Next time you are stuck in traffic, Paul Moller encourages you to look to the sky for answers. Traffic has become more than the occasional nuisance – it’s gotten to the point that some commuters must allot several hours a day to travel. In addition, increasing traffic has put a tremendous amount of stress on our environment, our cars, and our personal well-being.

Moller, chairman of the board of Moller International and inventor of the Skycar “flying car,” recognized that traffic would become an issue a long time ago. As a result, he and his company have been hard at work developing the Skycar Volantor as an alternative means of transportation and a solution to the issues created by increasing traffic. As Moller says, “The ground is limited, new highways are not being built and meanwhile, the sky is wide open.” This is cutting-edge science that is working toward solving a problem while at the same time being really cool.

Explorit Science Center will host a Science Café on Tuesday (March 18) featuring Moller as guest speaker. The public is invited to attend the free event, which will begin at 7:30 p.m. with coffee, cookies and informal conversation. At 8 p.m., Moller will give a talk titled “Flying Cars and the Future of Travel.”

The event will take place at Explorit’s neighbor in east Davis, the Davis Musical Theatre Company, 607 Peña Drive. The first part of the evening will take place in the theater lobby. Guests will then proceed into the theater itself for the talk. One of Moller’s Skycars, a red two-passenger model called the M200M, will sit on the stage for viewing.

Moller International is developing and marketing the Skycar, now in flight-testing. According to its Web site, www.moller.com, the Skycar is formally known as a personal vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) vehicle.

“You’ve always known it was just a matter of time before the world demanded some kind of flying machine which would replace the automobile,” the Web site says. “Of course, this machine would have to be capable of VTOL, be easy to maintain, cost effective and reliable. Well, we at Moller International believe we have come up with the solution. That solution is the volantor named M400 Skycar.”

At the Science Cafe, Moller will give an update on the Skycar’s progress toward the marketplace. The company is taking refundable deposits for the vehicles, which are expected to have a list price of close to $1 million. However, if the Skycar were to grow to a point where it could be mass-produced, Moller predicts that the price tag would drop closer to that of a luxury car. That could happen in as little as three years from now, he says.

The Skycar has been featured on a number of TV programs including CBS’ “60 Minutes,” “Highway In the Sky”, NBC’s “Today” show, Today’s “American Story" and the History Channel’s “Greatest Movie Gadgets: Then and Now.”

Moller has been a long time supporter of Explorit Science Center. He credits Explorit for helping children develop knowledge of the world that is creative, passionate and long-lasting. After all, it is those qualities that combine to create a foundation from which even the most bizarre ideas can turn to reality, he says.

The event is the third installment in Explorit’s Science Café and Lecture Series. The fourth and final event will be a free public lecture at 7:30 p.m. April 15 at the public library in Davis. Katherine S. Pollard, assistant professor at UC Davis, will speak about “What Made Us Human? Comparing the Human and Chimp Genome.”

More information in available by visiting www.explorit.org or calling (530) 756-0191.