Google sponsors new race to the moon

[flashl]

Source: International Herald Tribune

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California: More than three decades after the last Apollo astronauts roamed the lunar surface, disparate universities, open-source engineers and quixotic aerospace start-ups are planning to start their own robotic missions to the Earth's barren cousin.

The return to the moon is part of the Google Lunar X Prize, a competition sponsored by Google with $30 million in prizes for the first two teams to land a robotic rover on the moon and send images and other data back home.

At Google's headquarters here Thursday, 10 teams from five countries announced their intention to participate in the competition.

They include a team led by William Whitaker, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and a renowned roboticist; an affiliation of four universities and two major aerospace companies in Italy; and one group comprised of a loose association of engineers coordinating their efforts online.

IHT

Read more: http://iht.com/articles/2008/02/22/business/moon.php

---

Wow, first medical records, now the moon.

[msongs]

1. maybe it will store medical records on the moon where the feds can't get them nt

[trthnd4jstc]

2. Green Technologies, and Space!

Two great areas for innovation. I believe that we need to get out into the solar system. We also need zero or negative population Growth. I am happy that Google is offering this Prize.

[Dogmudgeon]

3. Maybe a wind-powered lunar rover?

:evilgrin:

Sorry, but I could not help myself.

I'm trying to get that image out of my mind now.

--p!
Time for my meds ...

[kevsand]

4. Solar wind.

You just have to allow a couple of extra years for the acceleration period, but after that it's NASCAR time! ;)

[trthnd4jstc]

5. I acturally have an idea that will help to speed up intra-stellar space travel.

I keep this idea hidden because I believe it is fair to receive a small percentage for the idea. I have my own company, and I would like to work with others to advance our species into space. I am far away from being able to be involved in all of this being a thousandaire, instead of a millionaire, or billionaire. But anyone can e-mail my DU name trthnd4jstc to discuss more.

[Dogmudgeon]

6. Patent paranoia.

Talk to an attorney or read up on the subject. It is just not worth your effort to worry about people stealing your ideas. It is easy to establish precedence, moral ownership, and "territory". It is done all the time, because innovators have to make disclosure to find partners and raise venture capital. Patents protect established intellectual property and are usually filed after arrangements are made to market a product.

I'm going through much the same thing right now, and I'm utterly dirt-poor and recovering from disabling illness. But still, there are steps I am taking to protect myself. (This week, for example, I am drawing up a list of claims I want to make.)

Space development is a big interest of mine, too; as a gag, in college, I proposed using hemp to build a large space habitat by literally growing it. It won me an "A".

Best of luck with your proposal(s)!

--p!

[trthnd4jstc]

7. My friend, I have an attorney, but one may not patent an idea.

Only plans for a specific invention can be patented, and because I need a significant portion of capital for R & D, that I do not have, I am not going to give this idea away. I have contributed many ideas freely, and I have made the mistake of giving away 2 ideas to Invention Hotline, which is a complete scam. I have a family to support, and I cannot freely give everything away. We do not live in a world of Brotherhood and Sisterhood, this will take many thousands of years before the Vast Majority of Humanity will treat each other in a fair manner.

I will put together something patentable once I have sufficient capital, which I approximate will be about $18 Million.

Many creative people do not do the necessary planning to have their ideas developed, and they have given their ideas away, and others capitalized off of them... It is not paranoia. It is wisdom to be cautious. I believe in fairness. I wish for Humanity to progress. We are decades away from colonizing intra-stellar space. The Chinese government, seemingly, will be mining the Moon by 2018 for He3. Mining the Moon will be the beginning. I believe Mining the Asteroids, and Venus to be next. I will give my idea away in my will, if I should die before developing it. My lawyer already knows it anyway. There will be no loss to Humanity.

Peace!

[flashl]

8. Do you consider a tax tip as an idea?

Congress considering ban on tax tips patents

Tax strategies may lose federal imprimatur
Congress considering ban on patents on methods for minimizing tax bite; patent office's lack of tax expertise cited

Congress is seriously considering a future ban on patents covering strategies that help taxpayers reduce the taxes they owe. While chances of a comprehensive tax package being enacted during an election year may be slim, this is one change that stands a decent chance of making it through the legislative mill, judging from its progress so far.

Lawyers, accountants, and regulators alike warn that the granting of patents for tax strategies threatens to mislead taxpayers, undermine congressionally created incentives and generally increase tax compliance costs in the economy. “ also provide additional incentives for tax advisors to "invent' tax minimization strategies, an activity with no redeeming social value,” wrote Nina Olson, the IRS's national taxpayer advocate. In the 2007 annual report she filed with Congress last month, Ms. Olson recommended that it eliminate tax strategy patents

DU Economy Post

[calimary]

11. Aw crap, I just glanced at that and thought it was a wind-powered lunar rove!

Can you imagine? That fat-ass windbag up there?

:rofl:

Then again, maybe karl rove SHOULD be sent to the moon - on a one-way ticket.

[and-justice-for-all]

9. We should have establised a moon base 20yrs ago...

before we even started the Space Station.

[ohio2007]

10. Only in a capitalist system can $60 million be offered as a reward for not one but two

successful lunar landings. Wonder if Virgin Galactic will brainstorm up a mission ? Private enterprise may get a space race to the moon going in the absence of national wills.