Seriously... the Space Elevator!
 

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe...tor/index.html

It's about friggin' time they got serious about this! :up::up::up:

What will happen if you get stuck in the elevator? :hmm:

With a Hot chick half way to the station? ;)

Oh the madness..:rotfl:

This reminds me of reading those popular science magazines...

And if the cable breaks halfway up?:p

Which way do you fall up or down? hmmmm:hmm: :damn: ;)

Good question:hmm: Maybe you don't fall? You just sit there waiting for the repair person:rotfl:

I can see it now.

Person a: D** we just got stuck in the elevator, It cant take long for a repair man to get here.

Person b: I dont know about that, there slow enough in my three story apartment.

Three days later, both people are starting to go crazy from dehydration and hunger.

Person A: do you hear that!

Person B: yes I do I think its that repair man, It took him long enough!

Repar man: You mean I came up here for just this, Its just a spring.:lol:

good one TF.:up:

The whole logistics of the thing to me make it un likely.

It would have to be insanely fast or it would take months to reach the top.

Exactly.:yep: This will never happen, Just think what would happen if a plane crashed in to it.:huh:

Looks like something that should be in a Douglas Adams book.

Actually, the space elevator concept is entirely viable. The biggest issue has been the lack of a material strong and light enough to span the distance. Now that nano carbon tube technology has taken root, it's only a matter of time... The physics to operate it are dirt simple, mass and centrifugal force... "the flywheel effect:...

As for aircraft crashes, I'm pretty sure there would be a "no fly zone" installed... ;)

Terrorists dont care about no fly zones.:yep: Look at 9/11.;)

We're not talking about a thin wire here however (more likely it would start with a single strand and later be built up into a large, bulky structure), and we're also talking the strongest material in the world (which is exactly what they're working on for it). An airplane crashing into it might destroy communications and disable the operation of the elevator for some time, but it wouldn't seriously damage the structure itself.

This is the company that's working on the project. I've been following them and their research for YEARS.
http://www.liftport.com/