9: Looking for leaks

The proliferation of drones in recent years seems to have encouraged hip, innovative leaders in seemingly every field to at least attempt to incorporate this suddenly affordable, conversation-sparking technology into their work, critics might say, sometimes at the expense of efficiency or necessity. But as drones continue their flightpaths into the mainstream, humans seem certain to identify a probably endless number of more revolutionary applications of the technology. Two alumni of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory appear to have done so already. Andrew Aubrey's Seek Ops attaches censors – similar to ones working on the surface of Mars – to drones, to monitor oil and gas lines for vulnerabilities before leaks and spills can occur, potentially saving oil and gas companies and local governments millions of dollars and the surrounding natural environments irreversible harm.