Several teens who competed at the Regeneron Science Talent Search applied their STEM know-how to solve problems they or their communities faced.
Many people see a problem in the world and don’t know what to do. They might throw their hands up in the air — leaving it for someone else to find a solution. But few finalists of this year’s Regeneron Science Talent Search feel this way. They let personal or social problems inspire their research.
Established in 1942, the Regeneron Science Talent Search, or STS, is the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science and math competition. Each year, it brings together 40 high school seniors from around the United States. They compete for awards now valued at more than $1.8 million. In response to the pandemic, this year’s competition is being held online.
And for many of its finalists, their research project this year wasn’t just a competition entry. It was a way help others.
Explainer: Hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons
Take Andrew Brinton. He was 10 years old when Hurricane Sandy battered the U.S. East Coast in 2012. From his home in Merrick, N.Y., the boy experienced the storm firsthand. “I looked out the window and I saw a car floating down the street,” recalls Andrew, now 17. He found it “really scary.” Soon, he was researching hurricanes. He learned about damage caused by storm surges — when winds push water ashore. He also learned how salt marshes can protect inland communities by buffering those waves. These “living shorelines” ended up fascinating Andrew.
He started mucking about in Long Island’s salt marshes. “I was walking across … places that nobody had been for more than 60 years,” he says. Andrew noticed a buildup of certain mussels, a type of mollusk, in very grassy areas. Scientists have linked the health of marsh grasses to the ability of shorelines to absorb the energy of waves. Andrew became curious: Could those grasses and mussels work together as partners in that energy absorption?
To test the idea, he surveyed mussels at 10 marshy areas using a grid that he toted from site to site. He’d take a picture and count the mussels in each place. At healthy sites, he found that grass and an abundance of mussels often occur together. This may be because the grass creates a safe haven for the mussels. At the same time, he says, mussels provide nutrients that help the grasses grow. His data now suggest that mussels and grasses together help restore marshes that can protect coastal communities.
If you could do one thing to stop climate change, what would it be? We asked some of the finalists at the 2019 Regeneron Science Talent Search.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Climate change can be overwhelming. Over the past 250 years, human activities have warmed the planet’s surface, changed weather patterns and even made the oceans more acidic. Halting or slowing down these changes requires that people stop putting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere in high amounts. The problem is too large for any one person to fix. But what if you could? What if you suddenly had the power to do one thing to stop climate change? What would you do with this huge responsibility?
The Regeneron Science Talent Search is full of minds that are up for this challenge. Winning the Science Talent Search, after all, isn’t just about who’s got a good science fair project. The finalists are challenged to think like a scientist and take on big problems. Like climate change. We asked some of this year’s finalists what one thing they would try if they had the infinite power to fight climate change.
Going green
If he could do one thing to stop climate change right now, Daniel Schäffer, 17, would start planting. Daniel is a senior at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Md. Plants take up CO2 from the atmosphere and store that carbon in their trunks, stems and leaves, so the more plants, the less CO2 to worry about. “I’d stop deforestation and plant a ton of trees,” he says. “It’s not the quickest, but it’s sustainable.” Plus, it doesn’t force people to change their behaviors.
“Plant more trees anywhere there’s space,” agrees Kaili Liu, 17. The senior at Ravenwood High School in Brentwood, Tenn., wants to put plants on buildings, too, she says. She advocates creating more green roofs — covering roofs with gardens and greenery. “Green roofs and trees will help decrease CO2 emissions,” she says.
Catching carbon
Plants can suck CO2 out of the air, but people can also develop technologies to do this, notes Rachel Seevers, 17. Rachel is a senior at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Lexington, Ky. These technologies could trap carbon as it is produced from fossil fuel plants, she says, or even suck it directly out of the air. “You can take emissions and recapture them and reuse them … take it out of the air and use it for good.”
If you want to force people to change, says Kevin Chengming Qian, 18, hit them where it counts — their wallets. The senior at Montgomery Blair High School would “assign values to each thing that’s harmful [to the climate], and when each person does that, I’d tax them.” You get charged extra, he says, if it’s clear you don’t care about climate.
Hit them where it counts
Emma Montgomery, 18, says she would attack companies instead of people. “One thing I get upset by in terms of climate change is how there’s a big focus on what the individual can do,” the senior at Ossining High School in New York says. “In reality, it’s the corporations that are contributing the most” to climate change. She wants heavy restrictions on companies that produce too much carbon dioxide.
