My friends, the future is already here. (And that Richard Branson's come a long way hasn't he? Seems just yesterday he thought hot air balloons were a pretty neat idea. Now nothing but actual space will quench his raging thirst for altitude.)
In case you hadn't heard the improbable news, Branson's latest venture Virgin Galactic is on course to fly a 'space ship' full of ordinary folk 1000km up - so they can experience six minutes of weightlessness. The prices are out of this world, too: it'll cost you $200,000 if you're one of the first 100 to sign up. Those rumoured to have put their name down already include Sigourney Weaver, Paris Hilton, Moby, William Shatner and Stephen Hawking. Hopefully no one else will sign up and they'll just have to try and think of things to talk to each other about for the whole trip. But would you do it?