Google Gathers 60 Scientists For Solve For X Summit

Google think tank Solve for X recently held a summit for business leaders and scientists to talk about a variety of moonshot projects aimed at solving some of the world’s biggest problems.

Topics discussed at the event ranged from energy to agriculture and speakers included Ira Glass and Sara Menker.

“Last week, Solve for X gathered 60 entrepreneurs and scientists from around the world to discuss 18 moonshot proposals—world-changing projects that work to address a huge problem, suggest a radical solution and use some form of breakthrough technology to make it work,” the company said in a Google Blog post.

Some of the highlights from the Solve for X event include Ira Glass’ proposal to use technology conceived in the 1950s to generate power from nuclear waste. Lonnie Johnson discussed his invention that allows heat to be converted directly into electricity and Yael Hanein talked about her artificial solar retina, which could one day cure blindness.

Participants from past Solve for X events were also invited to give updates on their projects during a show-and-tell session. Karen Gleason was on hand to demonstrate solar cells printed on paper and Andras Forgacs showed off “steak chips.”

This year, Google is working with several organizations to expand Solve for X and 10 experiments were conducted in collaboration with SXSW and TED, among others.

“In an effort to include more people in the Solve for X experience, this year we ran 10 experiments to bring our exploration session format into other organizations’ events, including TEDx Beacon Street, SXSW and Tribeca Film Festival; we even held an event on Capitol Hill. FabLab, ReWork and AAAS recently became collaborators, joining Singularity University, XPrize, TED and others. We hope we’ll run into you at an event in your area,” Google said.

All 18 proposals from the 2014 Solve for X summit can be found here.