Brian Gongol
X-Prize 2: Sequence the human genome
$10 million prize to be awarded for successfully mapping 100 individuals' genomes in 10 days. The thought is that the faster we can figure out what an individual's genes are, the faster we can learn how to treat them. The first X-Prize awarded another big cash prize for putting humans into space using private investment, and it worked. That's because inducement prizes are a tremendously effective way to get results.
Should a higher gas tax be imposed to change the way we use energy?
Greg Mankiw and others say yes, while others emphatically disagree. An important related question is how to replace the gas tax, since it probably won't be an effective tool for funding roads in the long term
Micro-credit banker wins Nobel Peace Prize
Muhammad Yunus figured out that the difference between poverty and non-poverty for many people in poor places was just a tiny amount of seed capital -- literally, just a few dollars. So he started lending that money out to the poor in Bangladesh, and the result has been a tremendous reversal of misfortune into self-sufficiency for thousands, if not millions of people. Yunus has showed that capitalism isn't the enemy of the poor, but in fact the salvation of them.
South Korean to take over as UN Secretary-General in January