The starship now departing platform three...



Yep, the bearded gnome that is Richard Branson has announced Virgin's plans for spaceflight, using the same X-Prize technology I discussed here a few weeks ago. Embarrasingly this came on the same day that Virgin's intercity train service launched it's brand new tilting-train, high-speed service from Glasgow to Edinburgh, except it broke down short of Carlisle... Not unfamilair to those of us of a certai age who recall the old APT - Advanced Passenger Train from what was then British Rail which also had huge technical problems (eventually solved buyt by then no-one wanted it). Welcome to Britian - we invented railways, perfected the steam engine and designed the modern System of the World. We're planning spaceflights - for the super-rich anyway - but our trains still break down all the time, even the most advanced ones... It's as well we have a good sense of humour in these isles.