Google seems to already have quite a lot of branches, but nevertheless it has branched out again: this time into a fleet of self driving cars.

Bruce Breslow, director of Nevada's Department of Motor Vehicles, says they are the "cars of the future". Which is true in a sense - they've always been the cars of the future, but it's the kind of future that can be dated fairly precisely back to the 1980s, when hoverboards were the skate boards of the future, and bright silver birds-nest hair was the hair of the future.

The cars will be released on the roads of Nevada, and the first trip was a drive along - where else - Las Vegas's famous strip, although legislation to regulate autonomous cars is being considered in other states, including California, in the hope the cars might cut down on traffic accidents.

"The vast majority of vehicle accidents are due to human error. Through the use of computers, sensors and other systems, an autonomous vehicle is capable of analyzing the driving environment more quickly and operating the vehicle more safely," California state Senator Alex Padilla said back in March.

There will be video cameras mounted on  the car roof, and laser range finder with which the car will "see" other traffic. Google's car will have a red licence plate with an infinity sign next to the number 001. So coool, goooogle, so very coooool.