The X Prize Foundation is known for spurring innovative solutions to big problems with cash prizes. So far, the foundation has taken on everything from space travel to fuel-efficient automobiles. Now the X Prize Foundation is examining the prospects for a human brain-focused prize.
According to LiveScience, brain science is going through a funding drought at the moment. A slow economy apparently means fewer donors are willing to take risks on the edgier side of neurology. So a $10 million prize from the X Prize Foundation might be enough to sweeten the deal.
Prizes might include a Neuroeducation X Prize (to boost brain capacity in students), a Mind Control X Prize (to help people overcome physical mobility problems), a Virtual Telepathy X Prize (to create a brain-controlled computer), a Paralysis X Prize (to help patients regain body functions after spinal cord injury), and a Blood Brain Barrier X Prize (to allow drug delivery directly to the brain).
Some of these prizes may be a little too far from reality. For example, a computer that is fully controlled by your brain is more than a decade away, according to Intel (which produced a machine that can recognize a thousand words when you think them). But the Neuroeducation X Prize and the Paralysis X Prize could come down the pipeline in the near future--along with a number of other X Prizes related to energy and environment, education, life sciences, and exploration. And we already know, there is no better way to motivate surprisingly fast technology development than by offering money--even for a brain-controlled computer.
Via : Link
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