Go large: The power of exponential thinking

For lovers of exponential thinking, the best place on Earth - and so by default the solar system - to immerse yourself in such ideas might be Silicon Valley. Those in the know make a beeline for Singularity University based at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View - a stone's throw from Google HQ. You wouldn't even have to be a good shot.

Each year, the university, which is more like a think tank or incubator than a traditional university, scours the planet for the most inquisitive risk-takers with plenty of smarts who combine entrepreneurial zeal with a flair for creativity. Eighty extraordinary people are thrown together for a long hot summer of ideas and innovation on the 10-week graduate studies program, sponsored by Google. What unites them all is a desire to develop ideas that can improve the lives of one billion people.