Entry #13 - November 12th 2013

Study warns that unmanned drones over Canada could be 'intrusive'

CTV News

The RCMP is thinking of creating some UAV drones, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.  These drones can be used for search and rescue missions, investigating offences and to reconstruct traffic accidents.  The UAV's can be outfitted with cameras but also with a multitude of surveillance equipment, such as thermal cameras to license plate readers.  The RCMP is planning to launch their own fleet of quad copter UAVs.  People are worried however, that the drones will be used for spying on civilians.  The RCMP say that these would be great for search and rescue and for investigating criminals.

I think that the police should get these because it would help keep the people of Canada safe.  If we got these drones it would also make it less dangerous for recon missions, sending in a drone instead of a human.  I know that these could be used for spying on people but what I say is that if you don't want them spying on you then you have something to hide, so unless you have something to hide you shouldn't be afraid.  I also think that the drones would be good for the RCMP's investigations.

Entry #12 - November 4th 2013

Giant mirrors bring winter sunlight to Norwegian village nestled in the mountains

CTV News

The innaguration for the brand new giant mirrors installed in Rjukan is set to be sometime next week, depending on the weather. This small town, in a deep valley, is deprived of sunlight for 6 months every year.  In an effort to bring sunlight into the valley in the winter, the 180 square foot mirrors reflect sunlight down in front of the town hall.  This is remarkable, as the mirrors are able to change angles based on where the sunlight is coming from.

I think that this is a big step for this community.  It will be very good for them to 'get their fill' of sunlight during the winter and they will get their needed vitamin D.  I think that the valley is making us think of more convenient ways to get sunlight into locations, that otherwise, have no sunlight during some seasons.  This is a very big job because not only do the mirrors need to reflect the sunlight but they need to adjust as the earth rotates.  This means a lot of algorithms need to be in place so the sun is not missed as we rotate around it.