Teens win big for their research
WA, D.C. Sara Volz just became a $100,000 fantastic-prize winner for an experiment grown under her bed. On March 12, this 17-yr-overage snagged the top award at the 2013 Intel Scientific discipline Talent Explore (STS).
Volz is a bubbly student at Cheyenne Mountain High Schooltime, in Colorado Springs, Colo. She conducted an experiment that coaxed algae into boosting their production of oil for use up in biofuel. Her winning explore lidded projects by 39 other finalists. In add together, the challenger received 1,712 entries from 42 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and two American schools over the sea.
Volz conducted the experiment in her bedroom. She grew the algae in 40 glass flasks underneath her attic bed. Volz then used a herbicide that selectively killed the algae cells that dribbled out only tiny amounts of oil. She grew generation after genesis of the algae. At the end, she was left with cells naturally producing high levels of oil color.
Volz tended her algae garden almost regular. She checked it regularly for vaporization and kept information technology (and herself!) on strict light-dark cycles. "IT's basically like having a pet," joked Volz.
Increasing the come of oil that algae make presents a major challenge. But it is necessary for bringing down the price of this renewable fuel. For now, fossil fuels are still cheaper.
Volz plans to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology this fall.
During the Intel STS awards gala, she gasped when her figure was called. Volz then rush crossways the stage at the National Building Museum. Decked in a lavender satin dress, she laughed and smiled as blue and white balloons rained shoot down on her and the competition's different winners.
"SSP and Intel could not cost prouder of the Intel Science Talent Search finalists of 2013," said Elizabeth Marincola. She is president of the Society for Science &ere; the State-supported (SSP) and publisher of Science News for Kids. "We thirstily look forward to following their contributions in the coming years in every field of human endeavor."
At the observance, the Intel Foundation handed out $630,000 in prize money to the 40 finalists. SSP, which also publishes Science News, has run the competition since establishing it in 1942. Intel began sponsoring the competition in 2008.
Jonah Kallenbach, from Ambler, Penn., took home second place and $75,000. The 17-twelvemonth-old figured out a fashio to better predict how different drugs latch onto proteins. Proteins are molecules that do most of the work in organisms. They likewise oft are the objective of medicines. Kallenbach's work could give researchers a parvenue way to design drugs that fair game specific areas along chains of proteins.
Third place and $50,000 went to Adam Joseph Bowman, 17, of Brentwood, Tenn. He worn-out several years designing, building and refinement a plasma gun for hire in his service department. He bought parts for his creation on eBay. Plasma is a gaseous state of matter in which electrons branch out from the atom. Bowman also designed an inexpensive fiber optics organisation to stick to the plasma's movement. "I've always enjoyed building things," he said.
Hannah Kerner Larson, 18, of Eugene, Ore., South Korean won fourth lieu and $40,000 for her project on a type of snarf mathematical structure called fusion categories. Peter Kraft, 17, of Munster, Ind., came in fifth, picking up $30,000/ He created 10 new molecules that could help ameliorate how fuel cells store hydrogen. (Fuel cells green goods electricity by combining a fuel — usually hydrogen — with atomic number 8.)
Sixth and seventh place winners Kensen Shi and Samuel Zbarsky each took home $25,000. Shi, 17, of College Station, Texas, fashioned an algorithm that helps robots navigate close to obstacles. In his free time, Shi said, he likes to solve Rubik's Cubes. Zbarsky, 17, of Rockville, Md., worked happening a mathematics visualize that could help make computing device networks much efficient.
Eighth, ninth and 10th places each came with $20,000 and went to Brittany Wenger, Akshay Padmanabha and Sahana Vasudevan, respectively. Wenger, 18, of Sarasota, Fla., created a computer computer software program to dissect tiny tissue samples taken from breast cancer patients. Padmanabha, 16, of Collierville, Tenn., devised a method acting for detection seizures. (Seizures are a type of electrical surprise in the mental capacity.) Vasudevan, 16, of Palo Alto, Calif., worked on a math project to accelerate computer algorithms.
The remaining 30 finalists each received $7,500. All 40 teens spent a calendar week on an all-expenses paid trip to Washington. On March 10, these finalists presented their research to the unexclusive at the National True High society.
The finalists nonappointive Alexa Danzler to receive the Glenn T. Seaborg award. The distinction honors the memory of the late Nobel prize–winning druggist and longtime Science Talent Search judge.
All 40 of the early finalists wish change the world, same Jane Shaw, the former chairman of the Intel Corp. board. "IT's such an honor to help them plunge their careers, right present this evening."
Power Words
algorithmic program A group of rules or procedures for solving a problem in a series of steps. Algorithms are used in math and in computer programs for figuring out solutions.
biofuel Diesel and other fuels produced from algae, plants or separate live matter. Renewable biofuels are an alternative to unrenewable fossil fuels.
plasma A gaseous res publica of matter in which electrons separate from the atom.
protein Molecules that do most of the work in organisms. Medicines often operate by latching onto proteins.
seizure A sudden surge of electrical activity within the brain. Seizures are often a symptom of epilepsy.
selection In biology, a summons in which biological science or genetic influences see
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