From London to Timbuktu in a Flying Car

by Kraig Becker on

British adventurer Neil Laughton will begin a unique odyssey tomorrow. The former special forces officer will depart from London on his way to Timbuktu, located in the African country of Mali, and while a journey like this one is interesting in and of itself, it is Laughton’s mode of transportation that really sets it apart.

Laughton will be traveling in a specially designed dune buggy dubbed the Skycar, which is a cross between an off-road vehicle and a paraglider. Utalizing a giant parachute and a large fan mounted on the back of the car, the driver is able to take flight, transitioning from the ground to the air in just three minutes. While in flight mode, it typically cruises between 2000 and 3000 feet, but can reach altitudes as high as 15,000 feet. All the while running on biofuel, making this an environmentally friendly endevour.The 4000 mile expedition is expected to take roughly 42 days, traveling from London to France, Spain, Morrocco, Mauritania and of course Mali. The return trip will also pass through Senegal as well. Much of that distance will be covered on the ground, where the Skycar can reach speeds of up to 108 mph, but Laughton will pilot his flying car over the Pyrenees, followed by the Strait of Gibralter, and the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, although Laughton hasn’t ruled out taking to the sky at other times as well.

The team behind the Skycar sees this adventure as a shakedown cruise to test out their little toy. If all goes well, they intend to sell the vehicle to the general public, hoping to get as much as $75,000 for a car that can literally take you just about anywhere.

You can track the expedition’s progress on the official website.

[via the BBC (video included with story)]

Photo of the Day (1-7-09)

by Jamie Rhein on

Haven’t you had a day that has felt like this? ultraclay, who took this shot in Paris as part of a Honeymoon Set, didn’t specify where this statue is located. Regardless, I’m intrigued by contrast between the soft, airy quality of the sky and the despair illustrated by the figure’s stance. This photo is one example how to provide interest by the angle you choose. In this case, the statue looms and my emotions feel stirred.

If you have a shot that has stirred you, stir us and send it our way to the Gadling Flickr Photo Pool. It might be chosen as Photo of the Day.

Travel to France for free on the Jet Lag Study

by Grant Martin on

If you’ve always wanted to go to France but have never had the money or means, your opportunity may have just come knocking. Clinilabs, a New York City-based team focused on the study of sleep disorders is sponsoring a study on jet lag, the feeling of lost sleep and incorrect body time when you cross into a different time zone. And to complete the study you have to spend time in both of their research facilities — one in New York and one in France.

They’ll pay you up to $2,500 for your work, including a few days in Midtown New York and a few days in France.

Right, you say, what’s the catch? Well, from what I’ve read of first hand accounts, here’s how things loosely go: you basically have to get to the City two or three times on your own for some initial tests and an overnight stay. After that, you come back to NYC, catch a private Gulfstream jet out to a facility near the French – Swiss border then hang out an in a lab staring at the bucolic countryside with electrodes attached to you for a few days. Two weeks after you get back, you get a check in the mail.

So will you be sitting in Paris cafés sipping Champagne, eating baguette and staring at the Eifel Tower? Nope. But will you get to fly in a private jet, see some of the French countryside and make twenty five hundred bucks? Yep. Heck, I would do it.

Rumor has it that they’re taking applications again in January. Check out the site here for more info.

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Photo of the Day (1.04.09)

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Why do they always insist on using smoke machines in movies? Perhaps it’s because there’s something inherently “cinematic” about the way smoke plays tricks on your eyes. I find that smoke has a way of softening the edges, shrouding objects in a sense of suspense and mystery. In other words, it’s perfect for creating a scene ripe with mystery and intrigue.

I’m enjoying the way AlphaTangoBravo / Adam Baker uses smoke in today’s Photo of the Day. Adam captured this great shot in what appears to be Toulouse, France. I love the way the elegant building rises from the evaporating mist in the foreground. Meanwhile the children in the foreground lend a bit of levity. If you look closely you can even see their legs reflected in the water below.

Have any great photos from your travels? Why not share them with our readers on Gadling? Just add them to the Gadling pool on Flickr and we just might pick yours as our Photo of the Day.

Europe struggles to stub out smoking

by Jeremy Kressmann on

All across Europe, increasingly health-conscious governments have been banning smoking in public places like hospitals, train stations, bars and restaurants. Austria, one of the few remaining countries in Western Europe to not yet institute a ban, will be tightening their anti-smoking rules beginning in 2009.

The halcyon days of carefree European smoking look to be a thing of the past, right? Apparently not. As the Wall Street Journal reports today, European businesses and citizens are fighting back against the bans, lobbying desperately to hold on to their precious fire sticks.

Instead of creating across-the-board smoking bans as originally hoped, countries like France, Italy and Germany have allowed a variety of exceptions to the new rules. Federal lawsuits in Germany have allowed many restaurants to stay cig-friendly, while in Italy the Health Ministry reports there are nearly as many smokers now as when the country-wide bans went into place in 2005. It’s hard to blame them when the Italian model of sanctity himself, Pope Benedict XVI, has been known to light up on occasion.

So what’s really going on here? Is it that smoking is truly an inextricable component of European identity, as iconic as that Parisian cafe and a cup of coffee? Or is this something more political, a fight for personal rights in the face of governments that want to penalize us for our indulgences? Whatever the outcome, expect European rules surrounding public smoking to be clouded in a choking haze of indecision for the foreseeable future.