Teams raced to find 10 red weather balloons around the U.S.
A team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) won $40,000 after locating 10 red weather balloons placed in undisclosed locations around the United States. They did it in just nine hours using social networking tools like Twitter. The contest, run by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), wanted to see how social networking works to solve problems. Results from this, and other DARPA sponsored contests , give the military new ideas not only for combat, but for responding to natural disasters needing urgent mobilization.
DARPA’S Dr. Peter Lee spoke on NPR’s Morning Edition this morning about the contest, and how findings could help improve relief efforts. For example, in the case of a natural disaster, the search for red balloons might by replaced by a search for ten heavy lift operators in a particular area hit by a natural disaster. The quicker they are found and mobilized the better.
Relief organizations might look to the results of the study to see how they might more effectively respond to natural disasters using social networking.
To see the MIT team’s strategy for winning, you can go to their website where they offered team members a chance to, ”win money, help science, and help charity.”
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