I might have been living under a rock or maybe some secret algrorithm has tricked my browser in never showing a clue of the existence of Solve for X (highly unlikely), Google’s place on the web to think big. I usually keep a pretty close eye on everything Google, but I just came across Solve for X while reading the TheNextWeb feed and clicking on a story about how Google added community-features to the project. If you never heard about this as well, this is from the project website (Also check out the video):
Solve For X is a place to hear about and discuss radical technology ideas for solving global problems. Radical in the sense that the solutions could help millions or billions of people. Radical in the sense that the audacity of the proposals makes them sound like science fiction. And radical in the sense that there is some real technology breakthrough on the horizon indicating that these ideas could really be brought to life.The site is all about moving forward as humanity and as a planet using technology: moonshots. Some are close to science fiction, some seems more then achievable in a few years. For instance: how we can use roads (who are just sitting there) to generate energy and create all kinds of application for (local) communities. The website is going to keep you occupied for at least an hour so you might want to find a good moment for your visit. The idea of technology moonshots is close to Google’s CEO Larry Page as well who in a profile interview with Wired discussed his focus on technology moonshots, which is a nice read. My moonshot is a Sahara desert filled with solar plants to achieve sustainable energy for the whole world. What’s your moonshot?