Airships

I went through a minor league fascination with Airships a few years ago. I wondered whether or not there were any practical applications for them these days. The only ones I've ever seen are the Goodyear blimps(not properly Airships, but very similar in shape and design. Basically an Airship must have a fixed frame, whereas a blimp can be deflated), which are mostly just platforms for advertising.

It looks like there is current research using blimps. Futurepundit posted on one of the applications here. The commenter posted several links: here, here, here, and here.

I wonder how possible the balloon-to-space applications are? If it works, it seems like a new era of spaceflight would be open to mankind. So I hope it does work. It certainly seems more probable than the whole space elevator thing.

Also, I think it should be pointed out that many more people would be interested in going into space this way. If you had to go into space, would you rather float up gently, or ride up on a controlled explosion.