Fasten Your 22,000 Mile Seatbelt

NASA still doesn’t have a Space Elevator winner:

The NASA-sponsored challenge is in its third year of running, and while technology is improving at a rapid rate, it’s still not quite ready to meet the Space Elevator challenge’s demands. Speed requirements have been boosted to 2 meters per second, and this year’s contest seems have gone off without the geeky rule disputes of last year. The University of Saskatchewan came closest to claiming the prize with its ground laser-powered bot, and only fell a few seconds short of the required speed.

I want a ride.