Prize

The first direct image of a black hole, as produced by the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration

Science

First direct black hole image wins Breakthrough Prize

Back in April the world got its first direct glimpse of a black hole. Now the team behind this historic work is being awarded a Breakthrough Prize.

The 1927 Nobel Prize for Chemistry went to German biochemist Dr Heinrich Otto Wieland

Remarkable People

1927 Nobel Prize in chemistry medal up for auction

If you've ever wanted a Nobel Prize and don't have the time to come up with a major intellectual contribution, you can just buy one… the medal, that is. Not the prize itself. At Nate D Sanders Auctions, the 1927 Nobel Prize in Chemistry is on the block today.

Google and the IEEE are offering a US$1 million prize in their Little Box challenge

Electronics

Google offers up US$1 million prize to shrink size of power inverters

Google and the IEEE have launched the Little Box Challenge, offering a US$1 million first prize for an innovative electronic design to shrink power inverters down from their current bigger-than-a-bread-box size to something less than the size of a small laptop.

Longitude 2014 commemorates 300 years since the Longitude Act 1714 and seeks to solve one of today’s great technological challenges

Good Thinking

British public to vote on 21st century Longitude Prize

Longitude Prize 2014 is a new competition with a £10 million prize aimed at solving one of today’s great technological challenges, with the British public voting for which issue the prize will be given to.

The Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPrize aims at combating ocean acidification (Image: NOAA)

Marine

XPrize announces Ocean Health competition

On Monday, XPrizen announced the launch of three new competitions by 2020 as part of its XPrize Ocean Initiative, which is aimed at improving the health and understanding of the world’s oceans.

Science

2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine won by researchers at Yale, Berkeley, and Stanford

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2013 was awarded jointly today to James E. Rothman, Randy W. Schekman and Thomas C. Südhof "for their discoveries of machinery regulating vesicle traffic, a major transport system in our cells."

The U.S. FTC is offering a US$50K prize for a solution to the problem of blocking robocalls (Photo: Shutterstock)

Telecommunications

US Federal Trade Commission offers US$50K prize for blocking robocalls

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission, in response to the massive proliferation of illegal robocalls, has announced a US$50K prize for a solution to the problem of blocking robocalls.

The Romantik Hotel has been awarded the PlusEnergieBau Solar Award 2011, the only prize in the world for buildings that generate more energy than they need (image: Romantik Hotel)

Holiday Destinations

The first plus-energy hotel in the Swiss Alps

The Romantik Hotel Muottas Muragl located in Switzerland has recently been awarded the highly-coveted Swiss Solar Award 2011.

Honda's stair climbing ASIMO could be a contender for the US$200,000 'W' Prize

Robotics

Fleet-of-foot robots could win $200,000

The “W” Prize is offering US$200,000 for the first robot that can successfully complete a 10km (6.2 miles) obstacle course within 10,000 seconds.

Team OptaMotive members (clockwise from top right: Mark Demers, Mike Nispel, Murat Ozkan and Michael Worry) with their E-Rex electric vehicle which has qualified for the next round in the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize competition

Automotive

X Prize competition moves to next phase with 43 teams remaining

From more than 100 entrants, 43 teams (and 53 vehicles) have advanced to the performance and safety testing stage of the $10 million Progressive Insurance Automotive X-Prize, a competition to create viable and super fuel-efficient vehicles.