One of my favorite applications of The Challenge Dividend is when groups of scientists compete to solve a problem or discover something novel. Last June I wrote about the competition to invent a cheap laptop for kids in developing worlds. In that post, I also linked to economist Gary Becker's story of how competition drove the human gene code to be cracked as much as 10 years ahead of predictions.
I recently discovered another example of competing scientists searching for new planets in our galaxy. The race is on to discover an Earth-like planet that might harbor life, and the goal of many is to be the first to snap a photo of this first cousin.
Already more than 300 planets have been discovered outside our solar system. Most of them are large, dense and more like Jupiter or Saturn than Earth - and only 10% of stars have more than one planet. But with each passing year, new technologies and strategies are getting scientists closer. Recently a team from St. Andrews University in the UK found a solar system with two planets in placement similar to our own.
The interesting part is that not only are there hundreds or thousands of planet chasers out there, but they are using competing strategies to discover. Some are using a technique called "gravitational mirco-lensing" in which observations are made of light bending around planets. Others favor the "transit technique," which aims to detect planets by observing the tiny fraction of a star's light that is blocked when a planet passes by.
Some say that we are close to detecting an Earth-sized planet, and that it is only a matter of time. There certainly is no limit to the number of stars to peer at. Billions and billions are out there. That first discovery would certainly prove the Challenge Dividend; it would bring prestige and press to the discoverers, and give society a closer glimpse of what might be out there.
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