Girls Rule At Google's First Global Science Fair
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Girl power was quite apparent at the Mountain View headquarters of search engine giant Google last week, as officials got ready to announce the winner of its first global science fair - Nine of the fifteen quarter finalists were girls! It therefore, should come as no surprise that the winners in each of the three categories were also . . . . Girls!
Open to teens aged 13-18 years old, the competition attracted entries from 7,500 budding scientists representing 90 countries. Contestants were categorized into three age categories, with one semi-finalist selected from each. From this final group, one lucky contestant was declared the grand prize winner.
In the youngest age category (13-14) it was Pennsylvania teen, Lauren Hodge's experiment, which tested the effects of different marinades on the harmful carcinogens found on grilled chicken, that impressed the judges the most. She discovered that lemon and brown sugar are helpful in destroying the cancer-causing agents, while Soy sauce actually helps increase them - A handy tip, just in time for the grilling season.
Naomi Shah from Oregon was declared the semi-finalist in the 15-16 age category, thanks to her research on how to improve the quality of indoor air so that people suffering from asthma could cut their dependency on medications.
The final category (17-18) and overall grand prizewinner was Texasresident, Shree Bose. Her research involved investigating why women suffering from ovarian cancer develop a resistance to chemotherapy drugs after they have been using them for some time and, what could be done to prevent that. Through experiments performed on cell cultures, she discovered that adding a protein called AMPK to the mix in the later stages of the treatment, helped mitigate the issue. Though further research and tests need to be done, her project may end up helping millions of women who suffer as a result of the drugs becoming ineffective - Pretty awesome!
The two finalists each took home a Lego trophy, a $25,000USD scholarship and earned themselves an internship at Google and Lego. Shree also received a Lego trophy, a National Geographic Expeditions trip to the Galapagos Islands, a $50,000USD scholarship and best of all, an internship at world's largest particle physics laboratory, CERN, where she will rub shoulders with some of the world's smartest researchers! Way to go ladies! To find out how you can compete in Google Science Fair, go to www.google.com/events/sciencefair.
Resources: newswatch.nationalgeographic.com,itworld.com,engadget.com
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153 Comments
- Martinalmost 9 yearsThat's true
- Martinalmost 9 yearsThat's right Chloe
- Google compalmost 9 yearsThis really cool I am a little jelous
- Paige hylandalmost 9 yearsGirls rule and they have the ability to do just as much as a boy can!
chloe1244about 9 yearsGirls have the potentional to be who they want to be. I'm happy about it but why are girls considered people who don't really like science and like writing. I like writing but I also like science. Girls should be judged the same as boys. It's not weird for a girl to do science or a girl that wins a science competion.- BRADENabout 9 yearsI DONT GET IT.
redheadperson22over 9 yearsI'm definitely glad for these girls. It seems like their projects were amazing, and they probably did deserve to win. But I don't get why we have to bring so much attention to the fact that they're girls. What's the point? I mean they should be recognized by their achievements, not their gender. Personally, I don't think science is a boy thing (it's actually my favorite subject, though it really wouldn't make a difference if I did think it was a boy thing), but jobs involving STEM happen to be male-dominated. I really don't get why we encourage girls to do "boy" things, but we don't encourage boys to do "girl". We urge girls to go into STEM, but we don't urge boys to become teachers or nurses. It's not fair to the guys. In fact, girls who do "boy" things are applauded, but boys who do "girl" things are frowned upon. Just look at bronies. Of course, there's nothing wrong with encouraging girls to get into STEM, but it's not fair if we don't encourage boys to become teachers or nurses. Again, these girls were amazing, and I think the things they did were great. But what I don't think is great is the fact that their gender is the main focus of this article. Especially since this kind of applause wouldn't be given to boys who were doing a "girl" thing.
basi344over 9 yearsGirl Power is kicking in! Boys watch out. BTW, Boy Power is getting lame, find a new name like Boy...something I don't know!
felicisowlover 9 yearsHow is Boy Power getting lame? And um, why do boys have to find a new name just because of your command? Boys AND girls, ALL of them, will shape this generation, so don't be unfair to the other gender.. (My opinion :D) Argue if you please :)
genius1326over 9 yearsWell, it is scientifically proven on average, boys are smarter than girls. It says that taller people are most likely to be smarter than shorter people, and boys just happen to be taller. But really, on average, boys are smarter.- redheadperson22over 9 yearsExactly! But whenever I tell people that, they don't believe me...
- genius1326over 9 yearsWell, it depends. If it is a girl, then she doesn't want to face facts she doesn't agree with, and if it is a boy, well, I dunno. But anyway, tell them to look it up on Google. It should help. :D
- redheadperson22over 9 yearsThanks :). And also, If it's a boy and he doesn't believe me (or bother to look it up), then I personally would blame it on feminist brainwashing. But who knows...
- felicisowlover 9 yearsBoth points are correct in my view :)
- genius1326over 9 yearsYou are very welcome! :DDD
pupayyover 9 yearsgirl power! I hope this helps people with asthma. My brother used to have it and now hes beter dou. But when he did it was miserable. Im glad that's being stopped.- basi344over 9 yearsThat's right! Girl Power is the thing these days!!!
- lovelyover 9 yearsi liked i t but want more
