Saudi Prince al-Walid bin Talal aims to build a tower in the desert twice as tall as the current tallest building in the world.

It’d be built in a new city near the Red Sea port of Jeddah, according to the Daily Mail. The height is put at 5,250 feet, just shy of a mile (5,280 feet). That’s sea-level to Denver, folks.

The project, if built, would outdo anything under construction even in the runaway boom city of Dubai (the Burj Dubai will be 2,625 feet when completed).

You have to wonder how long all this reaching for the sky will last, though, and whether a mile-high tower isn’t just a bit of pie in the sky, engineering-wise. Two towering mini-buildings would be included for stability. Workers would commute to the job by helicopter, it’s said.

• Gallery of the Worlds’s Tallest Buildings (soon to be revised!)

Seemingly strange fears pepper the collective psyche of the human race, such as phobias of the sun (heliophobia), hair (chaetophobia) and even vegetables (lachanophobia).

A recent news article hints at the existence of a phobia of little people, a term referring those of smaller statures (4 feet 10 inches or shorter, according to Little People of America).

Ethan Wade, who describes himself as a little person, went inside a Greenville County, S.C. burger joint to correct his drive-through window order. As he walked up to the register, an employee behind the counter allegedly “threw her hands up in the air, started yelling ‘Oh, my gosh! Oh my gosh!’ and ran to the back of the restaurant, continuing to yell as she was in back of the restaurant,” Wayne is quoted as saying in an article published by WYFF4 of South Carolina.

The woman then claimed she had a phobia of little people.

So far, no such phobia is recognized by any institution — clinical or otherwise — despite the fact that many people claim their fear should be. Coulrophobia, or the fear of clowns, is likewise not medically recognized but commonly held to exist.

Recent studies show that humans are evolutionary equipped to acquire phobias of living things (such as bats, rats and snakes), but only time and more research can tell if little people fit into that framework.

Thomas Edison gets all the credit for the first sound recording. But Parisian inventor Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville beat him to the punch by 17 years.

Thing is, Scott (as he’s commonly called, if called anything at all) didn’t play his back. He created visual recordings of sound waves that he enjoyed looking at.

But some clever scientists have figured out how to play the recordings back. Check it out here, a scratchy rendition of the French folksong “Au Clair de la Lune” recorded on April 9, 1860 on a phonautogram and perhaps sung by his daughter.

NPR has a nice story about it.

When I was in Houston attending the huge Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, I picked up an interesting NASA brochure, simply titled: Astronaut Candidate Program.

It’s a freshly printed handout, clearly dedicated to attracting future astronauts to the fold.

Couple of things caught my eye: “Following the shuttle retirement in 2010, trips to and from the ISS [International Space Station] will be aboard the Russian Soyuz vehicle. Consequently, astronauts must meet the Soyuz size requirements…standing height between 62 and 75 inches.”

So the shuttle going-out-of-business is a go for sure, at least according to the brochure.

Also I noted, if designated as an Astronaut Candidate, the person has to be able to swim 3 lengths of an 80-foot long (25-meter) pool without stopping, and then swim 3 lengths of the pool in a flight suit and tennis shoes.

The good news is that there is no time limit for doing this…but you must also be able to tread water continuously for 10 minutes. Seemed semi-symbolic, to me, if budget cuts waylay NASA’s replanting of bootprints on the Moon and flinging flesh to Mars.

Meanwhile, check out all the current requirements at: www.nasajobs.nasa.gov/astronauts

While we’re all worried about global warming, potentially epic shortages of food and water are sneaking up on us, both linked to the looming global shortage of fuel.

I’ve noted this problem before. But have you been to the grocery lately? Regular foodstuffs like eggs, milk and OJ are starting to put a noticeable pinch in the typical American pocketbook.

Sure, food prices fluctuate over time. But pricey food is a mounting and serious global problem.

In Asia, the price of rice has surged as much as 50 percent lately. Beef prices are rising around the world as soaring populations (many with a newfound taste for beef) demand more.

Rising fuel prices play a role in all these problems. And with oil destined to run out — pick your favorite time frame, but it will run out — the situation will only be exacerbated.

Meanwhile, numerous studies warn of looming water shortages in the United States and around the globe, owing to growing demand and prolonged regional droughts that’ll come thanks to climate change.

