Space oddities - Telegraph In a couple of years" time, spacecraft the size of hikers" backpacks may be buzzing around the Earth looking out for asteroids. Promising specimens will then be mined for platinum and other precious elements. This is not science fiction, for two companies are attracting investment from very rich people for the enterprise. There is more chance of winning the Lottery than of one of the asteroids spinning out of its path and tumbling through your roof. Still... If billionaire investors are looking for more brainwaves to back, why not: filter gold from seawater with genetically modified oysters; generate electricity from earthquakes; train budgerigars to operate call centres; paint the Moon to make it brighter; grow mustard and cress on vast space flannels nearer the Sun; use midges to pick cranberries; turn the Earth's mantle into a giant pop-up toaster; patent darkness?