Google answers questions

Google recently debuted a new service called Google Q&A. This service provides factual answers to certain queries. According to Peter Norvig, Google's Director of Search Quality:

A small percentage of queries currently trigger these factual answers, but the service, called Google Q&A, is in its early stages. Currently, Google Q&A is strong in areas such as geography, information about famous people and physical facts, such as the size of planets. Google will continually work to broaden the service's scope of topics and to improve its capability to deliver more complex answers.

Here are some good examples of what Google Q&A can do:

• What is the answer to life, the universe, and everything? Answer
• Who is Linus Torvalds? Answer
• What is the weight of Pamela Anderson? Answer
• What is the US defense budget? Answer
• What is Avogadro's number? Answer
• How many licks does it take to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop? Answer
• Who is God? Answer
• Who framed Roger Rabbit? Answer
• What is sqrt(3)*ln(e^5)? Answer
• How much wood could a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood? Answer
• What is the population of Germany? Answer

Source: Google Intros Q&A Service by Juan Carlos Perez