Can a computer be loaded with the world’s textbook-science knowledge, reason through it and then answer questions in plain English like a phenomenal teacher, a “Digital Aristotle”?

Paul Allen’s private investment company, Vulcan, has announced it is willing to bankroll three competing research teams from around the world to answer this question, in what it calls “Project Halo,” a quest over the next 30 months to create a computerized tutor that’s smart enough to pass college-level Advanced Placement (AP) tests in chemistry, biology and physics.