Flying Cars and Talking Machines

We’re going to kick things off with something we’ve been dreaming of for a long, long time. No, it’s not our own personal jetpacks. I’m still waiting for mine. But good news on the flying-car front! The Pentagon’s “new technology” division has announced a "Personal Air Vehicle Technology" project – a call for proposals to create a machine that can drive along the road one minute and take flight the next. It’s not quite the flying DeLorean of "Back to the Future" fame. But if morphing wings and vertical propulsion rock your world, you’re in luck. The Pentagon is looking for a vehicle about the size of a Cessna that can stay in the air for two hours on one tank of gas. WIRED Magazine contributing editor Noah Schactman wrote about the project on his "Danger Room" blog, and joins Word of Mouth with more on efforts to create a flying car.

If and when the day comes that we’re zooming around in them, it’ll mean we’re finally living in the future that pop culture has promised us for decades. A world of tomorrow, where robot butlers wash our dishes, nutrient pills replace meals, and appliances have their say. Well, the future may be closer than we think. We have Roomba, afterall, the robot vacuum cleaner. And vitamin pills pack an ever-increasing punch. And as for those talking appliances, well, in Japan, some wish they’d kindly shut up. That’s where reporter Ross Chambless produced this story about household appliances and other machines talking automatically.

(Photo by David Shamma)