defense advanced research projects agency

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency likes to run contests for geeks. Previously they held a robot race in the desert.

DARPA is interested now in social networking. The agency recently held a challenge mobilizing thousands of people worldwide to find out how people gather and report information using tools like Twitter.

Dr. Peter Lee, of DARPA, talks to Ari Shapiro about the experiment.

Marvin, a self-driving Isuzu SUV programmed by University of Texas at Austin computer scientists and members of Austin Robot Technology (ART), passed a recent driving test and will advance to the semifinals of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) 2007 Urban Challenge race.