The Big Think

How to commit mundicide. I love this kind of thinking. Wait, that sounded wrong…

I just thought you’d, you know, like to know…

What happens when scientific achievement becomes too fast to keep up with? Can we really then be said to be advancing if we can’t take advantage of the knowledge? Scienceblog looks into it.

YES! I’ve been saying for years that X-prize style rewards for innovation are the key to solving some of the most intractable problems we face. A monetary prize is what got Lindbergh over the Atlantic, SpaceShipOne over the 100 kilometer hump, and may soon be responsible for human life spans in excess of 120 years.

But they don’t go far enough. I believe that if the government, or some large corporation would be willing to drop the Big 10 Digits (a billion dollars) in the prize buckets, no power in the ‘verse could stop crazy entrepreneurs from solving just about any previously “unsolvable” problem. A BILLION DOLLARS (cue Dr. Evil) is a whole lot of motivation, certainly in light of the fact that previous prizes (25K for Lucky Lindy and 10 million for Rutan) didn’t even cover development costs. They were more along the lines of prestige prizes and not actual financial incentives (Paul Allen dropped 20 million in the pursuit of the 10 million dollar Xprize).

To that end, the Dewey Foundation has set up the Victory Project. Here’s what they say on their home page:

We will pay:

To the first person(s) that solves any of these Problems:

1. Develop a cure for breast cancer.
2. Develop a cure for diabetes.
3. Reduce greenhouse emissions from petroleum powered automobiles by 95% without increasing the cost of a normal car more than 5%.
4. Achieve 150 miles per gallon of gasoline in a 3,000 lb. car, using EPA standards; without increasing the cost of a normal car more than 10%.

Onward to Victory!

A friend (who shall remain nameless, but you know who you are) sent me a box of goodies in the mail today. I was expecting a couple of minor cool things, for which I was prepared to be grateful. Instead, I opened the box and discovered a treasure chest of wonderfulness. All things that were unexpected, and all things that were needed/wanted.

So a big public thank-you to you!

Better than Snakes on a Plane, here’s this classic puzzler:

“Imagine a plane is sitting on a massive conveyor belt, as wide and as long as a runway. The conveyer belt is designed to exactly match the speed of the wheels, moving in the opposite direction. Can the plane take off? “I say no, because the plane will not move relative the the ground and air, and thus, very little air will flow over the wings. However, other people are convinced that since the wheels of a plane are free spinning, and not powered by the engines, and the engines provide thrust against the air, that somehow that makes a difference and air will flow over the wing.”

Now, before you jump to a quick conclusion hear me out. I posed this question to Matt (getting his PHD in string theory), and a couple of his other Big Brained classmates up at Baylor a few months ago. We had a very lively and entertaining conversation for several hours and still didn’t come to any conclusion. And they started pulling out the slide rules and heavy math! Matt eventually posed the question to his thesis advisor and got a good answer (which depends on one fundamental assumption not posed in the original question). I have to admit I wasn’t convinced, but after puzzling it through until deep into the night with Matt, I know that their answer is the right one.

Never fear! Luckily, the MythBusters have tested it out in classic fashion.

Congrats to my long-time friend Patrick and his wife Lydia as they welcome Adam Patrick Watts into the world. Mom and baby are doing fine. Daddy sounds a little thunderstruck.