Wheelies: The High-Tech Future Edition With the development of autonomous cars in the news, Megan McArdle of The Daily Beast raises the point that technology and legal regulations are not the biggest barriers to bringing these cars to market. Ms. McArdle argues that the biggest hurdle is liability. She points out that no matter how good the technology is, there will still be car accidents. When those accidents happen, who will be the likely target of a lawsuit? An individual driver who may have limited assets or the car manufacturer that has millions or billions in assets? "Liability is a big problem for any company that wants to manufacture driverless cars," Ms. McArdle writes. Perhaps an insurmountable problem. The Daily Beast The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is considering whether to require future cars to be able to communicate wirelessly with one another when they're on the road. Such technology would actually benefit buses more than passenger cars, researchers at the University of Arizona contend. The theory goes that dedicated bus lanes could be used by cars when no buses are around, but that buses could tell cars to get out of the way when they are present. "As the bus moves through the network," said Larry Head, one of the researchers, "it broadcasts a message that says, 'Here I am, I'm a bus. Here I am, I'm a bus. Get out of my lane.' Their animation, on The Atlantic's Web site, shows just how that would work. The Atlantic Gizmodo is calling it "the greatest mashup in toys since robots started transforming into cars and trucks." Slot cars that can be assembled like building a toy. The British company Hornby will be offering in time for Christmas the Scalextric Quick Build Demolition Derby Set for about $160. The cars are compatible with Legos, but what most users will enjoy is the encouragement to crash the vehicles because they are easy to reassemble. Gizmodo.com