When I started to read science fiction at the tender age of 15 I was sure that we would have settlements on Moon and Mars, would criss-cross our solar system (if not the Milky-way) and have flying cars for sure once I reached the age I’m at now.

That did not quite work out that way. I still put the same old gas into the tank of a car that is completely earth-bound. The only real advance in space travel had been a winged space ship – but that is about to retire now and it all looks like it’s back to the old vertical take-off and landing in the ocean routine that we had when I was a kid. The only real hope for a proper space ship is Burt Rutan with his space-ship 2. But Burt, you gotta work on that anti-gravity device so that you can get rid of that silly way to get into space.

OK, we now have the internet, something totally not expected when I was little. What prompts me to write these lines is that finally there is – as long as we remain earth-bound – at least a glimmer of hope for that flying car…