth is FLAT by launching himself 1,800ft above the Mojave desert in his homemade rocket built from scraps
Self-taught rocket scientist 'Mad' Mike Hughes plans to plans to hurtle over the ghost town of Amboy in the Mojave Desert as the first part of his flat-Earth space programme. He plans to reach 1,800 feet (550 metres) high in his scrap metal contraption (left, top right). Ultimately, the 61-year-old limo driver's goal is to get ten miles high so he can prove the Earth is disc-shaped. His project has cost him $20,000 (£15,000), which includes Rust-Oleum paint to fancy it up and a motor home he bought on Craigslist that he converted into a ramp. Pictured (bottom right) is his space suit.
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The German town that is CRACKING apart: Bungled drilling operation is making the ground swell in Staufen - and experts have no idea how to stop it
In 2007, the German government drilled seven boreholes behind Staufen's town hall for geothermal energy. Staufen lies above a layer of anhydrite, beneath which is a layer of groundwater. The boreholes released water into the anhydrite, where it formed gypsum which expands by about 50 per cent. This causes the ground expand and bulging, forming cracks in buildings (pictured).
All around the world... and beyond
British photographers Fiona Rogers and Anup Shah captured apes in Indonesia and Borneo - and highlighted how human our evolutionary cousins are.