Will Lonesome George ever find a mate?
January 30, 2012 7:15 AM Subscribe
What are some publicly available prizes or rewards for solving really obscure / awesome problems?
Over the years, I've heard of a variety of publicly available prizes or rewards being offered for solving certain problems or finding certain things - for example:
- The "Millennium Prize Problems" which offer $1 million for solving 7 outstanding problems in Mathematics - sure, the average person might not have the mathematical knowledge right now to solve them, but the prizes are available to anyone who presents a verified solution
- "Lonesome George", who is apparently a turtle who is hypothesized to be the last of his species, with a $10k prize offered for anyone who finds a female for him to mate with
The former I always thought was pretty cool (especially as they've been being solved) but the latter is really what sparked this for me - I just am curious what other obscure prizes are available for somewhat random tasks / activities / problems.
As a note, by publicly available I just mean that any person would be able to claim them - eg you don't have to be part of a special club - not that any person would be capable of claiming them.
Over the years, I've heard of a variety of publicly available prizes or rewards being offered for solving certain problems or finding certain things - for example:
- The "Millennium Prize Problems" which offer $1 million for solving 7 outstanding problems in Mathematics - sure, the average person might not have the mathematical knowledge right now to solve them, but the prizes are available to anyone who presents a verified solution
- "Lonesome George", who is apparently a turtle who is hypothesized to be the last of his species, with a $10k prize offered for anyone who finds a female for him to mate with
The former I always thought was pretty cool (especially as they've been being solved) but the latter is really what sparked this for me - I just am curious what other obscure prizes are available for somewhat random tasks / activities / problems.
As a note, by publicly available I just mean that any person would be able to claim them - eg you don't have to be part of a special club - not that any person would be capable of claiming them.
There is a contest to figure out who will have repeat hospital stays, $million in prizes.
posted by shothotbot at 8:30 AM on January 30, 2012
posted by shothotbot at 8:30 AM on January 30, 2012
Like shothotbot's answer shoes, there are fairly frequent programming challenges organizations put out with prize money attached.
There was the recent DARPA Paper Shredder challenge which awarded $50,000 to the team that could reconstruct five batches of shredded paper strips, and Netflix's infamous $1,000,000 prize to whoever could improve on their recommendation engine.
Unfortunately, I can't think of any other than shothotbot's that are open right now.
posted by losvedir at 8:44 AM on January 30, 2012
There was the recent DARPA Paper Shredder challenge which awarded $50,000 to the team that could reconstruct five batches of shredded paper strips, and Netflix's infamous $1,000,000 prize to whoever could improve on their recommendation engine.
Unfortunately, I can't think of any other than shothotbot's that are open right now.
posted by losvedir at 8:44 AM on January 30, 2012
X Prizes? No special club membership required unless you count the ability to commit enormous amounts of capital.
JREF Challenge?
posted by Dan Brilliant at 8:50 AM on January 30, 2012
JREF Challenge?
posted by Dan Brilliant at 8:50 AM on January 30, 2012
most likely not what you're looking for, exactly, but James Randi offers a lot of money if you can demonstrate any sort of paranormal ability
posted by taltalim at 9:03 AM on January 30, 2012
posted by taltalim at 9:03 AM on January 30, 2012
The Wolfson Economics Prize will give £250,000 to whoever comes up with the best plan for countries to exit the euro zone. Applications are due tomorrow!
posted by sashapearl at 10:30 AM on January 30, 2012
posted by sashapearl at 10:30 AM on January 30, 2012
It doesn't get much more awesome than the Space Elevator challenges.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 10:36 AM on January 30, 2012
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 10:36 AM on January 30, 2012
Response by poster: Thanks everyone, these are awesome - and I'm excited to see even the US gov is doing these via that challenge.gov website!
posted by CharlieSue at 7:09 AM on January 31, 2012
posted by CharlieSue at 7:09 AM on January 31, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by escabeche at 7:32 AM on January 30, 2012 [2 favorites]