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Become the Fifth Space Tourist

Posted by kdawson on from the getting-high dept.

MattSparkes writes "There have been four space tourists so far. You could become the fifth — even if you aren't a dot-com millionaire. New Scientist is running a competition to send one person on a sub-orbital flight, 62 miles above the Earth. All you have to do is write 250 words on what the best ever patented invention is. Personally I think it has to be the Levitationarium." Of course if you win you'll probably have to pay the taxes.

8 of 119 comments (clear)

  1. Only for UK residents by lecithin · · Score: 4, Informative

    Terms and Conditions

    http://www.winatriptospace.co.uk/blogs/patent/tand c.html

    1. This competition is open to anyone aged 18 or over who is ordinarily resident in the UK except for employees of Reed Business Information Limited, Volkswagen Group United Kingdom Limited or Space Adventures Ltd and their immediate families. For guidance on what 'ordinarily resident' means see

    www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/cbtmanual/cbtm10020.htm.

    --
    It could be worse, it could be Monday.
  2. Brits Only! by tverbeek · · Score: 4, Informative

    Note: This contest is only open to residents of the UK.

    So no need to worry about the IRS demanding a share... just Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.

    --
    http://alternatives.rzero.com/
    1. Re:Brits Only! by julesh · · Score: 4, Informative

      So no need to worry about the IRS demanding a share... just Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.

      Fortunately for us Brits, prize winnings are tax exempt.

  3. Easy by Soporific · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The best invention is probably modern plumbing. Before that disease was much more rampant. Not only that, it gave everyone a throne of their own to feel like a king on!

    ~S

  4. Sliced Bread by Dr.+Eggman · · Score: 4, Funny

    There can be no question that sliced bread is the greatest invention of all time: it is the yardstick by which all inventions have since been measured.

    --
    Demented But Determined.
    1. Re:Sliced Bread by Trivial_Zeros · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'd say the greatest invention is the yardstick. It's the best invention since sliced bread!

  5. The Wheel by Toutatis · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's one of the best inventions of mankind and it was actually patented.

  6. Re:They're asking for patented ones... by xoyoyo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    There are, especially as:

    Thomas Savery invented the Steam Engine, Joseph Swan invented the light bulb and Edison only invented half the phonograph, the french having figured out the recording part.

    Perhaps a more useful 250 word essay would be on how the patent system enshrines the myth of the individual genius, when in fact technology moves forwards by little increments.