Sometimes there's just too many cool things to pack into a short paragraph and one link. So I'm trying something a little different for the second article here. I'm calling it a deep dive—a special in-depth look at a trend or topic I've been following.
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Also, Jeff Goldblum has a statue now.
Droneography
There's some really beautiful photography out of this year's Drone Awards. That's a thing now, though I'm not at all surprised; the results are pretty spectacular.
Meet George Jetson
For this first one, I'm diving into eVTOL. Or electric vertical takeoff and landing. It's the technology behind a wave of vehicles coming our way in the not-so-distant future—flying, battery-powered, one-to-six-person taxis and personal aircraft.
They'll be docked on the rooftops of every building downtown, along the waterfront, and some people will have a landing pad in their driveway or backyard. A set of propellers will articulate to allow for both vertical takeoff and horizontal flight, or anything in between. Think of them as a supersized version of the small aerial drones we have right now. Initially they'll be piloted by humans, and shortly after, fully autonomous.
Not convinced? Larry Page (one of the Google founders) has invested in a stable of companies (Zee, Kitty Hawk, Opener) working toward this future, in the hopes one will come out on top.
Aston Martin and Rolls-Royce have also thrown their hats in the ring with some promising designs.
Airbus has been working on concepts that combine flying with driving. And they just partnered with Audi to take it to the next level. Now, with the help of the German government, they'll be running tests for the flying taxi around Audi's home city of Ingolstadt.
Then there's the aviation startup from Germany called Volocopter. It's backed by Intel, so you can assume it has shared some autonomous driving technology with their team.
Last but not least, Uber has announced plans for ride sharing in the sky. What's different here though is they won't be making aircraft themselves, and instead are partnering with industry veterans like Bell Helicopter, Embraer, and Pipistrel.
Three Days of the Condor
Another surprise TV show hit for me lately has been Condor.
Based on a movie and a book from the '70s (any Robert Redford fans out there?), it stars Jeremy Irons' son, Max Irons. It also packs one of the creepiest, yet best performances I've ever seen from Brendan Fraser.
The first season is about to wrap, and it's already been renewed for a second.