CNN launches research for drones in journalism

WASHINGTON — CNN said Monday it was launching a research project with the Georgia Institute of Technology on how drones could be used for newsgathering by media organizations.

The research will evaluate the technology, personnel and safety needs to operate effectively and will share its findings with the Federal Aviation Administration, which is considering rules for unmanned aerial vehicles.

“Our hope is that by working cooperatively to share knowledge, we can accelerate the process for CNN and other media organizations to safely integrate this new technology into their coverage plans,” said David Vigilante, CNN senior vice president, in a statement.

Georgia tech researcher Mike Heiges said drones “have a number of applications that benefit society, such as search and rescue, disaster response and agricultural mapping and crop assessment,” and added that “we’re excited to be engaging with CNN to study the newsgathering applications” for drones.

The move comes amid intense interest in drones beyond military and intelligence purposes. US authorities are considering new regulations that could allow civilian drones to share the airspace with manned aircraft.

Unlike other countries, the United States prohibits the use of drones, or unmanned aerial systems for commercial purposes, although the FAA grants rare exceptions for government and law enforcement use.

Earlier this year, 16 major US news organizations joined to accuse the FAA of curtailing freedom of the press by restricting the use of drones for news.

In a brief to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the news organizations including The New York Times and The Washington Post argued that drones are a First Amendment — or constitutional rights — concern.

The University of Nebraska in 2011 established a Drone Journalism Lab to examine how to use such aircraft for newsgathering.

source: interaksyon.com

Motive still unclear behind LAX shooting

LOS ANGELES - Police were hunting for a motive Saturday after a gunman opened fire at the Los Angeles International Airport, killing an unarmed security agent, terrifying hundreds, and sowing chaos at the busy transport hub.

Panicked travelers scrambled to escape after the shooter - identified as 23-year-old Paul Anthony Ciancia - armed with an assault rifle, blasted through a security checkpoint at the airport shortly after 9:00 am (1600 GMT) Friday.

Ciancia then walked calmly through the terminal seeking further victims. He was eventually stopped when police shot and wounded him.

TV footage showed people diving to the floor at the sound of gunfire and scrambling to escape the terminal.

The dead agent was the first Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employee killed in the line of duty since the group was set up following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The lone gunman, who reportedly had a grudge against the TSA, also wounded seven people in the rampage.

But he was still carrying plenty of ammunition when he was arrested, said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.

"There were more than 100 more rounds that could have literally killed everybody in that terminal today," he said, praising airport police. "If it were not for their actions, there could have been a lot more damage," he said.

While reports suggested Ciancia -- who was shot several times before he went down -- was a disgruntled loner, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said it could not rule out terrorism.

The shooter opened fire in a crowded terminal of the country's third-busiest airport.

He "came into Terminal Three, pulled an assault rifle out of a bag and began to open fire," said Patrick Gannon, head of the airport police.

"He proceeded up into the screening area ... and continued shooting," he said.

Police chased the gunman, "engaged him in gunfire... and were able to successfully take him into custody."

'Disappointment in the government'

The TSA, which employs screeners at airports, confirmed that one of its employees had died. "Multiple Transportation Security Officers were shot, one fatally," said a TSA statement.

The FBI later named the shooter, and said that he was a Los Angeles resident originally from the eastern state of New Jersey.

Police found a note on the gunman voicing "disappointment in the government" but that he did not want to harm "innocent people," a law enforcement official told the Los Angeles Times newspaper.

It appeared that Ciancia was hunting for TSA agents. During the shooting spree, which lasted less than 10 minutes, he approached a number of people cowering in the terminal and pointed his gun at them, asking if there "were TSA."

If they answered "no," then he moved on, the Times reported, citing witnesses who said he cursed the TSA repeatedly.

Late Friday, the TSA identified the dead officer as Gerardo Hernandez, 39, US media reported.

Before the shooting, Ciancia texted his younger brother that he might harm himself, the Washington Post reported Saturday. This led the shooter's father to contact local New Jersey police, who in turn contacted their counterparts in Los Angeles.

LAPD officers visited Ciancia's home on Friday but could not find him, according to the Post.

Brian Adamick, 43, said he saw a wounded TSA worker, with a bloodied ankle, board a shuttle bus helping passengers escape.

"It looked like it was straight out of the movies," he said.

