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DARPA Network Challenge Lasts All of 9 Hours

Posted by timothy on from the now-they-can-buy-more-warm-clothes dept.

stillnotelf writes "A team based at MIT has won the DARPA Network Challenge. DARPA notes: 'The Challenge has captured the imagination of people around the world, is rich with scientific intrigue, and, we hope, is part of a growing "renaissance of wonder" throughout the nation,' said DARPA's director, Dr. Regina E. Dugan. 'DARPA salutes the MIT team for successfully completing this complex task less than 9 hours after balloon launch.' PDF with (scant) details. Hit the first link above for a map with the locations. How many did your team find?"

6 of 129 comments (clear)

  1. Re:That was pretty fast... by thefear · · Score: 4, Informative

    Team Nerdfighter found 9/10 balloons

    http://twitter.com/hankgreen/status/6392128271

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    :(
  2. Re:That was pretty fast... by jack2000 · · Score: 5, Informative

    I sure do hope there's some irony in your post I'm not caching.

    DARPA is an acronym standing for Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
    It is an agency of the US Department of Defense it develops tech for the army.
    It's predecessor ARPA gave us the internet amongst other things(too condensed a statement).
    They like to issue challenges and geeks of all trades either like to participate in them for the sport and/or are picked from the crowd and given jobs at DARPA to develop new cutting edge technologies.

  3. Re:how by OverlordQ · · Score: 4, Informative

    Well reading the previous article about MITs solution to this challenge would be a good start.

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    Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
  4. Re:Great, but by smitty777 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here's the answer. I was wondering the same thing myself. It appears that the solution was very low tech: just get a bunch of people, and when they see a balloon, send a message to the group. Instead of splitting the 40k among the group, they donated it to charity. Reward for MIT? Bragging rights.

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    "Before God we are all equally wise - and equally foolish"
    Albert Einstein
  5. Re:What's DARPA about it ? by theangryfool · · Score: 3, Informative

    Ummm... Yeah, 'cause I know a lot of boyscouts who can cover 3 million square miles of territory in 9 hours... I'd say the point was to see how people would use technology to build quick awareness of events over a large area. Seeking out insurgents or terrorist cells might be a practical military application of this technology.

  6. Re:UPS by Nipok+Nek · · Score: 3, Informative

    Corporations were specifically forbidden from entering.

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    Why choose white shoes?