In the UK, university research departments are assessed base on the Research Excellence Framework (REF, formerly the Research Assessment Exercise [RAE]). Each faculty member is required to submit 4 things demonstrating impact. These are typically top-tier conference or journal papers, but can also be artefacts or examples of successful technology transfer. The exercise happens every four years, so to get the top ranking you need to write one good paper a year. The only incentive for publishing in second-tier venues is meeting other people who might lead to interesting collaborations.

Reproducing work is often a good thing to set for first-year PhD students to do. If they reproduce something successfully, then they've learned about the state of the art and are in a good position to start original research. If they can't reproduce it, then they've got a paper for one of the debunking workshops that are increasingly attached to major conferences and that's their first publication done...

Just like when a cop gets right up on your bumper to read your license plate before pulling you over. If you had to stop quickly due to some emergency in the road ahead and the copy smacked into you, you will be charged with driving too close to the officer.

If it is military, then they would be idiots to shoot it down. They'd probably get shot down in retaliation.

The FAA says that model aircraft flights should be kept below 400 feet above ground level (AGL), should be flown a sufficient distance from populated areas and full scale aircraft, and are not for business purposes. I'm pretty sure two out of three of those rules were busted. One for certain.
The Police also violated FAA regulations by approaching within 500 feet of a person, structure or aircraft.

It's not legal. Nor is it legal to fly your helicopter in the vicinity of the other illegally operating vehicle. An illegal act does not justify another illegal act.

Yes, and where I live the paramedics are more likely to get to the scene of an accident, homicide or assault before any cops. Our paramedics wear bulletproof vests.

Wow, I can't believe the guy is only demanding that the officer be fired. If anyone else had done this, he would be in jail and PETA would be throwing blood on him.

Where a Tesla has similar components and designs as other cars, the front suspension is going to be totally different than 90% of other sedans it's size.

Other than the lack of CV joints (I had thought the S was all-wheel drive, but you're correct on this point), what specifically is different regarding the front suspension? Does it not have upper/lower control arms and tie rod ends with joints that wear?

One could argue that sealed systems are less prone to wear because the dust and grit cannot get in and the grease cannot get out, but I'll skip making the obvious point.

You could argue it, but the worn (sealed) suspension parts in my '02 Sierra that I'm about to replace at 116K miles would tend to disagree with your statement (the joints in my '86 Silverado with twice the mileage are fine, but then they've been kept greased), as does the fact that almost everyone I've seen that did the replacement themselves replaces any sealed parts with greasable ones where they can. The Moog parts I'm replacing them with (which are far better than the factory parts) come with zerks - no drilling required. The worn ball joints and tie rod ends in my truck likely aren't dirty, but they *are* dry. Grease (even synthetic) doesn't last forever, and in a sealed system, once the grease wears out, the joint follows soon after and there's not anything you can do to prevent it. You're absolutely correct that most people with greasable parts don't follow the recommended maintenance schedule, and the sealed joints do last longer than an *unmaintained* part. They generally are also designed to be a royal PITA to replace (for ball joints, anyway), so most shops replace the entire control arm assembly at a much greater cost. They most definitely don't last longer than a properly maintained part with zerks though. Any decent 30-minute lube place should be taking care of anything with fittings anyway.

I agree with you, with the caveat that breaking the law is not the correct response to breaking the law. Hopefully, the idiot drone pilots and the idiot NYPD pilot will both share a jail cell.

Not to mention the competition is in Bejing, so a lot of people would be spending several thousand dollars in travel expenses just to get the chance to win $10K, with most going home empty-handed. It's an interesting competition, but the prize money isn't enough to really encourage people IMO.

Jiffy Lube for your Tesla? What are they going to do to a Tesla? Change the oil and filter?

I mentioned it in another thread, but the Tesla's front suspension really isn't any different than any other car, and needs grease like any other car. The components may be sealed - I don't know, but I would hope not. Sealed ball joints, tie rod ends, etc. tend to wear out faster than those with zerks that are properly maintained IME.

They also have ball joints, CV joints, tie rod ends, etc. that need grease just like any other car.

One of the helo officers claims this thing went from 0-2000 ft in 2 seconds.

Even model rockets aren't that fast off the ground. About the only thing that can do that from a standstill is a bullet.

It looks like 6 people worldwide and 0 people in Pennsylvania. So they should also remark that it is not just sending them out to people who were born in the 1800s but also that it is sending out to people who are no longer alive. Kind of like a Chicago voter registration.