You know the deal. A fuzzy, distorted word (or two) pops up on your computer, and you have to type in the answer to continue. You've come across reCAPTCHA—the brainchild of Carnegie Mellon’s , associate professor of computer science. Recently, von Ahn won the for his work on and other projects that create a synergy between computers and humans to solve problems and work more efficiently. In the case of reCAPTCHA, you’re re-typed words are used to protect Web sites from automated spam “bots” and to help digitize old books, newspapers, and radio shows.
—Elizabeth May
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