The butt of countless jokes in the scientific community for more than fifty years, Dr. Paul Moller continued working on his Skycar--a vehicle which could potentially replace the automobile and free us all from the bounds of gravity--until he had a fully
operational mock-up completed. Yes, it actually does fly.
But still there was doubt whether anyone would ever want, much less actually need one for anything. (Although, the US military obviously thinks they're a good idea--they're buying at least a few.)
Fast forward to the impending destruction of hurricane Rita, with sustained winds of 140+ mph. Lines of traffic snake out from Houston and Galveston as thousands of residents try to flee, only to be trapped on the highways, jammed in like lines of sardine cans.
What a difference if we had all embraced Moller's new technology, his shiny red
volantor. I could see people waiting until the last few hours before landfall, tracking the storm on CNN, knowing exactly where the most danger was, before they evacuated to anywhere in the United States-- not overcrowding other locations in the affected region. This would eliminate the need to evacuate EVERYONE who could potentially be threatened five days before we know exactly where the hurricane will make landfall.
I can see the video on CNN: As the dark storm clouds coming rolling across the horizon, thousands of little aircraft, like swarms of honey bees pouring from a hive, would fly up from the garages and mini-hangars of the city below and flitter far and fast, away from the dangerous winds and storm surge without the need for jammed-up highways and over-booked hotels.
And please don't ask "what if the engines fail?" because we have had automatic parachute safety systems for airplanes (including commercial airliners) for more than a decade. Yes, the ENTIRE airplane has it's own parachute...
Too bad people are afraid of change. Change is what this country needs, in a big way.
Even as Rita and Katrina pound our infrastructure, destroying power lines, levees and refining capability, people talk of "rebuilding" and "putting everything back the way it was." I say--Wait! Stop! Before you do something stupid, let's consider our options.
Seems to me this is the time to re-think everything:
1. Let's bury our power lines this time so they are less susceptible to wind and storm damage.
2. Let's get away from a fossil-fuel based system of power generation too. Almost 40 percent of the country of Portugal is powered from solar generation, requirements of the Kyoto Treaty--something the U.S. refused to sign, but the EU did not. Let's force businesses and homeowners to install solar panels on their rooftops. Every little bit helps. Keep the costs low by requiring minimums based on income and the gain in free energy would be enormous!
3. Wireless communication capability should be required of all U.S. municipalities. How can we expect our government, local, state or otherwise, to protect us if nobody knows what is going on? This is the year 2005, we should be able to maintain clear lines of communications at all times by now. In 2001, dozens of fire fighters and police officers died at the World Trade Center because they could not be alerted of dangers; their radios did not work.
We need to stop thinking like it's 1899. We have the technology to make our country great, to make human civilization better than it ever has been before. But we need to embrace change to make that happen, not stick our heads in the sand and refuse to budge.
This is the greates nation on Earth. It's time we start acting like it.
