▶For more on these stories, visittime.com/ideasin 1927 Charles lindbergh beCame
the first solo pilot to fly nonstop across the
Atlantic. The flight not only made Lind-
bergh famous; it also created the percep-
tion that flying was safe and available to the
common man. And it was all sparked by a
reward—specifically, hotel owner Raymond
Orteig’s offer of $25,000 to anyone who could
fly across the Atlantic.
This is what’s known as an incentive prize,
and unlike trophies, ribbons or even Nobel
Peace Prizes, it is not subjective. It’s given to
anyone who can hit a set of measurable tar-
gets, and in recent history it has been used to
spur on spectacular feats of human endeavor,
solve intractable problems and jump-start
industries.
Consider the birth of the private space
industry. In 1996, entrepreneur Peter Dia-
mandis announced he would give $10 millionto the first privately funded team that could
build and fly a manned rocket into space
twice in two weeks. He had two goals: one, to
reignite his childhood passion for space ex-
ploration, and two, to create private alterna-
tives to NASA, which had once been a maker
of magic but had become costly and flawed.
It took almost a decade, but he succeeded
on both counts. In 2004, Diamandis awarded
the $10 million Ansari XPRIZE to SpaceShip-
One designer Burt Rutan and program backer
Paul Allen. Allen, the Microsoft co-founder,
later licensed the tech to Richard Branson,
who created Virgin Galactic. Now private
spaceflight is an industry worth billions—and
it started with a $10 million bet.Guthrie is the author ofHow to Make a Space-
ship: A Band of Renegades, an Epic Race, and
the Birth of Private SpaceflightVIEWPOINT
How incentive prizes can spark innovation
By Julian GuthriePREVIEW
New York’s next monument
How do you make a monument stand out in a city teeming with must-see attractions? By making
it interactive. The Vessel, which will open in 2018 as the centerpiece of New York City’s new
Hudson Yards development, comprises 154 bronzed-steel staircases that rise 15 stories in the
air and intersect at 80 landings. The goal is to “lift people up,” designer Thomas Heatherwick
has said. He meant it literally: there’s an inclined glass elevator to the top of the beehive-like
structure for visitors who aren’t able to climb the nearly 2,500 stairs.—Julia ZorthianTHIS
JUST INDATAA roundup of new and
noteworthy insights
from the week’s most
talked-about studies:1
HOUSEHOLD
DUST MIGHT BE
DANGEROUS
A study published in
Environmental Science
and Technology found
that 10 chemicals
known or thought to
harm humans are
found at varying levels
in 90% of household
dust. The chemicals
come from household
goods like furniture and
toys, and can cause
a range of issues
including respiratory
problems and cancer.2
ADOLESCENTS
WILL EAT HEALTHY
FOODS IF IT SEEMS
REBELLIOUS
A study inProceedings
of the National
Academy of Sciences
found that eighth-
graders were more
likely to make healthier
food choices when
they were framed
as appealing to
adolescent values—in
this case, challenging
the authority of food-
industry giants.3
FITNESS TRACKERS
MAY NOT HELP
WEIGHT LOSS
A report in theJournal
of the American
Medical Association
tracked weight-loss
efforts over two
years by two groups
of people. Only one
group used wearables,
and its members
lost significantly less
weight, on average.
—J.Z.
HANDLER: GETTY IMAGES; PREVIEW: HEATHERWICK STUDIO