competitions

11.21.09

LaserMotive is First Ever Prize Winner in Space Elevator Games

The team's robot stands to win $900,000 from NASA for climbing a ribbon nearly a kilometer long
By Stuart Fox Posted 11.05.2009 at 11:59 am 2 Comments

Meet Your 2009 Space Elevator Challenge Champions : David Bashford of LaserMotive prepares the climber for their award-winning run.  courtesy of NASA
First proposed in 1895, and popularized by the Arthur C. Clarke book The Fountains of Paradise, space elevators have a rich history in the culture of space travel. Unfortunately, the history of their engineering success is far less impressive. But if the results from this week's Space Elevator Games are any indication, that might be about to change.

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Feature

20 Teams Build High-Tech Houses in "Solar Village" Competition

The National Mall was transformed into a futuristic commune for the past two weeks as 20 teams from four countries erected solar-powered homes
By Rebecca Boyle Posted 10.16.2009 at 11:54 am 7 Comments

The bright future of green living has been on display for the past two weeks at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., during the Department of Energy's 2009 Solar Decathlon. The biennial contest, which wraps up this weekend, brings hundreds of university students from around the world to a temporary solar village for two weeks, where spectators can walk through student-designed houses and marvel at the latest green tech.

These solar homes have it all, including things that aren't commercially available yet -- like self-activating curled-metal shades; walls made of plants, both living and recycled; and roofs that tilt at the sun, making them efficient sun-catchers from Phoenix to Fargo. Worried about efficiency while you're away? How about an iPhone app that controls your entire house?

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Conrad Innovation Awards Announces Winners

High-schoolers' inventions lead the way to outer space; Popular Science was there
By Elizabeth Svoboda Posted 04.06.2009 at 9:21 am 0 Comments

What if you knew that a ten-minute podium presentation could alter your life's course for decades? Seasoned entrepreneurs sweat out this kind of tension when they make elevator pitches to venture capitalists. But at the Pete Conrad Spirit of Innovation Awards Summit, the presenters on the hot seat are all between 14 and 18 years old.

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Robotic Adventures at the FIRST Competition

Popular Science attends New York's high-school robot showdown and sees celebrities, breakdowns, and mechanical lunacy
By Paul Gleason Posted 03.25.2009 at 9:06 am 8 Comments

Day One

It's Friday morning, March 6, not even eight a.m. High school students in color-coordinated outfits stand at ease under the high ceiling of the Javits Center, waiting for the New York City's FIRST Robotics Competition to begin. Over the next three days, sixty six teams will vie for the regional crown and spots in the national tournament, held in the Georgia Dome come April. Some of the schools have mascots. One team's red dragon boogies back and forth in front of another team's Darth Vader. Darth brandishes his light saber.

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PopSci Photo Contest

We have a winner! Get a taste of fame and glory for yourself and enter PopSci.com's photo contest for a chance to see your work featured on the site. Next theme: Seasonal Science
By PopSci Staff Posted 09.26.2008 at 12:49 pm 4 Comments

Rev it Up: Winner of the PopSci photo contest.  Chad Lehmann
Another awesome set of entries to the PopSci photo contest. Thanks to everyone who entered and congrats to this week's winner for the theme "Need for Speed": Chad Lehmann (via our Flickr pool).

For all of you photogs, another contest is in the works. After the jump, get the low down. And as always, happy shooting!

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Cheap Labor

Big problem, small budget? Tap the affordable talents of brainy undergrads
By Patrick DiJusto Posted 09.15.2008 at 3:23 pm 2 Comments

Big-money competitions—like the $25-million Virgin Earth Challenge to suck carbon from the atmosphere and the $10-million Progressive Automotive X Prize to build a 100mpg car—are a great way to inspire life-changing technologies. Winning strokes the ego, of course, and eight-figure prize money is also a good lure. But what if you need some innovative ideas, only you don’t have a lot of prize money to throw around? Hand out course credit instead.

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PopSci Photo Contest

We have a winner! Get a taste of fame and glory for yourself and enter PopSci.com's photo contest for a chance to see your work featured on the site. Next theme: Need for Speed
By PopSci Staff Posted 09.12.2008 at 4:08 pm 0 Comments

Another awesome set of entries to the PopSci photo contest. Thanks to everyone who entered and congrats to this week's winner for the theme "Technology We Love": Phillip Evans (via our Flickr pool).

For all of you photogs, another contest is in the works. After the jump, get the low down. And as always, happy shooting!

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December 2009: Best of What's New

In our December issue, Popular Science names the 100 best innovations of the year: bombproof wallpaper, self-parking cars, the fastest helicopter, and 97 more. Plus inventor profiles and videos.

Check out the best of what's new here.

Popular Science Photo Pool


Share your photos in the Pop Sci pool at www.flickr.com!
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