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We may soon be able to take a vacation in space. But why take a plane, when we may eventually be able to take an elevator?

Virgin Atlantic has designed a plane that will eventually take passengers into space, starting in 2010. BBC News quotes CEO Richard Branson as saying, “I think it’s very important that we make a genuine commercial success of this project. If we do, I believe we’ll unlock a wall of private sector money into both space launch systems and space technology. This could rival the scale of investment in the mobile phone and internet technologies after they were unlocked from their military origins and thrown open to the private sector.” As long as these tourists don’t litter!

Art credit: gimp-savvy.com
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Is your memory not as good as it used to be? You may soon be able to remember things you have long forgotten. This is based on a discovery that was made by researchers who were trying to suppress a fat man’s appetite!

In the January 30th edition of the Independent, Jeremy Laurance writes, “Scientists performing experimental brain surgery on a man aged 50 have stumbled across a mechanism that could unlock how memory works.” They put electrodes into his brain, which were then stimulated with an electric current. But instead of losing his appetite, the patient began to remember a scene from 30 years ago, in intricate detail. Further tests showed that his memory had improved in general. This could have important applications for people with Alzheimer’s disease.
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The US Midwest is being pounded by yet another severe winterstorm, China is in chaos due to the worst snow in at leastfifty years, and this winter has seen snow as far south asBaghdad, and it is snowing today in Jordan. A phenomenal twohundred million people are stranded in China, and there isrioting in train stations. At least thirty million are knownto be without power, and the snows are expected to returnover the next few days. Meanwhile, a gigantic storm coveredthe center of the American continent from northern Texas tosouthern Canada. And the problems being experiencedworldwide are far from over.
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