Researchers have developed autonomous drones capable of navigating dense forests.

That sounds like the kind of thing someone would make if they'd never seen a sci-fi movie (or an episode of Black Mirror) but the Science article describing these findings makes it clear that isn't the case. Instead the Zhejiang University researchers say their creation is a step towards the drone swarms depicted in "Star Wars: Episode III," "Ender's Game," and "Blade Runner: 2049."

New Scientist helpfully uploaded a video of this system in action to YouTube:

"The proposed solution is embodied on drones that are only the size of a palm and is validated by several demonstrations in unstructured environments," the Zhejiang University researchers say in their Science article. "We have released the software and hardware necessary to accelerate aerial swarm research, which developers can deploy and use to validate their algorithm from simulations and field environments, all based on our platform."

The researchers say that swarms of autonomous drones could prove useful for disaster relief, biological studies, collaborative transportation of payloads too large for individual drones to carry, and a "dense air traffic system or ready-to-deploy transportation for rovers and drones landing on Mars." The less altruistic—and more violent—use cases for these drone swarms are left unsaid.