Some 750 flights were disrupted after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a national ground-stop.

Although there was no indication that other people were involved in the attack, the FBI said it could not rule out terrorism.

"It would be premature to comment on a motivation at this time and joint investigators have neither ruled out terrorism, nor ruled it in," said an FBI statement.

This being Los Angeles, a number of celebrities were caught up in the action.

Filming of an episode of the hit TV show "Mad Men" underway in nearby Terminal Four was halted, a crew member wrote on Twitter.

Actor James Franco posted a "selfie" picture of himself on a plane stopped on the tarmac by the incident.

"Some s**tbag shot up the place," he wrote in the first of a series of tweets, ending some five hours later with a more relieved message: "WE'RE OUT! - everyone was calm."

The shooting comes just weeks ahead of the stressful end-of-year travel period that includes Thanksgiving - traditionally the busiest travel time of the year - and Christmas.

source: interaksyon.com

US firm offers balloon rides to edge of space

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida -- Hoping to cash in on a growing appetite for adventure, an Arizona startup has unveiled plans for a balloon ride to the stratosphere, offering passengers about two hours of space-like views from 19 miles above Earth.

Privately owned World View, an offshoot of Paragon Space Development Corp., plans to start selling tickets at $75,000 per person within a few months, said chairwoman and president Jane Poynter.

The company expects to begin flight tests of a demonstration vehicle this year in Arizona and could be flying passengers within three years, Poynter said.

Initially, six passengers and two pilots would be aboard a pressurized capsule that is still under development.

The Federal Aviation Administration has determined it must meet the same safety requirements as a manned spacecraft orbiting Earth.

"At Paragon's intended altitude, water and blood boil, and an unprotected person would rapidly experience fatal decompression," the FAA, which oversees commercial spaceflight in the United States, wrote in a letter Paragon provided to Reuters.

The FAA said it took no position as to whether an altitude of 30 kilometers constitutes outer space, but that Paragon's capsule will need to be capable of operating in space.

By comparison, rides aboard SpaceShipTwo -- a suborbital six-passenger, two-pilot vehicle owned by Virgin Galactic, an offshoot of Richard Branson's London-based Virgin Group -- is expected to reach about 68 miles.

At that altitude, passengers will experience a few minutes of weightlessness in addition to seeing the curvature of the Earth set against the black sky of space.

World View capsules would be propelled by a 40-million cubic-foot (1.1 million cubic-meter) helium balloon and a steerable parafoil, an inflatable wing-shaped parachute.

They should take about 90 minutes to two hours to reach peak altitude, more than twice as high as where commercial jets fly.

Longer, less expensive

While the view may not be as expansive as what SpaceShipTwo can offer, it will last longer.

Project developers expect the capsule to linger in the middle of the stratosphere for about two hours before returning to the ground. The descent should take 25 to 40 minutes.

A World View ride would cost less than one-third of the $250,000 it will cost to fly on SpaceShipTwo. So far, about 650 people have put down deposits or paid for rides on the latter, which is undergoing testing at manufacturer Scaled Composites' facility in Mojave, California.

Virgin Galactic aims to begin passenger service next summer, Branson said last month.

Virgin Galactic and others have shown that the luxury market has shifted from high-end goods to high-end experiences, Paragon co-founder and Chief Executive Taber MacCallum told Reuters.

"(We) found we could put together a business plan that closed in a ticket price that is not too different from other luxury experiences, like a high-end safari and things like that," MacCallum said.

The FAA letter describes World View's initial launches as taking place from New Mexico's Spaceport America, a commercial port whose anchor tenant is Virgin Galactic. Poynter said the firm is looking at several US launch sites.

For added safety and for landing, a steerable parafoil will remain deployed and attached to the capsule throughout the ride, Poynter and MacCallum said.

"The balloon you're under is the thickness of a dry cleaner bag. It's very thin material by necessity to get you so high. That's where the technical risk lies. The risks of decompression of the spacecraft or life-support systems failures are really pretty small. We've got lots of redundant systems and we can return to lower altitudes pretty quickly," MacCallum said.

"There is a chance -- and every once in a while you see in scientific ballooning -- of a balloon failure. That's really what took us to having this para-wing, or parafoil always open so that from just about any altitude the vehicle could safely glide back," he added.

source: interaksyon.com