What are the top inventions of the winners of the Intel Science Talent Search?

[siddharth]

Innovation was the word of the day as Intel announced the winners of the Intel Science Talent Search (Intel STS). The top award, a $100,000 scholarship from the Intel Foundation, went to Mary Masterman, 17, who built an accurate spectrograph that identifies the specific characteristics - or "fingerprints" - of different kinds of molecules. Spectrographs have wide applications in research and industry and can cost as much as $100,000. Mary's invention cost hundreds of dollars.
The rest of the top 10 winners are listed below:
...

http://www.sciserv.org/Sts/press/20070313.asp
http://www.sciserv.org/Sts/66sts/winners.asp

The work that the high school students have done looks phenomenally impressive. I'm quite amazed at the quality of the work of the students each year in this competetion. Does anyone know if I can details of the presentations, posters or papers?

 

[robphy]

https://www.physicsforums.com/blog/2007/03/15/intel-science-talent-search-2007-winners/

and from last year
https://www.physicsforums.com/blog/2006/03/15/science-talent-search-winners-announced/

 

[Crosson]

Woohoo, sound the trumpets for the kids who were born with lots of money and two educated supportive parents.

How about we take the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and look for kids who would do work just like these prizewinners if only we could transplant them out of their bad situations?

How many children were stuck with a summer job flipping burgers so they couldn't do science?

How many children were always too poor to buy books or computers?

These kids are not exceptionally hardworking or intelligent, its just that they all came from great backrounds that allowed them to dedicate themselves to science. I think that should be the focus of the competition: how lucky these children are to have good backrounds that supported their scientific curiosity.

Instead we treat them as extra-special, when they have already been given so much more than many ever will. Realize it is all about circumstance and believe in yourself. The only thing to do is took take my jealousy and channel it as ambition, true unlimited power.

 

[robphy]

While I sympathize with some of your points, I think the point of the competition is to encourage [high-school] kids, regardless of whether they are well to do or not... whether or not they win or lose, to pursue science. Note that these competitions often start at the local level with "science fairs". (Certainly some exceptional projects have access to [say] university faculty and equiipment... but that's certainly not true of most entrants.)

I feel science deserves more encouragement and support.
By contrast, "sports" gets more than its fair share of attention, encouragement, and support. (Wouldn't it be cool to see the same level of excitement for a science fair that one finds at a high-school football game? Wouldn't it be nice to have a "science section" in the local newspaper, as one does with the "sports section"?)

Finally, I think it's a good thing to encourage kids to be producers [of knowledge, technology, etc.] rather than merely consumers.

 

[Cyrus]

But there is a science section, its called technology section of the washington post.

 

[robphy]

But there is a science section, its called technology section of the washington post.

The Washington Post is not a local paper.
Does that section appear daily, like a typical sports section would?

I wonder how much "science" is in that "technology section"...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/technology/

 

[JasonRox]

The Washington Post is not a local paper.
Does that section appear daily, like a typical sports section would?

I wonder how much "science" is in that "technology section"...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/technology/

I'm sure the section only has reviews on cellphones and laptops.

 

[Crosson]

I think the point of the competition is to encourage [high-school] kids, regardless of whether they are well to do or not... whether or not they win or lose, to pursue science. Note that these competitions often start at the local level with "science fairs". (Certainly some exceptional projects have access to [say] university faculty and equiipment... but that's certainly not true of most entrants.)

I am talking about the huge category of kids who don't have any access to materials. Their parent(s) would laugh at them if they asked to buy materials for a science fair project. Neither can they get money for application fees or travel. These are the ones who the money should be given to, not those who need it least.

 

[Cyrus]

I'm sure the section only has reviews on cellphones and laptops.

Im sure your full of you know what.

Court Clears Way for Stem Cell Grants

By JASON DEAREN
The Associated Press
Wednesday, May 16, 2007; 9:52 PM

Researchers Store Data in Bacteria DNA

By YURI KAGEYAMA
The Associated Press
Wednesday, May 16, 2007; 6:46 PM

...Court Clears Way for Stem Cell Grants


...AP IMPACT: Laser Visas Are Rarely Used

...Mexican Sinkhole May Lead NASA to Jupiter

...Biotechnology: Celera Genomics Corp. Digene Corp. Emergent BioSolutions Inc. Human Genome Sciences Inc. Martek Biosciences Corp. MedImmune Inc. PRA International United Therapeutics Corp


...How to build your very own Internet-controlled robots: Linux-based hardware developed at Carnegie Mellon University allows for Internet-controlled bots made from off-the-shelf parts.

