Other competitions like the X-Prize?

October 26, 2005 11:49 AM

Other competitions like the X-Prize?

I've become interested in this new trend of using public competitions to spur next-generation technology, particularly now, when our govt is underinvesting in science/research. Can anyone think of any examples of this besides the X-prize, whether public or government-funded?

posted by Hobbacocka to Science & Nature (8 answers total)

NASA's Centennial Competitions. They recently had a space elevator competition (with not much success). There's also the DARPA Grand Challenge, for autonomous vehicles.
posted by smackfu at 11:57 AM on October 26, 2005

Proof that it's not a new concept: The Longitude Prize.
posted by MsMolly at 12:22 PM on October 26, 2005

The Clay Millennium Prize is an offer of one million dollars (USD) for each of seven famous problems in mathematics.

On a smaller scale, the famous mathematician Paul Erdos (1913-1996) offered bounties (usually on the order of $100, depending on expected difficulty) for mathematical problems he thought should be solved.
posted by mbrubeck at 12:28 PM on October 26, 2005

I'm not sure this is a new trend. The Grand Prix d'Aviation, for example, was involved in the early development of airplanes.
posted by jacquilynne at 12:28 PM on October 26, 2005

Also, the Methuselah Mouse Prize (for the longest-lived lab mouse) is meant to spur research into longevity.
posted by mbrubeck at 12:30 PM on October 26, 2005

Best answer: Their called inducement prizes, and their not new at all but seem to be in vogue at the moment. Lindbergh is said to have made his crossing of the Atlantic to win such a prize.
posted by jwells at 12:36 PM on October 26, 2005

The prize Lindbergh won for crossing the Atlantic in a solo, non-stop flight was the Orteig prize, and according to Wikipedia, it was the inspiration for the X Prize.

Also, you might want to peruse the science, math and technology section of Wikipedia's list of prizes
posted by hobbes103 at 1:40 PM on October 26, 2005

In his book "Free Flight," James Fallows wrote about a NASA program that used inducement prizes to help jump start civil avaiation again. The tiny, fuel efficient turbofans that power the Eclipse jet are one result
posted by Good Brain at 9:20 PM on October 28, 2005