Explainer: CO2 and other greenhouse gases
The government could also work together with businesses to limit the burning of fossil fuels, says Preeti Sai Krishnamani, 17. She’s a senior at the Charter School of Wilmington in Delaware. “I’d want them to work together for green innovation and to reinvent their products,” she says. “The only way you can influence people is to change the products they are using.”
Some people in the U.S. government are starting this approach, notes Brent Perlman, 17. “I would try and pass the Green New Deal,” says the senior at Byram Hills High School in Armonk, N.Y. The Green New Deal is a proposed government program to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency. “I think it’s important to incentivize people to transition away from gas,” he says. “I know a tax on gas is very unpopular, but I do think we need to make sacrifices now to preserve the health of our environment for future generations.”
While we’re making big changes, says Amol Singh, 18, let’s go worldwide. “I would impose a carbon tax on all countries,” says the senior at Lynbrook High School in San Jose, Calif. “The money would be used to reduce the effects of climate change.”
When you believe
It’s time to change the way the public thinks about climate change, says Chirag Kumar, 17. People need to realize that climate change is already having impacts, says the senior at Horace Greeley High School in Chappaqua, N.Y. “It’s not only about tomorrow getting warmer,” he notes. “It’s about extreme weather events, like the polar vortex and extreme heat waves. It’s a problem that will change how we live our lives.”
Laws and taxes can make people change. But people might change on their own if they believe the problem is worth working on. That’s why Ana Humphrey, 18, wants to educate people. “It’s such a big challenge; we need to collaborate,” says the senior at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Va. “If we could get everyone on the same page, I think we would figure it out. These are issues that impact all of us.” Perhaps the most important key to climate change, then, is getting everyone to understand that’s is a problem that needs solving.
(The Regeneron Science Talent Search is run by Society for Science & the Public and funded by Regeneron. Society for Science & the Public also publishes Science News for Students. Regeneron is a company that develops treatments for diseases such as cancer.)
Over the past 10 years, behavioral and social sciences have dominated submissions to the Regeneron Science Talent Search.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — When most people consider a science fair, they might think of baking soda volcanoes and model rockets. But these days, you’re far more likely to find new smartphone apps and computer programs. What’s hot and what’s not? We decided to crunch the data from the past 10 years of the Regeneron Science Talent Search to find out. It turns out that the key to finding a science fair project is sticking close to home.
The Science Talent Search, or STS, is arguably the premier U.S. science competition for high school students. And it has been almost since its founding in 1942 by Society for Science and the Public. (STS is now sponsored by Regeneron, a company that makes medications to treat diseases such as asthma and cancer.) Any U.S. high school senior can apply to STS. This year, nearly 2,000 did. Among the many items that entrants had to submit to qualify was a science-research project.
But there wasn’t a baking soda volcano in the bunch. Science has changed a lot in the last 77 years. We’ve gone from the space race and landing an astronaut on the moon to mapping the DNA blueprint of our species and many others. In the last 10 years, smartphones have put a camera and computer in nearly everyone’s hands. A simple home computer can now analyze big data from exoplanets millions of light-years away.
And as science changes, science projects may, too. When it comes to the STS candidates, which topics have proven most popular? Science News for Students is run by the same organization as STS. So to answer this question, we dug into 10 years of data and almost 20,000 project submissions. The results have been graphed here.
This graph shows the number of Science Talent Search submissions in each category over the last 10 years. Behavioral and social sciences, such as psychology, dominate with more than 300 submissions per year most years, while plant sciences languishes with only around 35.
Credit: B. Brookshire/SSP
Not surprisingly, the data show that the popularity of topics can shift widely over time.
Teens choose which category their project falls under, explains Alison Hewlett Stifel. She directs the competition. What topic they choose determines the type of scientist who will end up seeing their application first.
Say a teen’s project is both about plants and the environment. They might want to select “plant science” and know that a plant scientist will see it first. If they instead select “environmental science,” that’s the type of scientist who will take an initial read of their application.
If you could do one thing to stop climate change, what would it be? We asked some of the finalists at the 2019 Regeneron Science Talent Search.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Climate change can be overwhelming. Over the past 250 years, human activities have warmed the planet’s surface, changed weather patterns and even made the oceans more acidic. Halting or slowing down these changes requires that people stop putting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere in high amounts. The problem is too large for any one person to fix. But what if you could? What if you suddenly had the power to do one thing to stop climate change? What would you do with this huge responsibility?
The Regeneron Science Talent Search is full of minds that are up for this challenge. Winning the Science Talent Search, after all, isn’t just about who’s got a good science fair project. The finalists are challenged to think like a scientist and take on big problems. Like climate change. We asked some of this year’s finalists what one thing they would try if they had the infinite power to fight climate change.
