While the world is still struggling with financial crisis and swine flu, the people at NASA are always looking for new ways to send people to space. I heard some stories few years ago that a bus shuttle is being developed that would be able to take people on a ride to the moon.
While these stories might be just rumors, taking the elevator on the other hand might be a more realistic option.
In a Power Beaming Challenge competition arranged by NASA and Spaceward Foundation, a prize money of $900,000 went to LazerMotive, a Seattle company
that successfully demonstrated new wireless energy beaming technology which could one day be used to help power a “space elevator.”, according to the press release by NASA.
As usual, a video to illustrate the event is available below

Here are some highlights from the competition entry extracted from the company’s blog:

• Powered a climber weighing 5.2kg to an altitude of 1km.
• Powered a climber at a speed of 4m/s to an altitude of 1km.
• Produced more than 1 kW of electrical power via power beaming (distance greater than 300 meters).
• Powered a climber with a net load greater than 10kg at a speed over 6m/s.