From an AP story today: The world’s cities are growing by 1 million people a week, and soon their aging water systems will not cope. “Something needs to change. It needs to change quickly, and it needs to be fairly dramatic,” said Carol A. Howe, an expert working for a UNESCO-led water development project.

And here’s one of the greatest ironies of our age: While we look for alternatives to fossil fuels, in the interest of weaning ourselves off a dwindling resource and also curbing climate change, we’re robbing Peter to pay Paul. Again, from AP: A report published this month by UNESCO-IHE, the Institute for Water Education in Delft, The Netherlands, says it takes 70-400 times as much water to create energy from biofuels as it does from fossil fuels.

Update, March 29:  The New York Times has an in-depth overview of how food shortages have caused unrest and even riots in many countries. The story also notes rice exporters are holding back to take care of domestic needs, causing rice-importing countries further woe. Examples: Egypt instituted a six-month ban on rice exports; Vietnam cut rice exports by a quarter; India banned exporting all but the most expensive rice.

Engagement ring: $3,080.50

Zero-gravity flight for two: $8,295

Proposing in weightlessness: Priceless?

According to a recent boingboing post, a man recently proposed to his fiancee in zero-gravity. She accepted, of course.

The couple betrothed not in space, but rather in the belly of an airplane during one of several 24,000-foot (7.3-kilometer) nosedives to create the sensation of weightlessness. Their flight from ZERO G, the company that operates the parabolic-flying Boeing 727, cost $3,950 plus a 5 percent tax per head.

Perhaps surprisingly, their free-fall engagement isn’t the first. Last May, a New York City couple set a date during a similar parabolic flight and others came before them.

As for marriage in space? Yuri Malenchenko, now on board the International Space Station as a flight engineer, is the only human to get married during a bona fide spaceflight… kind of.

The first engagement or marriage with both parties present on orbit still awaits any brave — and wealthy — takers.

The Mars Exploration Rover (MER) folks that operate the Spirit and Opportunity robots on the red planet have gotten some bad news.

A directive has come from NASA Headquarters to take a 40 percent financial cut in their program - some $4 million in fiscal year 2008.

It all comes down to a financial stun gun for one of the rovers - both still busy at work doing science. Cost per year to run the Mars twins is $20 million per year.

Steve Squyres, the MER principal investigator at Cornell University, told me that the 40 percent cut is huge. “We’re rapidly coming to the conclusion that if we have to implement this cut, it’s going to mean essentially shutting off science activities for one of the vehicles.”

Safely shutting down a rover on a temporary basis is doable, Squyres said, a move that could save money but at the expense of science. “We’re going to go off and look at what our options are…but I feel confident that we have to essentially halt science operations on one of the two vehicles.”

While both robots are healthy and doing good science, it looks like the one to hibernate for the remainder of this fiscal year could be Spirit, Squyres suggested.

The MER group has also been told to expect an $8 million cut in fiscal year 2009. It would essentially be the same magnitude of cut. At that time, it is expected there would be two healthy rovers both able to move, drive and explore.

“We would have to make some very tough decisions about which one we would hibernate and which one we would keep active. That’s a situation I do not want to face…but that’s a future worry,” Squyres added.

For now, the message back to NASA Headquarters is that, if the MER team has to take the first cut, there is going to be an impact on science return…and in fiscal year 2009, it will be much more severe.

The two priceless assets on Mars continue to crank out good science, Squyres emphasized, and are in good health. Another concern sparked by the budget cut, along with keeping the rovers healthy, is keeping the MER team together and morale high, he said.

In an email just received, it also looks like the venerable NASA Mars orbiter, Odyssey, is on the cost-cutting table too.

There’s a buzz of emails coming in today regarding the future of Mars exploration…cost cuts, nail biting, and worry. Major decisions are forthcoming from NASA Headquarters.

For one, due to a higher than anticipated price tag on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) — the mega-rover due to liftoff in 2009 — how to pay for that overrun is jangling the cash drawer at NASA.

Also on the table are budget issues that could impact the Mars Exploration Rovers — those still working robots, Spirit and Opportunity — and the overall NASA red planet program.

For one, next Monday, an all-hands meeting of the Mars Exploration Rover team is slated to discuss financial belt-tightening and impact on the Mars rovers. Turn off one of the rovers? That might save some money. On the other hand, slip the MSL to 2011 could relieve budgetary and schedule pressure? All rumors, if not heavy-breathing paranoia.