Over the past 10 years, behavioral and social sciences have dominated submissions to the Regeneron Science Talent Search.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — When most people consider a science fair, they might think of baking soda volcanoes and model rockets. But these days, you’re far more likely to find new smartphone apps and computer programs. What’s hot and what’s not? We decided to crunch the data from the past 10 years of the Regeneron Science Talent Search to find out. It turns out that the key to finding a science fair project is sticking close to home.
The Science Talent Search, or STS, is arguably the premier U.S. science competition for high school students. And it has been almost since its founding in 1942 by Society for Science and the Public. (STS is now sponsored by Regeneron, a company that makes medications to treat diseases such as asthma and cancer.) Any U.S. high school senior can apply to STS. This year, nearly 2,000 did. Among the many items that entrants had to submit to qualify was a science-research project.
But there wasn’t a baking soda volcano in the bunch. Science has changed a lot in the last 77 years. We’ve gone from the space race and landing an astronaut on the moon to mapping the DNA blueprint of our species and many others. In the last 10 years, smartphones have put a camera and computer in nearly everyone’s hands. A simple home computer can now analyze big data from exoplanets millions of light-years away.
And as science changes, science projects may, too. When it comes to the STS candidates, which topics have proven most popular? Science News for Students is run by the same organization as STS. So to answer this question, we dug into 10 years of data and almost 20,000 project submissions. The results have been graphed here.
Not surprisingly, the data show that the popularity of topics can shift widely over time.
Teens choose which category their project falls under, explains Alison Hewlett Stifel. She directs the competition. What topic they choose determines the type of scientist who will end up seeing their application first.
Winners of the 2019 Regeneron Science Talent search hunted exoplanets in new ways, tracked how HIV likes to hide and tackled some candy jar math.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Unsolved mysteries fascinate many of us. It’s why we watch crime shows and read mystery novels. Scientists get fascinated by unsolved mysteries, too. The top three winners in the 2019 Regeneron Science Talent Search all took on their own unsolved mysteries. One hunted for planets in other solar systems that may have snuck past big telescopes. Another uncovered hiding places where HIV — the virus that causes AIDS — likes to lurk. A third, frustrated by an “unsatisfying” answer, tackled a complicated math problem.
Ana Humphrey, 18, took home $250,000 and first prize. Samuel Weissman, 17, won second place and $175,000. Adam Ardeishar, 17, came in third, winning $150,000.
“Looking at today’s finalists and thinking about the students to come, I know we are in good hands,” says Maya Ajmera. “I am thrilled that, together with Regeneron, we are able to continue this competition, now in its 78th year, and provide these young people with a platform to showcase their science.” Ajmera is president and chief executive officer of Society for Science and the Public. This organization created the Science Talent Search in 1942 and still runs the competition. (The nonprofit society also publishes Science News and Science News for Students.)
Each year, the Science Talent Search brings together 40 students from across the United States. They show their science projects to the public and face a panel of judges as they compete for more than $2 million in prizes. The Science Talent Search is sponsored by Regeneron, a company that develops medicines for diseases such as cancer.
Winners of the 2019 Regeneron Science Talent search hunted exoplanets in new ways, tracked how HIV likes to hide and tackled some candy jar math.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Unsolved mysteries fascinate many of us. It’s why we watch crime shows and read mystery novels. Scientists get fascinated by unsolved mysteries, too. The top three winners in the 2019 Regeneron Science Talent Search all took on their own unsolved mysteries. One hunted for planets in other solar systems that may have snuck past big telescopes. Another uncovered hiding places where HIV — the virus that causes AIDS — likes to lurk. A third, frustrated by an “unsatisfying” answer, tackled a complicated math problem.
Ana Humphrey, 18, took home $250,000 and first prize. Samuel Weissman, 17, won second place and $175,000. Adam Ardeishar, 17, came in third, winning $150,000.
“Looking at today’s finalists and thinking about the students to come, I know we are in good hands,” says Maya Ajmera. “I am thrilled that, together with Regeneron, we are able to continue this competition, now in its 78th year, and provide these young people with a platform to showcase their science.” Ajmera is president and chief executive officer of Society for Science and the Public. This organization created the Science Talent Search in 1942 and still runs the competition. (The nonprofit society also publishes Science News and Science News for Students.)
Each year, the Science Talent Search brings together 40 students from across the United States. They show their science projects to the public and face a panel of judges as they compete for more than $2 million in prizes. The Science Talent Search is sponsored by Regeneron, a company that develops medicines for diseases such as cancer.
