Nurture cyber dreams

WE DREAM of many things while asleep and reflect on them when awake. None knows what the future holds but we dream and give shape to it. Dream is the stuff life is made of and day-dreamers are not the ones to be ignored. Behind all inventions, discoveries and achievements lie reams of dreams. Dreams flower in the backyard of mind, where space is unlimited just like the vast expanse of the universe.

Mind is expanded when you think of the outer space, its vastness, and awesome glory. Modern man has got a new space to travel into and nurture dreams - the cyberspace. It aids the mind in its search for the impossible. And the dream machine that makes this possible is the Internet.

What would it be like to go into outer space and enjoy and reflect on the beauty and bounty of nature, and new vistas out there? Thousands of people have done that and they are all special men and women who studied the sciences and were trained for years.

On April 30, 2001 one man changed that entire concept and he is Dennis Tito who made history by becoming the first space tourist in the limited sense of the term. He shelled out an incredible sum, $ 20 millions to be precise! He had been a visionary. We can just daydream only, of going into space and doing things there.

But you can zoom into space and become a temporary astronaut, courtesy online. Not a dream stuff. Just book a ticket to space and it beckons you and perhaps your family! No doubt it's wishful thinking to most of us, but it is happening to people who are rich and it would be a matter of decades before space tourism flourishes in the west and spreads to other parts of the world. Space tourism agencies have come up in the United States and already scores of people have taken shuttle flights into the orbit.

Read all about the space adventures and opportunities in www.spaceadventures.com. Zero gravity aircraft trips are now becoming more widely available, and other trips using a new kind of vehicle taking people up to very high altitudes should become available within the next few years. SpaceAdventures company and partners have already conducted MiG and zero gravity flights for over 2,000 fare-paying passengers.

And what are the options available to people in space travel and tourism. For a bird's-eye view, log into www.spacefuture.com. These include sub-orbital trips (lasting less than one hour), three orbit trips (lasting up to 5 hours), three-day trips and resort packages (with stays of one to two weeks).

In cyberspace, dream is a sort of software and dreaming is plausible, thanks to www.dreamgate.com, website of the Electric Dreams journal. Dream on anything and write about it to the journal through this site. A dreamers' club is an exclusive of the site. It also hosts a dream sharing circle for healing people. Our fantasy and dream thoughts are important. Read an excellent article on the topic by Scott Hughes in the journal.

Similar articles and essays and great links are available on another dream portal, www.greatdreams.com. The website has something to offer to people in the land of hero worship and gurus, that is India. You will come to know about The Guru Virus. There is also a comprehensive review of the cults in the link, The Believers.

Fantasising and dreaming takes us to the popular plane of science fiction. Many scientific achievements were only dreams fictionalised by various authors. Give a pep to your dream factory by reading about the latest in science fiction writing and thinking in www.scifi.com. You will receive news letters on the subject.

Compiled by K. KIRUBANIDHI

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