Google Science Fair: Teenage Girls Discuss Award-Winning Research At TEDxWomen

Talk about girl power -- three American high school girls made headlines in November when they swept the 2011 international Google Science Fair, earning the grand prize awards in all three age groups.

Over 10,000 students from 91 countries entered the first-annual Google Science Fair, and 15 finalists (nine of whom were boys) were selected to present their research to judges at Google's headquarters in Silicon Valley.

17-year-old Shree Bose from Fort Worth was awarded for her research on a chemotherapy drug, cisplatin, that is commonly used to treat women with ovarian cancer. Bose discovered a cellular energy protein that could keep cells from growing resistant to cisplatin over time.

In the 15-16 age group, Naomi Shah won with her study of the effects of air quality on lungs, focusing on individuals with asthma. Lauren Hodge dominated the 13-14 age group with her research on whether various marinades reduce the level of carcinogens and other cancer-causing compounds produced when grilling meat.

This year, the competition will heat up again for Google's second-ever student science competition. The 2012 Google Science Fair launched yesterday, and is now accepting entries from students ages 13-18 from around the world.

Watch the above TED talk to hear the girls discuss their award-winning research!

Comments

[Xylem44]

10:53 PM on 02/28/2012

Can you imagine the kind of country we could be if even a quarter of our students nationwide were being challenged on this level? And if instead if the Republican party upheld education instead of denigrating it or trying to do away with the dept. of education. Oh the possibilities.

[Sheamak Acidwalla]

02:52 PM on 02/18/2012

This Video is a must watch ! very Motivational and Inspirational. Storms make oaks take roots

[Femonanon]

01:20 PM on 01/14/2012

Shree Bose for president.

[caffeinedrone]

01:28 PM on 01/13/2012

Amazing just amazing. Congratulations to Shree Bose for her accomplishments and all of the finalist. This is an excellent example of the things students are capable of. Lead the way Shree Bose!

[Hlynn]

09:56 PM on 01/12/2012

Wow! If you are deciding whether or not to watch this video, do yourself a favor and take the time to do it. These young women are brilliant, poised, and articulate in explaining how they got interested in their research, the obstacles to complete their research, and their fascinating results. They all talked about how this became a passion of theirs and I was thinking how wonderful that they were so engrossed in the findings and possibilities of their different areas of study. And how it be great if more young people could find their own passions and be so focused on them that the usual problems and issues of being teenagers--which we read about in the news, too often with tragic results--were obliterated with the hunger for knowledge and something they're excited about discovering. I hope many young people, girls and boys, see this and start their own inventions and research and I hope they will have adults in their lives to cheer them on.

[abuja19]

05:28 PM on 01/12/2012

That's pretty awesome! Those kids are doing great work! Can't wait to hear more of their future discoveries!