An unmanned automobile competes in the i-VISTA (Intelligent Vehicle Integrated Systems Test Area) Autonomous Driving Challenge on August 18 in Chongqing, China. An unmanned automobile competes in the i-VISTA (Intelligent Vehicle Integrated Systems Test Area) Autonomous Driving Challenge on August 18 in Chongqing, China. For many, if not most Americans, the idea of a world in which we don't drive cars is a distant and possibly unlikely future. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. When autonomous, or self-driving cars make headlines, it's often for all the wrong reasons: yet another Tesla public scandal; an accident during an autonomous test drive; or the laughably terrifying face of the new autonomous Jaguar.

Google unveiled its own driverless car without Steering Wheel and Pedals. Google says it will build 100 of the vehicles for testing with the aim of "bringing this technology to the world safely".

Google is one step closer to making self-driving cars a reality. A link has been sent to your friend's email address. Google is one step closer to making self-driving cars a reality.

Eight years and two million miles after Google began to build self-driving car technology, it's ready for passengers. Waymo, the search giant's renamed autonomous car company, will begin taking applications Tuesday from Phoenix-area residents who want to be among the hundreds of riders testing out an expanded fleet of Chrysler Pacifica Plug-In Hybrid minivans outfitted with Waymo's myriad autonomous car sensors. A range of automotive and technology companies have said they aim to produce self-driving cars for ride-hailing programs by around 2020. They include Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Volvo, Nissan and BMW. But Waymo's Arizona initiative shows it's getting a lot closer to the goal.

Google-run Waymo unveiled its new self-driving Chrysler Pacifica minivans at the North American Auto Show Sunday. SAN FRANCISCO -- Eight years and two million miles after Google began to build self-driving car technology, it's ready for passengers. Waymo, the search giant's renamed autonomous car company, will begin taking applications Tuesday from Phoenix-area residents who want to be among the hundreds of riders testing out an expanded fleet of Chrysler Pacifica Plug-In Hybrid minivans outfitted with Waymo's myriad autonomous car sensors. Select Phoenix residents have been testing Waymo's self-driving car service for the past few months, in anticipation of Waymo's announcement that it will make 600 Pacificas available to a few hundred testers in the Phoenix area. A range of automotive and technology companies have said they aim to produce self-driving cars for ride-hailing programs by around 2020.

Google self-driving cars are shown outside the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif., in May 2014. Google self-driving cars are shown outside the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif., in May 2014. An accident last month in Tempe, Ariz., involving a self-driving Uber car highlighted some novel new issues regarding fault and liability that experts say will come up more often as autonomous vehicles hit the road. And that will having an increasing impact on an insurance industry that so far has no road map for how to deal with the new technologies. Billionaire investor Warren Buffett, whose company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns the insurance giant Geico, told CNBC in a February interview: "If the day comes when a significant portion of the cars on the road are autonomous, it will hurt Geico's business very significantly." That would seem to make sense.

Chris Urmson, far right, shows off his project's self-driving pod to Google chairman Eric Schmidt and U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. SAN FRANCISCO - Picture the sad sack who has a sign saying "Kick me" taped to his back. Google's self-driving cars can relate, only the sign seems to say "Hit me." Just weeks after reporting to the California Department of Motor Vehicles that its gadget-packed Lexus SUVs had been hit twice in the rear bumper while waiting at stop lights in Mountain View, Calif., Google reported Thursday that on July 1 a motorist smashed into its stationary autonomous vehicle at 17 mph, resulting in minor whiplash to passengers in both cars and causing the offending car's front bumper to fall off. "We're seeing first-hand the true measure of how distraction is impacting driving," Google self-driving car project director Chris Urmson tells USA TODAY.

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Nasa has announced that it has found evidence of flowing water on Mars. Scientists have long speculated that Recurring Slope Lineae -- or dark patches -- on Mars were made up of briny water but the new findings prove that those patches are caused by liquid water, which it has established by finding hydrated salts. Several hundred camped outside the London store in Covent Garden. The 6s will have new features like a vastly improved camera and a pressure-sensitive "3D Touch" display

Google might be a hand above its self-driving car competitors, at least when it comes to dealing with cyclists on the road. A new report from the company says the cars, which spent the last month learning hand signals used by cyclists, can now interpret them and consider them when navigating the road, according to a June report of activity from Google. Google first teased this capability's potential back in 2014, and you can check out coverage from Gizmag here. It's a step forward for cyclist safety: innumerable deaths and injuries happen each year because human drivers don't know how to safely navigate and share a road with a cyclist. Of course, on the other side of the equation, cyclists will have to be careful to signal their intentions. Sign up to receive our weekly email newsletter and never miss an update!