Vinegar and baking soda won a Google Science Fair a $50,000 scholarship and more.
The grand winner of this year's teen competition was 17-year-old Eric Chen from San Diego, California, whose project involved a new approach to fighting the flu.
“The emergence of new, highly lethal influenza viruses, H5N1 and H7N9, poses a serious threat to the world,” Chen says on her project page. My research has uncovered compounds that will target a viral protein, the endonuclease.
“By combining computer modeling and biological studies, I identified a series of novel, potent endonuclease inhibitors,” Chen wrote. “I also performed extensive structural analysis and further design to optimize the anti-influenza drug candidates.”
On Monday, Chen received a $50,000 scholarship and a trip to the Galapagos Islands with National Geographic.
Winners in other age groups include 16-year-old Elif Bilgin from Turkey, who created a bioplastic from banana peels. 15-year-old Ann Makosinski from Canada, who built a flashlight that runs entirely on body heat. The final winner was 14-year-old Viney Kumar from Australia, who created an app that lets drivers know when an ambulance is ahead of them, so that roads can clear faster.
All winners received a $25,000 scholarship and, along with Chen, a Chromebook, a tablet, a Lego Mindstorms kit and subscriptions to National Geographic and Scientific American, according to Business Insider.
The Google Science Fair is a global online competition for all student ages, from 13 to 18. Teens can register for the 2014 competition in January.
