While there is “new” news in the last week about regulation of domestic drones, now is as good a time as any to keep up with the evolving vocabulary of drones.

Drones, unmanned aerial vehicles (“UAVs”), remotely piloted aircraft — whatever you call them, “nanotechnology” is the culprit/hero of this evolving aviation technology.

Nanotechnology is the phenomenon that allows for the origin and proliferation of drones.

And, hate to admit it, but many lawyers opted out of medical school on account of math and science.  Yet, now, it is up to lawmakers to understand and evaluate nanotechnology in the form of coherent laws and policies.  The law lags such cutting-edge technology historically, a reason so many jurisdictions are playing “catch-up” to regulate or control this reality.  This raises the question of whether industry more than lawmakers should be responsible for proposing how safely to integrate UAVs into the national airspace.