Congressman Beats Watson in Jeopardy

New Jersey's Rush Holt proves his smarts, again
Congressman Beats Watson in Round of Jeopardy
Dr. Eric Brown from IBM preps Reps. Jared Polis, Bill Cassidy, Jim Himes, and Rush Holt for an exhibition game against IBM's Watson on Monday, Feb. 28, 2011.   (AP)

Watson, the IBM computer that took on and beat two of Jeopardy's greatest players last month, lost a round of the game show yesterday to a surprising opponent: a US congressman. Rush Holt, a New Jersey Democrat, won $8,600 to the machine's $6,200 in the first round of several matches against congressmen. Holt, who has a doctorate in physics, knew what it was like to win: He was a five-time Jeopardy champ back in the 1970s, notes AP.

"I jumped at the chance to do this, not only because it would be fun, but as a way to highlight our national need to invest in research and science education," says Holt. "It's something I've been talking about for decades." (More Watson stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X