An independent nonprofit research and development organization called SRI International has just recently announced that it will be taking surgery to new heights - literally - by conducting the first-ever robotic surgery demonstration in a simulated zero-gravity environment.

"In previous experiments, SRI successfully demonstrated how robots can be manipulated remotely and set-up with minimal training," said Thomas Low, director of SRI’s Medical Devices and Robotics program. "We are now extending that technology to movement and weightlessness, critical elements of any space travel program."

The demonstration will be performed by SRI's M7 robot aboard a NASA C-9 aircraft on September 25 to 28. The demonstration will, among other things, determine how well a robot surgeon can stack up against a human surgeon in terms of precision and speed.

SRI hopes that its telerobotics technology, which will be used to control the robot surgeon from thousands of miles away, could pave the way for providing emergency medical and surgical care in remote locations as well as allowing time-critical procedures to be performed in moving vehicles.

Space tourism is still difficult to grasp, but the possibilities are endless. Today, only those who can pay millions have a chance to see the big blue from up there. In the near future though, more commoners (with extremely big pockets, of course) may be able to spend three days in "Galactic Suite," a hotel in space.

Aerospace engineer Xavier Claramunt recently received around US$ 3 billion to support his mission in creating a place for humans to live in outside Earth's atmosphere. A three-day stay is expected to cost US$ 4 million.

The package includes eight weeks of training before sending customers to space in their pod rooms while wearing Velcro suits. During the grand vacation, customers will see the sun rise 15 times a day.

Among many problems encountered during development, using bathrooms in zero-gravity stands out. We can imagine how hard it is if you had to aim when taking a dump thanks to floating around uncontrollably.

When "Galactic Suite" goes live, some people from 40,000 prospects are expected to avail of the service. Given the fast decline of space travel costs, even more space-lovers might be able to experience their childhood dream. Claramunt's company is hoping that everything will be up and running by 2012.

"Ladies And Gentlemen, We Are Floating In Space" from the band Spiritualized should have been the perfect theme song for one of the world's leading theoretical physicists Stephen Hawking and Tabula Rasa's Richard Garriott as the two and a handful of others soared through a zero-gravity flight last Thursday.

The momentous event for Hawking (he's been in his wheel chair for four decades now because of ALS) took place inside the cabin of a modified 727 over the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Canaveral. The flight took a total of eight parabolas - the same flight technique astronauts experienced during weightless space environment preparations.

Speaking of which, Richard Garriott mentioned that they only planned for six parabolas but Hawking was grinning widely and seen as really having a great time. Garriott, who is the son of former NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, added, "six parabolas really was the intended cutoff point. But he was having so much fun, we went for two more, and then we thought we'd better quit while we're ahead."

Aside from the obvious reason that Hawking wanted to get out of his wheel chair, he explained that he joined the flight because he believes that the future of man lies outside of this endangered world. He commented,

I believe that life on Earth is at an ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster such as sudden global warming, nuclear war, a genetically-engineered virus or other dangers, I think the human race has no future if it doesn't go into space. I therefore want to encourage public interest in space.

Hawking was accompanied by several people during the flight including four physicians, two nurses, two coaches, and two dozen other friends. The famed physicist announced plans for another zero-gravity flight from NASA's Kennedy Space Center to celebrate his 65th birthday in January.

Quadriplegic physicist and author of "A Brief History in Time" Stephen Hawking is determined to embark on a travel to space. He's tired of theorizing and wants to experience the real thing. He's been hinting about his dreams of space travel and now he's close to achieving his dream. But how can he do that? He's paralyzed and can only communicate through a blink-controlled computer.

Well, Prof. Hawkings has coordinated with Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Galactic. Virgin Galactic's going to be able to take passengers into suborbital flight by 2009.

The plan is to have Prof. Hawkings take a zero-gravity flight courtesy of Zero Gravity Corp. He would be able to experience 30-second weightlessness during the flight and that would serve as a preparation for space travel.

Zero Gravity has clarified the procedures for flying disabled people with the FAA. Prof. Hawking's flight may not even have been scheduled yet, but he's already taken the proverbial giant leap ahead for all of us by proving that even a wheelchair doesn't have to be a barrier to space.

What the Material Diva wants, the Material Diva gets, right? Well, not quite. Duma, the Russian parliament, has turned down Madonna's application to visit the International Space Station in 2008. When Madonna's plea to "to go into space and board the ISS" was presented before the Duma, 42 legislators said yes to letting her vogue in zero-gravity, but 252 voted against it.

It was not known if Madonna's rejection was influenced by the Russian Orthodox Christians who believed she was "under the influence of the devil." It seems that pop stars don't have the right stuff when it comes to space travel as prior to Madonna, ex-N'Sync member Lance Bass also failed to reserve a seat for a field trip in space.

Oh well, the Like a Virgin singer can always line up for Virgin Galactic tickets for its near future suborbital flights.

Virgin Galactic's budget $200,000 space trip ticket is not dirt-cheap, but compared to the estimated $20 million dollars Soyuz charges for its space tourists, it's a bargain. Space travel for non-astronauts is expected to become big business in the not-so-distant future.

Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites are working on a fleet of SpaceShipTwo spacecraft capable of taking passengers into sub-orbital space starting 2008. While not as high as NASA and Soyuz space travel, Virgin Galactic passengers will get to experience zero gravity. The company's upcoming fleet will be housed in Spaceport America, near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico which is 4,700 feet above sea level. The company chose the site for its "open land and vacancy" and great weather conditions. Plus at that elevation, the trip is not only shorter, it also requires less fuel.

The man behind Virgin Galactic is Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson, a British entrepreneur whose business interests include Virgin Atlantic Airways, Virgin Mobile, Virgin Records and Virgin Cola and Vodka.

Here's an interesting contest for you DS lovers to try out.

MTV and Nintendo are holding a contest in which gamers will take pics of themselves playing with the DS in the unlikeliest of places.

What's the prize, you might ask? The chance to actually PLAY your DS in the unlikeliest place on earth: zero-gravity simulated space on board the Zero-G zero gravity plane. That, and they give you two more DS handhelds, $400, and three pairs of new games, but that probably isn't the main draw of the contest if you already own a DS.

As the MTV site announces to its readers,

We can't make your dreams of playing your Game Boy in the primate cage at the Bronx Zoo come true, but we can give you a chance to play your Nintendo DS in a completely weightless, zero gravity environment. Send us a picture of yourself playing handheld games in the most bizarre, exotic or otherwise foolish place, and MTV and Nintendo will give you and a friend the chance to win an expenses-paid trip aboard a ZERO-G zero gravity plane. We'll even throw in some spending cash and a "Travel Lite" gaming pack with two DS Lite units and copies of three games. Think you can stomach it? Send us your best shot and find out.

Good luck to you folks who want to try out. Just don't end up taking a shot while you're hanging by your legs above a pit with wooden spikes and vipers.