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Like a Swarm of Lethal Bugs: The Most Terrifying Drone Video Yet

theatlantic.com

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Re: Like a Swarm of Lethal Bugs: The Most Terrifying Drone Video Yet

#21

Post by pekk »

sukuriant wrote: post #19

This sounds quite wonderful --- for the open battlefield. I quite support the use of anything humane that can reasonably improve our soldiers' intel on the ground, as intelligence is everything in a war. That said. I am terrified of the thought that this could be used against a country's own denizens, be it by the police, or by the military actively seeking out targets of their own. Furthermore, while this is being d…

I am really not sure why the inevitable conclusion is that the US will direct every bad technology against its own citizens. Does it not occur to anyone that they might be at least as likely to be attacked by non-governmental groups?

Re: Like a Swarm of Lethal Bugs: The Most Terrifying Drone Video Yet

#22

Post by arbuge »

"When I watch that simulation I am horrified. I also think to myself, this technology is more likely to diminish American security than to enhance it."

Quite so, but that's no argument for the US not working on it anyway. The enemy will have it eventually no matter what. We might as well have it too.

Re: Like a Swarm of Lethal Bugs: The Most Terrifying Drone Video Yet

#23

Post by pasbesoin »

zeteo wrote: post #12

These are about as practicable as developing lightsabers. They are: 1. Difficult to build. It's proving incredibly hard to achieve any decent range for electrical road vehicles. This multiplies manifold when trying to cram components into a much smaller space and make the whole thing fly . 2. Difficult to control. Gusts of wind, predatory birds, reliable bandwidth etc. 3. Trivially easy to defend against. Think mosqu…

Inductive charging. And, in addition to dedicated stations, I understand there is work being done to enable this to occur parasitically, e.g. from power lines / distribution networks.

P.S. Looks like GiraffeNecktie beat me to this, in his comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5246511

Re: Like a Swarm of Lethal Bugs: The Most Terrifying Drone Video Yet

#24

Post by obviouslygreen »

DamnYuppie wrote: post #8

I believe most right thinking people in this world are terrified of the military power of the USA. Even I, being a US citizen, am starting to become very concerned with our military weapons and their usage as they seem far more likely to be turned on us then our enemies. Call me a nut job if you want but we are all just a proclamation away from being "domestic terrorists".

Yes, our military (I'm also a US citizen) has a whole lot of things that do bad, painful, often fatal things. They're scary for any number of reasons, one of which is certainly the possibility of their use against us.

However, this is in no way limited to the US. Many, many governments -- possibly most -- have similarly awful and destructive, if not as technologically advanced, ways to harm anyone and/or everyone in range.

It would make more sense to be afraid specifically of the US military if there were no one else out there throwing around this kind of power. As people who don't want to be shot at, blown up, or dissolved instantaneously by hordes of angry electrosquitoes, singling out the US as the main subject of our trepidation seems a bit arbitrary.

Re: Like a Swarm of Lethal Bugs: The Most Terrifying Drone Video Yet

#25

Post by blake8086 »

arbuge wrote: post #22

"When I watch that simulation I am horrified. I also think to myself, this technology is more likely to diminish American security than to enhance it." Quite so, but that's no argument for the US not working on it anyway. The enemy will have it eventually no matter what. We might as well have it too.

What is this "we" you speak of?

Re: Like a Swarm of Lethal Bugs: The Most Terrifying Drone Video Yet

#27

Post by zeteo »

GiraffeNecktie wrote: post #15
zeteo wrote: post #12

These are about as practicable as developing lightsabers. They are: 1. Difficult to build. It's proving incredibly hard to achieve any decent range for electrical road vehicles. This multiplies manifold when trying to cram components into a much smaller space and make the whole thing fly . 2. Difficult to control. Gusts of wind, predatory birds, reliable bandwidth etc. 3. Trivially easy to defend against. Think mosqu…

1. I believe that was addressed in the video. These are very short range devices that can be recharged by solar energy or by sitting on power lines. 2. See the video. 3. You might be able to deny access to buildings with mosquito nets but you're not going to stop close range surveillance, painting targets and other uses. Mosquito nets themselves would be relatively trivial to dismantle with a swarm of these (you'd on…

1. The short range is a killer. You already need to know where the bad guys are, within an area of a few blocks. And solar panels with such small form factor are a joke in comparison with the energy demands of powered flight. (Sure, there are solar powered drones, but they need huge wings, perfect weather, and are little more than powered gliders.)

2. I didn't see any good counter-arguments there. Care to detail.

3. Explosions will alert the building's occupants, and you just sacrificed a complex, expensive device for a $0.50 mosquito net.

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