At the turn of the Industrial Revolution, the richest people on the planet didn't have air-conditioning, running water, or indoor plumbing. They lack… - Peter Diamandis

for entrepreneurs interested in building Watson-backed business, Cane was stunned by how easy it was to work with IBM.

Right now we’re enjoying first generation GE crops; soon we’ll have versions that can grow in drought conditions, in saline conditions, crops that are nutritionally fortified, that act as medicines, that increase yields and lower the use for pesticides, herbicides, and fossil fuels. The best designs will do many of these things at once. The Gates Foundation–led effort BioCassava Plus aims to take cassava, one of the world’s largest staple crops, fortify it with protein, vitamins A and E, iron, and zinc; lower its natural cyanide content, make it virus resistant, and storable for two weeks (instead of one day). By 2020, this one genetically modified crop could radically improve the health of the 250 million people for whom it is a daily meal.

large incentive prizes raise the visibility of a particular challenge while helping to create a mind-set that this challenge is solvable. Considering what we know about cognitive biases, that is no small detail.