Stanford has competed in the DARPA grand challenge and won it in the past, now they are planning to race a car up Pikes Peak at race speeds.  The car will be controlled entirely by GPS therefore it is not quite as impressive as the integrated monitoring systems such as the roof mounted LIDAR that their “Stanley” car incorporated, but the speed of ascent is  Impressive in its own right.

Cool beans.

Are you a fan of James Bond? 

Yeah me too.

Do you dig the scene "The Spy Who Loved Me", where bond and lovely agent "triple-x" take their lotus and drive it right off the dock into the water and it becomes a submersible? 

Yeah me too. (even when dubbed in Italian)

Well Rinspeed has made a concept car submersible out of a Lotus Elise.

Nothing really new here but it is interesting that the mainstream press is picking up on this now.

In the Future, Smart People Will Let Cars Take Control

Stanford computer scientist Sebasian Thrun makes this prediction:

In five years he expects a car that could take over simple chores like breezing along an expressway, inching along in stop-and-go traffic, or parking in the lot at a mall or airport after dropping off the driver. In 20 years, Dr. Thrun figures half of new cars sold will offer drivers the option of turning over these chores to a computer

techRivet had a similar article earlier: Autonomous Cars will change urban living

And done over here [linky]as a GREAT google mashup, with a map to follow along the course of this madman as he careens through the early morning hours of Paris at breakneck speed.

This is like a real life "Bullit".

Insane.