Quick notes: Fighter drones | Securing the heights...

• Fighter Drones are the future: US Air Force to test fighter drone against human pilot 

The competitor should be a drone fighter plane that’s remote controlled by a human, but with its maneuvers augmented by autonomy. The F-35 would have no chance against it.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 28, 2020




• Barely-literate Raksha Mantri: The Indian army is finally paying attention and doing the elementary thing of securing the heights on the Galwan to prevent the PLA from dominating the Depsang-DBO-Karakorum Pass Highway. The failure to take so basic a precaution of controlling the heights to protect this highway — a national strategic asset, suggests a lapse in professionalism and a laid back attitude of the army and the govt that the country can ill-afford. It permitted the PLA to get not just a toehold but a foothold.

Zoom claims it offers end-to-end encryption. But a probe finds that Zoom meetings are potentially compromised when keys for encrypting and decrypting are transmitted to servers in China: https://t.co/HiJyr0Q9fG. The last thing the Indian defense minister should be doing is this! pic.twitter.com/zQ9VErzxxy

— Brahma Chellaney (@Chellaney) April 6, 2020




• Semiconductors, which is a critical component of phones besides ICs, diodes and transistors, is something that China holds an edge over India. . . . . . . Does anyone in Modi sarkar understand what this means?
  
  Can Indian smartphones make a comeback? Due to immense competition from Chinese smartphone makers, companies like Micromax, Lava and Karbonn which were immensely popular a few years ago, are virtually non-existent now. . . . . . . Maybe, Indians should buy HTC?



• Tibet's independence key to our national security: India’s support to Tibet can be more viable only when India can muster enough international support to stifle China, socially and more important, economically.
  
  The Speech that got Richard Gere banned from the Oscars:




• Fungi, the next frontier of biodiversity science: A teaspoon of soil from the Amazon contains as many as 1,800 microscopic life forms, of which 400 are fungi.



• RadWagon 4 250W: Electric Cargo Bike




• Hypocrisy framed: