If you haven't already seen the University of Pennsylvania video of quadrocopters performing the James Bond theme, go ahead and scroll down now to watch it--no other technology's going to look cool in comparison for the rest of the day. If you have seen it, here's some interesting background: the video of musical robots was made for a recent TED conference that also highlighted liquid metal batteries and Mach 20 flights.
Researchers are developing 1 kilowatt hour batteries that combine magnesium and antimony while DARPA is testing the gliders that can travel at Mach 20 speeds--fast enough to fly from New York to LA in about 11 minutes. Dream of the air transportation of the future--but enjoy the music-playing quadrotors of the now, because those things are entirely too cool.
Want to catch the whole talk on cooperative quadrotor robots? Here it is!