Dronemounted

When he developed a drone-mounted radar system that could penetrate multiple layers of snow, Rolf-Ole Rydeng Jenssen imagined using it to measure snowfall or predict avalanches. Both applications would be helpful in subarctic Tromsø, Norway, where Jenssen works as an engineer at the interdisciplinary Norwegian Research Center (NORCE). But one January night a group of researchers called NORCE to ask about a very different use for the flying radar: finding hidden polar bears.Pregnant polar bears build dens by digging holes…

Wind energy is often thought of as "clean" but, in fact, the technology has the blood of thousands – if not millions – of bats on its hands. That's not only because bats can fly into the giant wind turbine blades and die, but because the turbines create a low-pressure field which causes the bats' internal organs to explode when they pass through it. A new drone-mounted system shows promise in rerouting some bats above the turbine blades and away from danger.While wind turbines kill about 140,000-500,000 birds a year…