Hah, a very uplifting story. But seriously, I am enjoying your series on science shorts. Here's another idea: a story about how passengers would experience riding in a space elevator.. Or more interestingly, a malfunction one. There would need to be control system to make sure the speed of ascent is matched to the dynamics of the cable and the carriagr (eg the lateral tack do to coriolis vs the pendulum motion of the counterweight). Or how would thr carriage be constructed to accomodate a trip that may last days going to GEO or beyond?