We first learned about Airship Ventures plans to bring airship travel back to the US after a 70 year absence back in May when they secured 8 million in funding for the project. Now it appears that their dream of filling the skies with huge, slow balloons once more will become a reality this Halloween when they will embark on their first ever passenger flight.

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A San Francisco start-up called Airship Ventures has raised US$8 million to launch its first Zeppelin this fall, for the purposes of tourism and research. The "flightseeing," as they're calling it, will cost a US$250 to US$500 for a spin around the Bay Area in a bonafide don't-call-it-a-blimp Zeppelin. What's the difference, you ask? Blimps are basically helium filled baloons with little cockpits attached. Zeppelins are usually rigid structures, larger and faster, achieving higher altitudes with better maneuverability. Before you airship nerds get all uppity, I will join you in saying that not all Zeppelins are Zeppelins (wha?)—it all boils down to the rigidity of your dirigible. Here's a rundown of this particular model, plus an actual photo of it:

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Festo, the same company that brought us the Air Ray robot last year, have developed yet another graceful robot inspired by a creature of the sea. In fact, they have developed two versions, both based on the common jellyfish: the AquaJelly and the AirJelly. According to Festo, the AquaJelly is "an artificial autonomous jellyfish with an electric drive and an intelligent, adaptive mechanical system." Apparently the idea is to have several of the robots autonomously working together using a communication system comprised of Zigbee short-range radio on the surface and LEDs when underwater. More info and videos after the break.

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While I try to quell thoughts of "Oh, the humanity," take a look at another fanciful attempt to bring back the glory days of the Zeppelin airships. This one is called the Manned Cloud, and can fly fast enough to take a round trip around the globe in three days. The 1640-square-foot craft, whose French designers say could take to the skies in a year or so, will have 60 rooms and travel at a breakneck speed of 173mph. Since this behemoth gets its lift from helium, there's not much danger of a fiery hydrogen explosion like that ill-fated Hindenburg, so we're thinking it might be fun to float around the world in a luxo-hotel. Of all the ideas like this, maybe this one will be the one to actually fly. [Born Rich]

Set to be launched next month, the whale-looking Aeros ML866 uses a combination of buoyancy (like a blimp) and lift (like a plane) to cruise comfortably through the air with over 5,000 square feet of interior room, it has more room than some houses. It can take off vertically, without taking up runway time at crowded airports, and even fields, and man, this thing is designed to fit a "business center" with video conferencing, but we were thinking more like a swimming pool with adjoining hot tub, and a few of those 103-inch plasmas from Panasonic. The downside is a rated 120 knots of top speed, which means a world tour on this baby wouldn't be nearly as quick as it would be roomy. [GizMag]