Play

In the popular American television comedy Seinfeld from the '90s, lead characters George Costanza and Jerry Seinfeld have a conversation that foresaw the times we currently live in:

GEORGE: When are they gonna have the flying cars, already?

JERRY: Yeah, they have been promising that for a while..

GEORGE: Years. When we were kids, they made it seem like it was right around the corner.

JERRY: Well, what do you think the big holdup is?

GEORGE: The government is very touchy about us being in the air. Let us run around on the ground as much as we want. Anything in the air is a big production.

JERRY: Yeah, right. And what about the floating cities?

GEORGE: And the underwater bubble cities?

JERRY: It's like we're living in the '50s here.

While we have definitely come a far way since then, we still do not seem any closer to the wondrous worlds promised to us by creators of science fiction. But it does feel like we are on the precipice of something about to come. Robots are doing everything from cooking to sweating, drones are delivering medicines and doing deliveries, and cars are in the initial stages of driving themselves.

Here's the latest attempt that might reduce a little burden from household work: a drone (two, to be specific) to screw and unscrew a lightbulb. However, success doesn't come easily. Nine bulbs are lost in the process.