Xprize - working together for the future

many of you fellow cyber nerds already know about google's xprize contest for creating a robot to be launched and land on the moon's surface. for those that dont know about this i will go threw a quick breakdown of it

google along with the Xprize foundation is putting on a world wide competition, the goal is to "safely land a robot on the surface of the Moon, travel 500 meters over the lunar surface, and send images and data back to the Earth". the first team to land on the moon and complete the mission will get 20 MILLION DOLLARS! there is a few catches tho. you want to get it up and done by december 31st 2012 because after that the prize will drop to 15 million. another catch is you have to be 90% privately funded.... so that means you can only have a 1 or 2 major sponsors or you can have alot but only get a little from each. no nike swoosh on my doom lunar bot. the final deadline is dec 31 2014, yeah i know forever from now.. im excited and want to see it now!!!!

check out the video

now to those of you that did know about this.. did you know that Xprize and other competitions going on? yup! they currently have 4 going on. i will talk a bit about each.

first up is one of my favorites: Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE

this one actually was just announced the other day on the 7th

with this one they are trying to make better fuel efficient vehicles. they are using a variety of different types of fuel from gasoline to solar to stuff like vegetable oil and other strange things.
now they havent gotten ALL the rules and regulations worked out yet but they have a few things. like they want it to be efficient but usable for everyday things. there is 2 sections, the mainstream which is normal looking cars (as cool as it may be in your dreams, its not really that cool to be the only one riding around in a car that looks like it was dreamt by george lucas {WOOO!!! STAR WARS!!!}) and then you the alternative class which looks like those george lucas made some of those small japanese cars (we have you now rebel scum). another thing they are aiming for is 100mpg. I KNOW! that would be fucking amazing! a 20 gallon tank would get me from here to here to see this all in one tank of gas. speaking of indiana, one of the teams in this competition is from indiana: BITW Technologies lead by George Voll and Dan Boyd... go guys im cheerin for ya! now there are 25 states in the running with atleast one team in each state giving us a total 88 teams with a total of 107 vehicles. other than USA there is 10 countries giving the competition 23 more teams with 29 more vehicles.... whats that give us

1. a total of 11 countries
2. giving us 111 teams
3. presenting 136 vehicles
   

136 vehicles to make this world a cleaner healthier more fuel efficient planet. once this is done and over with it will pave the way for the automotive industry in bringing us better cars for us and our planet. 80 of them are mainstream and 56 of them are alternative.

up next: Archon X PRIZE for Genomics

i really cant write about this one as i dont know much about the body, dna, and medicine. so im just gonna copy and paste what they have written on the site as a brief description... if you would like to know more click on the link.

"Imagine the day when you and your doctor sit down to review a copy of your own personal genome. This vital information about your biology will enable your physician to inform you of your disease susceptibilities, the best ways to keep yourself healthy and how to avoid or lessen the impact of future illness.

This is a very exciting time in Genomics. Scientists are on the brink of discovering the genetic factors in diabetes, heart disease, common cancers, high blood pressure, asthma, mental illness — virtually any disease that tends to run in families.

In the past, the diagnostic classification of a cancer was based on the organ or tissue location, such as liver or breast cancer. But now, the many forms of cancer can be characterized by their molecular profile. These molecular characteristics provide new information on how rapidly the cancer might spread or how it might respond to specific treatments.

The use of personal genetic information to predict disease susceptibility and guide proactive care has the power to transform our entire healthcare system."

last but not least: Lunar Lander Challenge

ok this one is a bit different.. they have it as a yearly thing that im having troubles following exactly how and what they are going to do with it this year. i dont think they have made any decisions yet but i will post last years video which explains it all worked.

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yay to xprize and yay to a better life and a better planet.

oh and since your still here can you click an ad or 2 to give me some change... thanks!