Flights of the Immortals

RTA and Volocopter operate Autonomous Air Taxi (AAT) in Dubai (19 June 2017). Video Source: Youtube.

Flying cars have arrived, so the future is officially here. The new socio-economic divide will be evident to those still stuck in ground traffic, as they gaze high above their heads. A BBC World News television interviewee stated this week that the aim for these "future mobility ecosystems" was to,

"ease us into this before we go completely pilotless."

In the United States, regulators are currently opening up lower air space to drones and air taxis. The past few years have seen American property rights activists battling for citizens to retain some control over the airspace around and above them as an extension of private property they own - and of their own individual autonomy. After all, how low is 'lower airspace' when it comes to an unmanned aircraft system that is an ultra-tiny drone smaller than a gnat? Two inches above your head? Inside your ear canal? But really, like all the rest of hyper-accelerated technology, humankind seems helpless to resist the inevitable.

Iceland between Eclipses

Árstíðir - Heyr himna smiður (Icelandic hymn) in train station (16 September 2013). Video Source: Youtube.

Today marked the exact half-way point between the 31 January 2018 lunar eclipse and the 15 February 2018 solar eclipse. To relieve that point of suspended tension, listen to the Icelandic group, Árstíðir, sing the hymn, Heyr himna smiður, in a German train station on 15 September 2013. From the video notes:

"Heyr, himna smiður was written by Kolbeinn Tumason in 1208. The music was composed in the 1970s by Þorkell Sigurbjörnsson (1938-2013), one of Iceland's foremost contemporary composers."

Ice cave in Vatnajökull glacier, in south-east Iceland. Vatnajökull is visible from space and covers 8 per cent of the country. Image Source: Glacier Guides.

Iceland Ice Cave 2017 (17 January 2017). Video Source: Youtube.

Above, see one of Iceland's mysterious glowing blue ice caves and below, see the virtual travel ambient Route One tour, from the avant-rock musical group, Sigur Rós. Their three videos in the playlist below show a journey driving around the outer coast of Iceland:

"on the 2016 summer solstice, sigur rós unveiled a 24-hour ‘slow tv’ event live on iceland’s national television – and streamed live globally via youtube – set to a constantly evolving soundtrack based around elements of their latest song óveður. ‘route one’ is a 1332km journey the whole way round iceland’s coastal ring road, you can now relive that journey in full 1080p hd or 4k 360°.

Part 2 and Part 3 follow Part 1 in this playlist: Sigur Rós - Route One [Part 1 - 1080p] (19 July 2016). Video Source: Youtube.