We've all heard about mysterious drones in the news recently, but what might they actually be?

It may be that there were some operations either for security purposes or for research purposes.

And the military, they're a we can either confirm nor deny group.

They may just not want to talk about it.

It's Friday, December 20th, the best day of the week.

It is Science Friday.

I'm SciFRI producer Kathleen Davis.

There's been a lot of questions and concerns about sightings of suspected drones over

New Jersey and along the

eastern seaboard, so much so that the Federal Aviation Administration has banned most drones

from flying in parts of New Jersey out of an abundance of caution. We'll talk to one drone expert

about the current rules and regulations around drones,

who currently has access to them, and what really might be happening here.

But first, here's Ira Flato with the biggest science stories of the week.

Over the past five years, a lot of words have been written about an invasive insect known casually as the murder hornet.

But this week, the USDA and the Washington State Department of Agriculture announced that the insect had been eradicated in the U.S. Our long national

nightmare is over. Joining me now to talk about that and other stories from the week in science

is Maggie Kerth, science writer, editorial lead at Carbon Plant

in Minneapolis. Welcome back. Hi, thanks so much for having me. You want to give us a thumbnail

on this murder hornet? Refresh my memory, please. Oh, Ira, it seems like just yesterday,

we were freaking out about that murder hornet together. But

apparently it's been five years ago and now the murder hornets are all gone. Like the bloom

...