NewsflareSome people love gadgets don’t they? Any excuse to get them out and there they are, doing something that could probably be done quite quickly and efficiently in a crazy new way using the latest technology.
Humans are nothing if not resourceful – perhaps too much – but there is also an incessant need for technology to be reimagined and constantly updated. It’s got us this far and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. In fact, it’s happening quicker now more than ever.
So, when we get the chance to use it, use it we will!
Drones are just such a bit of kit. There are so many uses for them, from same-day delivery to capturing stunning shots of landscapes and wildlife. They’ve also, however, provided many tech-heads with many hours of inventive playfulness, pushing the limits of what drones are really for.
An innovative (or should that be torturous?) dad has discovered a creative new use for his favourite toy technology.
Attaching some string to his son’s loose tooth, the very sensible and definitely not immature dad then attached the other end to his drone.
Sending the drone straight up at quite some speed, the flying machine whipped the tooth right out of the seven-year-old’s mouth.
Quite efficient really. I bet dentists don’t do this only because the ceilings of their offices are too low.
The resourceful dad, Mike from Staten Island, said:
It’s his first tooth. We’ll figure out some cool ways to get the other ones out!
I’m sure he’s looking forward to that.
NewsflareEarlier this year, another drone was put to good use when it found a British climber in the Himalayas after he fell from a cliff.
Rick Allen, 65, had been climbing in the Himalayas with his climbing partner Sandy Allan when the pair separated.
While Sandy decided to turn back from the climb due to high winds, Rick decided to carry on the hike to the summit of Pakistan’s Broad Peak, the 12th highest mountain in the world, by himself.
Rick was in the process of returning from the hike when he fell from a cliff of ice, which stood at 26,000 feet.
Watch the moment he was spotted here:
Rick had been missing for 36 hours with no food, attempting to make his own way off the mountain after the fall.
After a cook at base camp spotted what appeared to be a rucksack on the cliff, Polish mountaineer Bartek Bargiel and his brother Andrzej sent out a drone to scan the mountainside to locate the 65-year-old.
Flying around Broad Peak and K2, the world’s second largest mountain, the drone incredibly captured footage of Rick still moving, and rescuers were able to determine his exact location thanks to the drone’s footage.
Sherpas and other climbers came to the his aid, and brought him back to base camp. Thankfully, Rick had only suffered minor injuries, and had mild frost bite.
He was airlifted to hospital for a check up and for treatment on his frostbitten feet.
Drones. Rescuing teeth and mountaineers since 1920(ish).
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.