Davis and his sister, Bethie, had been entranced since infancy by this figure, by its bulbous, ghostly white space suit, its forever-unseen face behind the glistening visor of its helmet, its suggestion that perhaps within the interior of the McDonald's there existed some secret gravity-free realm.

NPR: In 'Challenger Park,' Mom Is an Astronaut

Second place gets a free zero-gravity plane flight.

FORBES: Virgin's Top Frequent Flier Gets To Fly For Free - Into Space

Two thousand years hence, Sherwood says hypothesized collections of Asteroidal materials congregating at the Earth-Sun L4 and L5 gravitational equilibrium points would make for building materials to construct a large rotating pancake disk capable of housing thousands of people in the comfort of a free-breathing atmosphere and some form of artificial gravity.

FORBES: Space Architecture And View Condos In Low Earth Orbit

In other green tech and design news, Hitachi unveiled an impressive new wireless controlled robot to help with the Fukushima Daiichi cleanup and London-based designers Martin Riddiford and Jim Reeves developed the GravityLight, an amazing low-energy, battery-free light that works by harnessing the power of weight and gravity.

ENGADGET: Inhabitat's Week in Green: madder root batteries, sun-powered plane and the world's first fiber-optic solar cell

Its free roster of dance, theatre, music and visual art performances includes the Garden, a gravity-defying piece of outdoor theatre from the British disabled theatre company Graeae and the Australia-based company Strange Fruit.

BBC: London for the Paralympic Games