Skip to main content

China launches high-tech bird drones to watch over its citizens

They're called Doves and they do not come in peace.




By Jennifer Bisset June 24, 2018 9:09 PM PDT

Look! Up there! A pretty little bird gliding majestically through the sky, encapsulating the beauty of na -- oh wait. It's a high-tech surveillance drone.

 Over recent years, more than 30 Chinese military and government agencies have been reportedly using drones made to look like birds to surveil China's citizens in at least five provinces, according to the South China Morning Post Sunday.

 The program is reportedly codenamed "Dove" and run by Song Bifeng, a professor at Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xi'an. Song was formerly a senior scientist on the Chengdu J-20, Asia's first fifth-generation stealth fighter jet, according to the Post.

 The bird-like drones mimic the flapping wings of a real bird using a pair of crank-rockers driven by an electric motor. Each drone has a high-definition camera, GPS antenna, flight control system and data link with satellite communication capability, according to the Post.

 While the "scale is still small", according to Yang Wenqing, a member of  Song's team in a comment to the Post, the researchers "believe the technology has good potential for large-scale use in the future ... it has some unique advantages to meet the demand for drones in the military and civilian sectors."

 It's not like China needs to step up its surveillance game. It also employs facial recognition, artificial intelligence, smart glasses and other technologies to monitor its 1.4 billion citizens with the aim of one day giving each of them a personal score based on how they behave.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The most popular animated series, by state

#Animation #Cartoon #FamilyGuy #Sitcoms #RickandMorty #SouthPark #Archer #TheSimpsons  As  The Simpsons  heads into their 31st  season—further cementing itself as the longest-running primetime scripted series in the US—the Data Team at All Home Connections thought it would be interesting to find out your state’s favorite animated sitcom. Using a list of the top 15 most popular animated sitcoms, our analysts then used Google Trends to identify the most popular shows by comparing those with the highest search volume in each state. Take a look at our map to find out what your state’s favorite animated sitcom is and what other states like to watch across the country. Interesting Findings Here are some interesting findings that the data team came across when they started digging a little deeper into the results. Colorado’s favorite animated sitcom is  South Park . This could be because the town of Fairplay, Colorado is the childhood home of creator Matt ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Why Christopher Reeve's ''Superman' Is So Hard to Leave in the Past

#ChristopherReeve #Clarkkent #DCcomics #LoisLane #RichardDonner #Superman Forty years ago, Richard Donner and Christopher Reeve made a Superhero film that directors have been chasing for years, depicting who America was then — or at least who we wished to be Superman. It’s now easy to believe a man can fly. It wasn’t in 1978, but today, in midst of an explosion of superhero movies, it’s a belief we give into with relative ease. Flight is most often the bare minimum of what we expect from heroes and villains who can perform any feat limited only by the human imagination. It’s not simply special effects that permit our belief, but rather an overall acceptance that these costume-clad characters are a defining part of our culture, modern myths at their best and populist cinematic staples akin to the 20th century western at their lowest form. There have been a record nine theatrically released superhero movies based on comic books this year alone, each claiming a major piece of the glo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mechanism of a Mosquito Bite (VIDEO)

#itchy #Mosquito #MosquitoBite Unfortunately, enjoying the outdoors also means risking numerous bites from swarms of blood-hungry mosquitoes that seem to target us as soon us we step outside. Have you ever wondered about the science behind the mosquito bite and why those bites leave you itchy?  Check out the following video! 
Post a Comment
Read more