Facebook is currently in talks with multiple countries to host trials of its internet-serving Aquila drones.
According to Martin Gomez, the company’s head of aeronautical platforms, a number of interested parties are eager to host test flights. Facebook has not revealed any names as of yet, but Gomez claims they represent regions where connectivity is low or nonexistent in rural locations.
“Some of the countries that are really clamoring to host this first demo have huge regions where there is zero or very poor internet connectivity,” Gomez told the Royal Aeronautical Society on Monday.
As part of the trial process — which has a tentative kickoff date set for 2018 — Facebook will have to build ground control stations atop large airfields and hangars in the host countries. These locations will house both the drones and their operators, allowing the latter to communicate with air traffic control agencies, reports The Register. The plan is to have “thousands of aircraft flying around the world,” said Gomez.
Facebook has reason to be confident. In July, the company successfully completed the first test flight of its solar-powered Aquila drone. Eventually the UAVs will fly at an altitude of 60,000 feet for months at a time, beaming down internet wherever they roam.
The drones are integral to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s vision of a connected world. On the ground, Facebook will provide its Free Basics mobile program that allows users to access selected sites (including the company’s flagship social network) free of charge. Gomez reiterated his boss’ statement, asserting that Facebook’s goal is to connect the 57 percent of the world’s population currently lacking reliable connectivity.
However, the strategy has faced its fair share of stumbling blocks. Free Basics has come under fire in Egypt, and is blocked in India, which claims it violates net neutrality principles. To make matters worse, in September Facebook lost its Amos-6 satellite when the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that was carrying it exploded.
Overall, the signs indicate that despite the setbacks Facebook remains committed to its vision and is actively working on the disparate parts that could make it a reality.
Comets probably weren’t reliable couriers for the ingredients that helped life begin on Earth. A new Cambridge-led study found that fragile organic molecules would usually have been destroyed when the comets carrying them struck the surface.
Published in Scientific Reports, the research tracked hydrogen cyanide, a molecule involved in chemistry that can precede life. Rare successful deliveries remain possible, but the simulations offered little support for a steady supply from comets.
San Francisco startup Dimensional advertised for people to walk robot dogs through city streets. The New York Times reported that the job could include carrying a roughly 33-pound robot back to the office if it overheated. A lift home is an awkward requirement for a labor-saving machine.
Keeping the hardware running is only one challenge. Anthropic's robotics tests found that language models mostly failed when controlling joints directly, but did better when directing trained controllers. Giving an AI agent a body doesn't teach it to handle ordinary household objects.
Soon, a mattress protector may be more than a bed cover. Australian medtech company Sleeptite and researchers at RMIT University have received a US patent for FlexiSense, a smart bedding technology that tracks body position and posture to help caregivers identify when older residents may be at risk of falling.
The technology is being developed for Sleeptite’s in-bed monitoring system, REMi, and was recently on display at The MedTech Conference in Boston. A peer-reviewed study in Flexible and Printed Electronics says the sensors can also be made at scale without sacrificing performance or durability.