The Beal Conjecture, i.e.

If A<sup>x</sup> +B<sup>y</sup>
= C<sup>z</sup> , where A, B, C, x, y and z are positive integers and x,
y and z are all greater than 2, then A, B and C must have a common prime
factor.

... and it's associated $100K prize for proof or disproof seems to have gone largely unnoticed in the mathematics community. Please answer with (A) references to past or ongoing research or (B) references to equivalent forms of this conjecture known prior to Andrew Beal posing it in 1993.