From a couple of Mars exploration gurus I’m in touch with, you get two sides of the coin (could a three-sided coin be a future NASA spinoff?): “It has been a great ride,” noted one Mars explorer, given all the Mars attention over the years. “Bottom line, the Mars program is being gutted before our very eyes,” explained another red planet researcher.

Mars is clearly not an entitlement program, emphasized NASA chief, Mike Griffin, at the recent Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston, Texas.

Key NASA officials are citing “Myth Busting” factoids to counter the belief in the Mars community that red planet exploration is being cut far below its recent average. The comeback is that, to the contrary, Mars budgets have fluctuated over time and are now returning to near average level of the past 20-plus years.

Another myth breaker being touted is that NASA is not budgeting for a Mars sample return program. Not true responds NASA Hq officials - there’s $68 million in Mars sample return studies and technology development for that mission within the space agency’s current budget request.

Also looming large in all of this budgetary posturing is a go-ahead on the next flagship mission for a crowd of ready-and-waiting outer planet experts. A several billion dollar-class voyage to either Jupiter or Saturn is under review, for resolution by year’s end.

Meanwhile, while the wild rumors about Mars abound, highly placed NASA sources tell me that they are committed to finding good solutions to all this.

Meanwhile (part 2) - stand by for fur to fly…if not spacecraft.

Japanese spaceflyer Takao Doi not only brought up his nation’s new orbital room to International Space Station (ISS), but also another special payload: Some high-tech undies.

Since arriving at the ISS aboard space shuttle Endeavour, Doi has also been sporting specially designed shirts, pants and shorts under the name “J-WEAR.” Each article, according to a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) release, is finished with a special nanotech fabric that can reportedly:

• Repel static
• Wick away water
• Kill bacteria
• Neutralize odors
• Prevent “fouling”, or permanent odor infusion

A JAXA handout on the space clothing being tested on STS-123. Credit: JAXA.

Doi’s cutting-edge threads are also crafted without any seams, and have easy hook-and-loop fasteners (which are oddly the only fire-retardant portion of his clothes).

No word yet on how the deodorizing properties of JAXA’s super-clothes are going to be evaluated, but one might expect some scientific analysis on par with Odor-Eaters annual “Rotten Sneaker Contest.”

Commanded by Dominic Gorie, the STS-123 Endeavour crew – and Doi’s new clothes – are slated to return to Earth the night of March 26.

Click here for SPACE.com’s continuing coverage of the STS-123 space shuttle mission.

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) have a St. Patrick’s Day hunt on their hands as they zip through space more than 200 miles above Earth.

While shuttle Endeavour spacewalkers Rick Linnehan and Robert Behnken add a tool belt to a massive robotic handyman outside the station tonight, another hulking robot – the European Space Agency’s unmanned cargo ship Jules Verne – is hovering just above the Earth’s horizon some 1,200 miles (2,000 km) away from the ISS. The spacecraft is Europe’s first Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV).

“Got the feeling that you’re being followed?” Mission Control asked the Endeavour crew in their morning mail this afternoon. “There may be something to that. ATV has been steadily chasing you around the globe and sometime today should be above the horizon off the station’s nose (opposite the velocity vector) today.

“A free green beverage, of your choice from the galley, to the first to identify the bright star rising in the west. Happy Saint Patrick’s Day.”

An illustration of Europe’s first ATV cargo ship Jules Verne. Credit: ESA/D.Ducros

Europe’s Jules Verne ATV is a massive 21-ton cargo ship that launched March 8 on a weeks-long shakedown crew to test its automated flight systems.

The spacecraft launched atop a modified Ariane 5 rocket and is designed to haul three times the cargo of Russia’s unmanned Progress freighters to the ISS. Like Progress, Jules Verne is designed to dock at the station’s Russian-built berths and be discarded after about six months. But the solar powered space truck is immense and about the size of London double decker bus.

Click here for live space shuttle mission coverage.

• VIDEO: Part 1: Europe’s First ISS Cargo Ship
• VIDEO: Part 2: Jules Verne, Europe’s First ISS Cargo Tug
• NEW GALLERY: Launch Day for Shuttle Endeavour