[ggm]

to the value of the work, this seems like an utterly tokenistic reward. But the actual work is funding prizes in theoretical and practical explorations TOWARDS the target. Nobody is decoding Aunt Ginny's memory of that beach holiday, this is about being able to read connection state held in a brain, at the individual neuron level. The basic inputs which would be used, in some mythic future, to get to the feel of gritty sand on a beach in a 1950s wooly bathing suit.

[arielzj]

I mean, yes - that's why they're also giving out $25,000 annual research awards for milestones towards the target (some previous examples of which are described in the article)

[ggm]

Right but the headline leaps over the interstitial 20-100 year gap in ability and reads like the prize is to the first person who can read a brain, beach and all.

"The Memory Decoding Challenge: $100k for decoding from a preserved brain"

well its more like:

"The Memory Decoding Challenge: $100k for science progressing a mythical future when we can reliably do decoding from a preserved brain, but god knows what a preserved brain is because right now, it's conjecture if liquid nitro is the go or not. I mean what if it turns out encasing in wax and formalin is better?" except that is too long. I see the problem. Like brain decoding, its harder than it looks.