These drones track sharks to protect beachgoers
A team at the University of California, Santa Barbara, also uses artificial intelligence that analyzes the drone footage "to develop predictions for when and where sharks will show up"

Each week, we spotlight a cool innovation recommended by some of the industry's top tech writers. This week's pick is shark-monitoring drones.
Researchers are using drones to monitor sharks in California, said Jackie Snow at The New York Times. Once rare off Southern California beaches, "great white sharks are beginning to show up more often," leading to more frequent encounters with beachgoers — and the death of a surfer this summer.
Instead of relying only on lifeguards scanning the waves, a new program, called SharkEye, involves two drones — one that "travels along a preprogrammed path in the sky" and a second that follows a "meandering route to scan the water below." A team at the University of California, Santa Barbara, also uses artificial intelligence that analyzes the drone footage "to develop predictions for when and where sharks will show up."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
This article was first published in the latest issue of The Week magazine. If you want to read more like it, you can try six risk-free issues of the magazine here.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Russia removes the Taliban's terrorist designation as their connections grow
The Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
By Justin Klawans, The Week US
-
The state of Britain's Armed Forces
The Explainer Geopolitical unrest and the unreliability of the Trump administration have led to a frantic re-evaluation of the UK's military capabilities
By The Week UK
-
Anti-anxiety drug has a not-too-surprising effect on fish
Under the radar The fish act bolder and riskier
By Devika Rao, The Week US