Today in international tech news: China will test a new drone's ability to de-smog the skies; a UK regulator fines a question-answering service after parents complain about their kids' obscene phone bills; Huawei inks a five-year deal with Vodafone; and Samsung is the patent-filing king of Europe.
China is taking its chemical war with smog to another level.Government agencies in China hope a newly designed drone can help mitigate air pollution. The airborne vehicle will spray chemicals that freeze pollutants, thereby knocking them to the ground.
This tack begs whether it is advisable to have pollution snowing on people from above -- but hey, at least the sky won't be so unsightly.
The tests, to be spearheaded by the China Meteorological Administration, will take place later this month at ports and airports.
The smog-fighting drone has a paragliding wing, allowing it to carry three times more weight they its fixed-wing brethren. The drone reportedlycan haul more than 1,500 pounds of smog-clearing chemicals.
China has used aircraft and drones to fight smog before. However, the developers of the new drone say the design is more efficient to operate and 90 percent cheaper.
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