...NASA Releases 3D Images of Sun

...Global Warming May Put U.S. in Hot Water


...NASA to Test Portable Robot Surgeon

The list goes on.


Take your foot out your mouth again, Jason.

 

[Cyrus]

The Washington Post is not a local paper.
Does that section appear daily, like a typical sports section would?

I wonder how much "science" is in that "technology section"...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/technology/

Well, you have to be understanding of the general public. They are not scientists, nor is the local paper (or the WP for that matter), a science journal. Therefore, it would be unfair to expect techincal articles for John Q Public. I think they do go over some of areas of research (more towards internet and stem cell stuff apparently), but if you look you can find stuff in there.

 

[Astronuc]

The NYTimes has a Science section, but that is primarily on one day, otherwise the articles on Science get buried, unless a particular item is sensational enough to on the front page or at least in the first section.

We can get the NYTimes delivered locally. Our local paper (owned by Gannet) doesn't offer a lot in terms of science and technology.

 

[robphy]

[edit: fixed misquote]

I am talking about the huge category of kids who don't have any access to materials. Their parent(s) would laugh at them if they asked to buy materials for a science fair project. Neither can they get money for application fees or travel. These are the ones who the money should be given to, not those who need it least.

Annually, I'm sure that the money spent on this "science competition" is small compared to the money spent on sports or entertainment media or media gossip. I think the money is well-spent trying to encourage science, starting at the local level. (The "Intel"-money certainly doesn't trickle down to that level, but its presence probably encourages some local resources to support local competitions.)

You don't need fancy materials to do a science project. Okay, given the competition, maybe you won't win the big prizes at the national level. But it shouldn't be all about the money or the awards. It should be about an opportunity to do science [or view science]... just like there are opportunities to play on a sports team [or watch them].

It's sad that parents would laugh at them for asking to buy materials for a science fair project, but would probably have less of a problem paying for a cell phone or buying video games. It's probably indication of a systemic problem that a little science appreciation might remedy someday.

Well, you have to be understanding of the general public. They are not scientists, nor is the local paper (or the WP for that matter), a science journal. Therefore, it would be unfair to expect techincal articles for John Q Public. I think they do go over some of areas of research (more towards internet and stem cell stuff apparently), but if you look you can find stuff in there.

I think I do have some understanding of the scientific literacy of the general public... most of the people that I teach physics to are not scientists. Every class meeting is a struggle and a [fun] challenge to improve on that literacy.

I don't think it's necessary to have technical articles for John Q public in a local newspaper. I think it is necessary to have [nontechnical] articles for John Q and Jane Q science enthusiasts.

It might be nice to have a regular [daily] column like (say) an ask the scientist column, or this day is science history, a math puzzler [like the Car Talk guys], astronomy photo of the day, etc... These columns need not be written locally but could be syndicated. Of course, local contributions from a local museum or a university might be nice. There could be a regular mix of such columns over the course of a week. It need not be several pages as one finds for a typical sports section... but at least have a regular presence like a comic strip, crossword, or suduko puzzle.

The point is to somehow encourage the appreciation of science.
I'm just trying to get a little of the spotlight directed elsewhere.

 

[Cyrus]

I also believe that the newspaper has always been a political thing, not science. And to be fair, I want politics to be page 1 in big bold font, every single day, long before I would want science.

As for sports, I don't watch them: its not my cup of tea. But that's the culture we have (and almost every other country in the world, except they love soccer).

I think if you want the public to understand science better, you have to explain to them how really really cool stuff works. Then they will pay attention. Like technology. Things keep getting smaller and better. Hows that possible? That is someone people can relate to everyday.

When I took my art theory class last summer my professor (who writes for a local paper), was complaining about the same thing (art). No one reads about or visits art galleries. And his case is exactly like ours. Art is not something you just write about, "this picture is nice, this one is ugly" etc. You really must be well versed in art to understand it. Its not something you can just read in a short article. It takes years of reading and studying artists works, what they were trying to accomplish, different art periods, etc.

Just my thoughts.

 

[Crosson]

It's probably indication of a systemic problem that a little science appreciation might remedy someday.

Science appreciation is not enough, we need to show the public a sense of scientific democritization.

Poor uneducated people already appreciate science, but they don't see themselves or their children as ever contributing to it.

The intel competition re-enforced this belief, as most of the winners had educated parents and the projects all costed money (expensive relative to canned food, not a cell phone).

 

[marlon]

As for sports, I don't watch them: its not my cup of tea. But that's the culture we have (and almost every other country in the world, except they love soccer).

LOL. Says the guy with Lance Armstrong 's pic in his avatar. Yeah, Lance Armstrong, the last "true" winner of the Tour de France


marlon