{"id":646588,"date":"2013-03-13T14:55:10","date_gmt":"2013-03-13T18:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gigaom.com\/?p=620003"},"modified":"2013-03-13T14:55:10","modified_gmt":"2013-03-13T18:55:10","slug":"googles-x-factor-captain-of-moonshots-describes-secret-lab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/646588","title":{"rendered":"Google\u2019s X factor: \u201cCaptain of Moonshots\u201d describes secret lab"},"content":{"rendered":"

History shows that scientific breakthroughs often occur during wartime when countries approach hard problems with a rare mix of urgency and unfettered creativity. War, for instance, has often led to rapid advances in cartography, cryptography and physics. But is it possible to replicate this type of wartime-style problem solving in times of peace?<\/p>\n

Google thinks so and claims that its hush-hush ideas lab known as Google X is designed to do just this. Speaking at Austin’s SXSW festival Tuesday, Google’s Astro Teller, the man who holds the title \u201cCaptain of Moonshots<\/a>\u201d shared some details about how the lab thinks and works.<\/p>\n

According to Teller, who is the grandson of H-bomb inventor Edward Teller, Google X believes that the process for solving huge and difficult problems is unlike that for solving incremental ones. \u201cMoonshot thinking,\u201d he said, requires overcoming society\u2019s prescriptions for caution and embracing both audacious ideas and failures.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to have a group of people dedicated to throwing almost everything away,\u201d Teller said.<\/p>\n

To this end, Google X generates hundreds of ideas a year and even develops many of them into prototypes or white papers. Ultimately, though, the lab selects only one or a two a year to turn into a reality — Google\u2019s driverless cars and computer glasses<\/a> are among those that have been selected. Another recent product is the blue dot on Google Maps that reveals where you are inside a building.<\/p>\n

Google X\u2019s culture of creativity is about exploring any ideas but also getting the successful ideas out<\/i> of the lab before they\u2019re done. Teller said this ensures that commercialization doesn\u2019t undercut the \u201cPeter Panishness\u201d of the place.<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s next from Google X? Teller said the lab expected to announce another discovery in the coming month but refuted reports that Google is building some type of space elevator.<\/p>\n

Overall, Teller\u2019s talk was an inspiring testament to the power of thinking big and what can happen when people explore without fear of failure. But it also had some of the drive-by ephemera of a TED talk — profound for a second and then forgotten the next day.<\/p>\n

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