a ribbon to the stars

google announced last week that it plans to raise 4 billion dollars by selling stock, touching off quite a bit of speculation about what they're planning to do with all that money. something fabulous, to be sure. well, it turns out that one project both google founders have shown interest in is a space elevator. yes, you heard me, a space elevator.

the idea is to suspend a very, very long ribbon from the earth's equator into outer space, held taut by the competing forces of gravity and centripetal acceleration. cargo, and eventually people, could then be transported along this ribbon - greatly increasing the safety and reducing the cost of space travel. and apparently this can all be done with existing technology and for a reasonable price.

no one knows if this is what google actually plans to invest in -- there are a number of other more practical (and more likely) possibilities.

until i hear otherwise, however, i'm going to continue to believe that they're planning to build an elevator to the moon. because if anyone can do it, it's google.