Whenever you are in traffic you can’t help but wish there was an alternative. While some people visualise blowing up some of the cars in their way, others wish they could just fly over everyone.
The latter option may just be available to the ordinary person in a few years.
There is a dire need to find ways of using the limited travelling space available. While there will never be a “traffic jam” on the oceans, the same doesn’t apply on land. That’s because water covers more than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface. So with our mere 20-something percent, and at a staggering seven billion population, it is only a matter of time before we are forced to find alternative means of moving from point A to B.
This is shown in Discovery Channel’s Incredible Flying Cars, a show just about that – flying cars.
While the Wright brothers were making the first plane that flew, several car inventors were looking for ways of combining that technology with the existing one of automobiles. This programme shows us the successful projects and the history of those that failed.
You may be surprised to learn that in the past century over 300 flying cars have successfully soared into the sky. The problem is that none of them have done it commercially.
Discovery Channel is trying to plant a seed in your mind about a future in which you strap on a helmet before you enter your car, race the car down the street, take off then land a few minutes later as you would have arrived to work.
It is not a utopian idea because the technology exists. We are just waiting for the right developer to come up with something that everyone can use.
It looks like we will all need other driving, or is it flying, licences – the cellphone was once a bizarre idea but now we can’t live without them.
Incredible Flying Cars – Discovery World – DStv Channel 187, 10pm every Thursday.
If you are still keen on just staying on the ground but in an exceptionally modified vehicle then that is also fine.
The BBC’s Motor Morphers is every car enthusiast’s fix. In it, old vehicles are stripped of their old mechanical technology and fitted with modern technology.
Think of an old VW Beetle with the engine and interior of the latest Mercedes-Benz. It would be the ultimate morph that will rival impressive innovations like the Bat-mobile. Get inspired to do something with your car without having to call Pimp My Ride’s Xzibit.
Motor Morphers starts today at 9pm on BBC Knowledge, DStv Channel 184.
If cars or flying ones for that matter are not your thing but you are a fan of innovation, then The Genius of Invention should do just fine.
Have you ever wondered how hard it is to come up with a unique idea these days? It is almost impossible to come up with something unique and useful.
This is why Michael Mosley, the presenter of The Genius of Invention, takes you back to some of the most innovative ideas that shaped the world.
We go back to the origins of the steam engine, electricity and the digital camera. Some inspiring stuff.
The Genius of Invention airs on BBC Knowledge at 10pm from tonight.