Teen Science Wizards Make History

Girls Sweep Top Siemens Science Prizes, For First Time In History

(AP)  Girls swept a prestigious high school science competition for the first time Monday, winning top prizes of $100,000 scholarships for their work on potential tuberculosis cures and bone growth in zebrafish.

It was the first time that girls had ever won the grand prizes in both the team and individual divisions of the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology.

Isha Jain, a senior at Freedom High School in Bethlehem, Pa., won the individual prize for her biology project on bone growth in zebrafish fins.

Janelle Schlossberger and Amanda Marinoff, seniors at John F. Kennedy High School in Plainview, N.Y., won the top team prize for their research into tuberculosis treatments.

"All I can say is, I don't know what to say," Marinoff said when the winners were announced at New York University.

The entries were judged by a panel of scientists led by Joseph Taylor, winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize in physics and a professor emeritus at Princeton University.

Five other individuals and five teams also won scholarships ranging from $10,000 to $50,000.

The Siemens competition was begun in 1998 to recognize America's best math and science students. Finalists were chosen at regional competitions and flown to New York for a weekend that included bowling and a Broadway show before Monday's awards ceremony. The contest has also been known as the Siemens Westinghouse Competition.

Jain, whose work has already been published in the journal Developmental Dynamics, said she chose to study zebrafish because they are a good animal model.

"They're simple creatures, and if you amputate their fins they regenerate," she said.

She said her research should lead to understanding bone growth in other vertebrates along with bone disorders in humans.

After tearing up during her brief acceptance speech, she ran and jumped into her father's arms.

Schlossberger and Marinoff said their research could lead to more effective treatments for drug-resistant tuberculosis.

"After synthesizing these drugs we need to then go back to modify them and optimize them to maximize their effectiveness," Marinoff said.

The awards are presented by the Siemens Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the German industrial conglomerate Siemens AG.

Other finalists' projects ranged from studying circadian-clock rhythms in bread mold to designing a system to ensure that ground beef is cooked safely in commercial kitchens.

The students, most of whom attend public high schools that lack advanced labs, have been mentored by faculty and graduate students at local colleges.

Jain said she spent so much time in the lab at Lehigh University in Bethlehem that her friends call her "fish girl."

[runningralph]

These girls are terrific. If parents can steer kids away from MTV, rap and other nasty influences we could have more like them.

[gangesdak]

Where are the boys? Smells like conspiracy. Must be cooked up by GOP to get women vote.

[runningralph]

Gangesdak,
The boys are watching MTV. Speaking of nasty, I heard the Ganges was.

[agarwal1]

Whenever it comes to serious brain work, extremely complicated science Mathc, it is always some kid of Asian (Indian Japanese Chinese) origin.

They always proven to be the way better then American / Western kid!!

[gangesdak]

Perhaps. But, I noticed, it takes an American to start something that was never there (innovation, I mean); only then others jump in to pretty it up, work hard to calculate many co-relations. Both are important. But I have soft corner for those innovators- those who see something that were never there. This country is still the best in producing them. Let this country never choke those free thinkers.

[jn122736]

Congratulations ladies. You should be very proud.

There was a time when America was more about education, studies, and betterment of the whole world and we were respected worldwide, even by our enemies.

If today%u2019s Americans truly want to regain world respect, and indeed even self-respect, they need to become americans again, instead of just Republicans or Democrats, return to those ways and put an end to corporate greed and corrupt government.

[toolmangler-2009]

Men have spare time in between orgies in which to ponder deep thoughts, most women do not. They are tied down doing things that men are too lazy to do,(like care for the kids produced by these mattress testing episodes). A woman may (or may not) have the capacity for deep thought and/or scientific Inquiry but for the most part we will never know because of the demanding roles thrust on women in a male dominated society. So I say "Come on ladies show your stuff" (just don''t air it unless you want to get arrested). (rebuttal?)

[toolmangler-2009]

Also, the Asian genetic design far exceeds the West. This is "why" the power people are working "fast ''''n furious" for the NWO, before too many people "wakeup!"
Posted by Spectrum108 at 12:13 PM : Dec 04, 2007



Americans (USA) are the innovator''s (dreamers) of the world. The Asian ''family oriented'' work ethic makes them ideally suited for improving to the Nth degree anything they get their hands on. Now before you get your bowels in an uproar, please know that I am not calling any nationality stupid. The USA is the inventive country because of the ''Homogeneous'' nature of its peoples (we get the cream of the crop in the dreamers category and have more intermingling of bloodline) . The Asians are the better ''refiners'' because of ''attention to detail'' that is instilled in them from childhood. The rest of us are workers or drones, most people have a MUCH larger potential than they believe but never realize it because of ''upbringing''. The parents never demanded much from them (other than stay out of my way) so they never exercised the brain enough to make it work better, longer. (rebuttal?)