I thought it was a joke!

When I read the comic strip "Non Sequitur" a while back, and Danae had entered a contest to suggest designs for an interstellar ship, I thought it was a joke. Not so:

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DARPA seeks to build interstellar space ship in 100 years

Published 24 August 2011

The Pentagon’s advanced research arm is currently exploring the technology to build a spaceship capable of travelling to distant stars in the next 100 years; the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) plans on awarding as much as $500,000 in seed money this fall to the company with the most promising ability to develop interstellar travel

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I wonder if DARPA or the USA will still be existing in any form in 100 years, looking at how things are going right now.