"What I have in mind are specific goal-oriented prizes. I don't imagine that there's a prize being offered for discovering the Higgs particle, but prizes exist. Lindbergh flew the Atlantic for prize money. I recall seeing a TV special several years ago about a prize for a human-powered aircraft. There must be loads of these out there. Know of a listing?"
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some Science Prizes
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Kremer Prizes (several) for human powered flight http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/j_d_mcintyre/kremer.htm
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Mars Prize
To claim the prize the constant must launch to Mars, land on Mars, stay on Mars for at least 14 months, and have a at least a 2 person colony when you leave.
http://www.marsprize.org/
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Space Elevator Prize
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1201400/posts
"Enthusiasts on Friday unveiled an effort to establish an annual competition for space-elevator technologies, taking a page from the playbook for other high-tech contests such as the $10 million Ansari X Prize."