Brief bits of note: Turtles pose greater risk to airplanes than drones; Lily gets new funding, delays product release

Data highlights aviation risk posed by turtles. There has been quite a bit written about the FAA’s registration initiative for consumer drones. A process the FAA argues is necessary to ensure the safety of the skies. Registration is mandatory for anyone flying a small drone, that is a UAS device that weighs more than 250 grams (0.55 lbs.) and less than 55 lbs. There is a fee of $5 which some have labeled a tax. Others have questioned whether the FAA has the legal authority to impose registration on hobbyists. But perhaps no one has put the safety issue in better perspective than Eli Dourado who tweeted a chart illustrating the risk turtles pose to aircraft as compared to drones.

Popular Science reported that Eli, an economist and technologist at the libertarian Mercatus Center, used data pulled from the FAA’s own database of wildlife strikes to create the chart. Since 1990, the FAA recorded 198 airplane-and-turtle collisions, and exactly zero drone-and-airplane collisions.

Another report from the CDC that came out recently noted that for the first time in modern history, the age-adjusted death rate for both guns and car crashes is identical: 10.3 deaths per 100,000 people. Currently there is no comprehensive federal gun registration system.

Drone startup Lily delaying shipment. Antoine Balaresque and Henry Bradlow, the founders of Lily, reported on the company’s blog, that they are delaying shipment of their drone until the summer of 2016. They note in their post that:

After launching our pre-order campaign, component optimizations required us to redesign core parts of our flight software to achieve smoother and more stable flight. This turned out to be a larger undertaking than expected. Due to the enhancements we made, Lily Camera now has more stable and responsive flight capabilities.

However, they also announced additional funding that will help pay for their 37 member team. They have raised $15 million dollars from Spark Capital, SV Angel, the Stanford-StartX Fund, as well as musician Steve Aoki and football legend Joe Montana.

They describe the Lily as the “Camera. Re-invented.” You can learn more about the product here.