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Drones are in our future: The US military is planning to open a drone base in Africa in order to gather intelligence on extremist groups in the area.

The immediate impetus for a drone base in the region is to provide surveillance assistance to the French-led operation in Mali. There is a large flow of fighters and weapons from Libya to that country.

In the January 28th edition of the New York Times, Eric Schmitt quotes Niger president (where the base may be set up) Mahamadou Issoufou as saying, "What’s happening in northern Mali is a big concern for us because what’s happening in northern Mali can also happen to us."
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Why make tiny flying drones when you can fly REAL insects by remote-control? In 2006, DARPA asked US scientists to submit "innovative proposals to develop technology to create insect-cyborgs"–tiny flying robots that can perform surveillance in dangerous territory. One there was a big problem: Since they couldn’t carry much fuel, they couldn’t stay in the air very long. The solution? Use real bugs.

In the February 16th edition of the Observer, Emily Anthes quotes DARPA engineer Amit Lal as saying, "Proof of existence of small-scale flying machines is abundant in nature in the form of insects."
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The silent drone that may be tracking you can stay on the job forever. It’s like a permanent closed circuit camera, except it’s not mounted in the local liquor store but it’s following you around. Is there any way to fight back?

The electric version of Lockheed Martin’s Stalker has a battery that usually lasts just two hours, but in a recent test, a laser power system wirelessly recharged a drone battery in midair for 24 times as long.
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