ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Centennial Challenges

Centennial challenges are like really big contests that grown-ups make up to encourage other grown-ups to come up with new ideas and inventions. Imagine a competition where you have to build the coolest castle out of legos, except instead of legos, it's more complicated things that adults work with.

The grown-ups who create the challenge have set up some really tough problems that they want people to solve, and they offer a lot of money as a prize for the best solution. It's like if you were trying to finish a big puzzle and someone offers you a big reward for being the first to put all the pieces in the right place.

These competitions can be about all sorts of things, like building the fastest car, designing a robot that can do amazing things or creating a new way to grow plants. The goal is to inspire people to think creatively and come up with really clever answers that other people haven't thought of before.

Winning one of these challenges is a big deal because it not only means that you get a prize, but you also get recognition from experts and other people in the field. Sometimes, the things that people come up with during the challenge can help make big changes in the world!