Surely a milestone in the quest for environmentally-friendly travel, 107 years after the first successful flight, the first take off from a Swiss airport of Bertrand Piccard's "Solar Impulse" a one-seat solar glider is a reality. From afar it looks like a strange craft flown by the Wright brothers, but it is really huge, with a wingspan as wide as that of a 747 carrying 12,000 solar cells. It travels as quietely and - unfortunately for v.i.ps with no time to waste - as slowly as a bicycle... Among other things, Piccard is a psychiatrist, a baloonist, and a UN Goodwill Ambassador. Air travel carbon offsetters & hot air speculators: take note, take cover, do something.