Google Science Fair 2016: #howcanwe make things better with science?

The 2016 Google Science Fair opens for submissions today. Together with LEGO Education, National Geographic, Scientific American and Virgin Galactic, we’re inviting all young explorers and innovators to make something better through science and engineering. To learn more about the competition, how to enter, prize details and more, visit the site, and follow along on Google+ and Twitter. 

In this post, 2015 Grand Prize winner, Olivia Hallisey, joins us to reflect back on her own experience with Google Science Fair. -Ed.

I remember the day I first heard about the Google Science Fair last year. I was sitting in my 10th grade science class when my teacher asked us: “What will you try?” I loved the invitation—and the challenge—that the Google Science Fair offered. It was a chance to use science to do something that could really make a difference in the world.

I had always been curious and interested in science, and knew I wanted to submit a project, but didn’t really know exactly where to begin. I asked my teacher for his advice on selecting a research topic. He encouraged me to choose something that I felt passionate about, or something that outraged me, and told me to look at the world around me for inspiration. So I did. At that time, the Ebola crisis was all over the news. It was a devastating situation and I wanted to help be a part of the solution. I had found my project.

With the outbreak spreading so quickly, I decided that I wanted to find a way to diagnose the virus earlier so that treatment could be delivered as quickly as possible to those who were affected. I read online about silk’s amazing storage and stabilizing properties, and wondered if I could use silk to transport antibodies that could test for the virus. After many failed attempts (and cutting up lots of cocoons) I finally succeeded in creating a temperature-independent, portable, and inexpensive diagnostic test that could detect the Ebola virus in under 30 minutes. I was really excited that my research could help contribute to saving lives, and I was proud to be selected as the Grand Prize winner a few months later.

As the 2016 Google Science Fair launches today, I wanted to share a few tips from my own experience: First, as my teacher once guided me to do, look at the world around you for ideas. If you’re stuck, try the Make Better Generator to find something that excites or inspires you. Second, find a mentor who’s interested in the same things as you. There are a lot of helpful ideas on the GSF site to get you started. And finally, don’t get discouraged—often what first appears like failure can teach you so much more.

I urge other teenagers like me to take this opportunity to find a way to make the world around them better. Every one of us, no matter our age or background, can make a difference—and as young people, we’re not always so afraid to try things that adults think will fail. But change doesn’t happen overnight, and it often starts with a question. So look at the world around you and challenge yourself to make something better.


Science isn’t just a subject—it’s a way to make things better. So I hope you’ll join the conversation and enter the Google Science Fair this year. Our world is waiting to see what you come up with!

Posted by Olivia Hallisey, 2015 Grand Prize winner, Google Science Fair IMAGE URL AUTHOR NAME AUTHOR TITLE AUTHOR TEAM

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When Law Enforcement Software Goes Too Far

In the war on crime, law enforcement officers need every possible tool that they can use (safely) to deter illegal activity and keep the public safe. Some of those tools are as old as police forces themselves, while others are so high tech as to be the stuff of futuristic movies. But the unfortunately reality is that having the tech and using it responsibly aren’t the same thing.

Police forces around the country are incorporating a new item in the crime prevention arsenal, and it’s already raising a few privacy and civil rights advocates’ eyebrows. Called Beware, it lets officers look at a suspect’s complete criminal history before arriving on the scene.

Until this software came along, officers responded to a call and gathered information, during which time they can make a call back to the station and discover that their “perp” has some outstanding warrants. That’s all very logical. But Beware allows officers to find out instantly about charges going back years, essentially, the charges that have already been prosecuted and either dropped or served.

Why would an officer responding to an emergency call need to know that you had an arrest in 1997 for armed robbery? Ostensibly, it’s to allow that officer to assume that you have a violent streak and to treat you as such. But Beware has another feature, and even police officers aren’t able to answer the crucial questions about it.

This software automatically assigns a “threat level” to a particular address, but only the programmers know exactly what the criteria would be that causes one address to be a “yellow” and another address to be “red.” Despite claims that law enforcement agencies don’t know how that determination is made, it doesn’t take too much intelligence to figure out that previous crimes, neighborhood demographics, and even race may play a factor in telling a cop that he should be extra cautious about approaching a particular property, no matter why he was called.

Beware isn’t done profiling you just yet… another feature of this software allows it to cull social media posts to determine if you’ve posted anything anti-law enforcement online (ie, “Man, so tired of these pigs riding through my neighborhood, always asking what we’re doing”). If your address has too many red flags about your feelings towards the police, you may find yourself bumping up a notch to a higher threat level, something that police will know about you before you ever open the door.

While no one argues that law enforcement agencies are tasked with a thankless, dangerous job, it’s hard to envision how this kind of presupposition will foster better community relations and save lives.

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Thunderbird 45.0 Beta 2

http://ift.tt/PELQiS Mozilla Thunderbird makes e-mailing safer, faster, and easier with features such as intelligent spam filters, a built-in RSS reader, and quick search. Thunderbird was designed to prevent viruses and to stop junk mail. Thunderbird includes tabbed e-mail, new search tools and indexing, smart folders, support for Firefox, a simplified s...

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