Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Cloud
    • Storage

    Google Solve For X Targets Tech’s ‘Moonshot’ Challenges

    By
    Clint Boulton
    -
    February 7, 2012
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), whose co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have discussed building an elevator to space, is no stranger to thinking about and tackling daunting challenges.

      The company Feb. 6 moved to aggregate so-called “moonshot technology” projects intended to help solve worldwide problems, such as tackling water scarcity and efficient drug delivery.

      The Website, wesolveforx.com, stemmed from Solve for X, an exclusive event Google hosted for entrepreneurs, innovators and scientists last week.

      “These are efforts that take on global-scale problems, define radical solutions to those problems, and involve some form of breakthrough technology that could actually make them happen,” Googlers Astro Teller and Megan Smith, who co-hosted the Solve for X event, explained in a blog post. “Moonshots live in the gray area between audacious projects and pure science fiction; they are 10x improvement, not 10 percent. That€™s partly what makes them so exciting.”

      Some examples of the moonshots experts discussed at Solve for X included the notion that major science and technological advances will come from individual contributors.

      Adrien Treuille, a professor of computer science and robotics at Carnegie Mellon University, who posited the theory, pointed to scientific discovery games where individual gamers are lapping the best computer programs in DNA folding and RNA nano-fabrication problems.

      Treuille’s idea is more of a return to the past than a leap to the future. Albert Einstein, Alexander Graham Bell and several other renowned inventors worked mostly solo when they made their scientific breakthroughs.

      Meanwhile, Rob McGinnis, co-founder of Oasys, argued that fresh water could be produced everywhere in the world at less than one-tenth the energy input or cost to the environment of what’s possible today through advancements in desalination.

      Solve for X was originally thought to be a Website dedicated to Google’s X labs, which would move that Brin-led research unit out of its clandestine closet and into the public eye.

      However, it now seems clear that while X labs and Solve for X share some commonality in high-minded concepts and challenges, X labs is currently working on some slightly more practical, down-to-earth solutions as well.

      For example, it is believed Google’s X labs have built computerized glasses that serve as newfangled smartphone form factors, complete with voice input and output, GPS and WiFi.

      While not a moonshot approach by any stretch, computerized glasses are a radical form factor, compared with today’s world of mobile phones and tablet computers.

      The X lab is also the birth place of Google’s driverless cars, which could be super-useful in the future to curb drunk driving. Conversely, Google said Solve for X isn’t about developing a new business line or building an investment portfolio.

      Clint Boulton

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×