11-year-old named top young scientist for developing device that detects lead levels in water
An 11-year-old from Colorado has been named the country’s top young scientist after developing a system that can quickly detect the presence of lead in drinking water.
Gitanjali Rao , a sixth grader from Lone Tree, Colorado, was named winner of the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge and brought home a $25,000 top prize.
As part of her project, Gitanjali developed a new test that connected to mobile phones via Bluetooth to measure the amount of lead in a sample of water. She named the system “Tethys” after the Greek goddess of water.
Currently, lead levels are tested with strips — which work quickly but are often unreliable — or sent to the EPA for testing — which is expensive and takes time. Gitanjali says her system offers a more accurate, less expensive option.
Tethys requires a test cartridge, which contains carbon nanotubes that are able detect lead. The cartridges connect to a device that reads the levels, which then sends the results to a user’s smartphone via a Bluetooth connection.
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According to Business Insider, Gitanjali hopes to further refine Tethys with the hope of one day of distributing it to communities affected by high lead levels, like Flint, Michigan.
It's heartwarming to see that there still are kids who are brilliant, in fact creative geniuses, notwithstanding an oft-criticized educational system. There is still hope, America.
Indeed. Science and education is something that should be promoted and supported. It's minds like miss Rao's who will solve problems and bring a better future for this country and for us all.
Given her ethnicity (or what I assume that is) ..perhaps its not surprising!
I will bet money that her brilliance is more a product of her own self. her parents and her upbringing than what she learned at school.
Anyway congratulations to her. I will be interested in seeing where she goes from here.
Who knows, she could become another Madame Curie.
This bring joy to a science teacher's heart. What a cleaver young lady! This could be a game changer for people all over the world!
Great story Larry!
btw.. keep your fingers crossed for Cat. She has just submitted her findings Nero-Cog Psych in Rotterdam on theta waves in the brain of autistic children and that this is what causes autistic children not to be able to pick up on facial emotions of others. If they accept, she will be Rotterdam to present her findings.
Good luck to Cat!
You are very fortunate Perrie as I know you are aware to have two wonderful goal oriented children. I'm sure Mother has been a major influence.
wow...very ingenious for a 11 year old. good for her!
Wow, this can have really huge changes in the way lead is found in water. Kudos to Gitanjali.
Hope that Cat wins, I know a lot of great places in Rotterdam and I could act as a chaperone and show her the night life in Rotterdam. I have an extra pair of wooden shoes as well.
And guess what the main emitter of Lead into our environment?
Here are the biggest emitters of mercury into the environment:
1. Coal-fired power plants. Mercury exists naturally in coal, making coal-fired power plants the largest source of mercury pollution in this country. Coal accounts for nearly 50 percent of the electricity generated in this country—and almost 50 tons of mercury emissions annually.
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