Editor's note: We're celebrating this year's impressive 20 Google Science Fair finalist projects over 20 days in our Spotlight on a Young Scientist series. Learn more about each of these inspiring young people and hear what inspires them in their own words.

Names: Monique (Yo) Hsu and
             Gina (Jing-Tong) Wang

Home: Taipei City, Taiwan

Age category: 13-15

Project: Knock on fuel: detecting impurities in gasoline with sound pattern analysis

At school, Monique and Gina learned that an underground gasoline market exists throughout the world. Offenders, most commonly in Asia, blend cheap solvents into gasoline and sell it to the public, cheating people of high quality fuel. Monique and Jing-Tong decided that the public needed to know the difference between pure gasoline and a mixed solvent. By analyzing sound patterns, they found that it was possible to use sound (knocking) to identify different types of liquids and distinguish pure gasoline from a mixed solvent – saving the public the headaches and cost of purchasing fake gasoline.

What was the inspiration behind your project?

Monique: There have been a lot of incidents caused by adulterated gasoline and liquor. And we wanted to change that, so we started thinking of a way that’s easy, cheap and useful for uncovering gasoline impurities. Then we came up with a crazy but usable idea: use the knocking sounds to analyze the different liquids.

Gina: More and more food safety problems are troubling Taiwanese people and people all over the world. There has also been a lot of corruption with gasoline impurity in the world recently. That inspired us to find methods to uncover adulterated goods. That's the reason why we did our project.

When and why did you become interested in science?

Monique: Because my dad is a science teacher, I’ve had a lot of exposure to science from a young age. I have the fortune of access to a lot more science books than other classmates have, and I can ask my dad science questions whenever I want. This has fed my natural love for science, and the more books I read and research I do online, the more I want to probe to use science to probe and discover. So now, I'm really good at science, and I love it, too. Thanks, Dad!

Gina: When I was a child, somewhere around kindergarten, I was curious about the composition of things and really wanted to know things like how a caterpillar transformed into a butterfly. I love meditation. When I was in third grade we did an Independent Study called "ming-shui time." I loved being able to do many little experiments on my own. The experiments, whether independently or at school, are the seeds of scientific discovery.

What words of advice would you share with other young scientists?

Monique: Be curious. Use your smart brain to improve the world, and enjoy doing so of course.

Gina: If you get an idea, just try to test it out. If you have an interest in science, apply it to figure things out.

Editor's note: We're celebrating this year's impressive 20 Google Science Fair finalist projects over 20 days in our Spotlight on a Young Scientist series. Learn more about each of these inspiring young people and hear what inspires them in their own words.

Name: Isabella O'Brien

Age Category: 13-15

Home: Ontario, Canada

Project: Recycling shell waste to reduce ocean acidification



Isabella became fascinated with finding out how to preserve natural resources when she encountered a sea of dead coral during a diving trip in Mexico. She researched ocean acidification and seashell waste and discovered that she could create an alkaline buffer by recycling the shell waste and adding it back to the ocean. Her project proves that we can drastically reduce ocean acidification and keep organisms happy and alive in their habitats by recycling shells.

What was the inspiration behind your project?

The inspiration behind my project came after a diving holiday in Mexico, where I observed a lot of dead coral. After doing some research, I discovered that humans production of carbon dioxide (CO2) is modifying ocean chemistry through a process known as ocean acidification, a contributing factor to coral loss. Oceans are becoming more acidic, lowering the pH levels and depleting carbonate ions, which are needed for building seashells and coral skeletons. This is forcing organisms to work harder to build their shells, making them vulnerable to predators, and therefore putting the entire marine ecosystem at risk. I also learned that millions of metric tons of shell waste is produced each year worldwide by the seafood industry and that these shells were made up of 95% calcium carbonate. It was this information that made me wonder what would happen if these shells were returned to the ocean and what impact it would have on the problem of ocean acidification.

When and why did you become interested in science?

I had a fantastic science teacher (Mr. Gordon) in grades 1, 2 and 3, who made learning science both fun and exciting. He would often show us videos of Bill Nye the Science Guy, which were great. Also, I was very lucky to be at a school (St Augustine) that held an annual science fair. Students were eligible to enter starting in grade 4. I couldn't wait to do my first science fair project in grade 4, and I’ve loved science and working on science fair projects ever since.

What words of advice would you share with other young scientists?

My advice to other young scientists would be to be curious, ask questions and work on any subject you find interesting. Sometimes it will be difficult, and sometimes things go wrong and you may have to start again, but do not give up. Have fun and help change the world!

Editor's note: We're celebrating this year's impressive 20 Google Science Fair finalist projects over 20 days in our Spotlight on a Young Scientist series. Learn more about each of these inspiring young people and hear what inspires them in their own words.

Name: Tanay Tandon

Age Category: 16-18

Home: US

Project: Delivering rapid, portable and automated blood morphology tests





Tanay loved hearing his grandfather’s stories of serving patients as a doctor in rural India, but he couldn’t believe that people had to wait in long lines for tests that were easily available in more developed countries. He was inspired to take action after reading a book on informational theory. He sent the authors several emails before receiving a response from a grad student who agreed to work with him. Tanay then wrote an algorithm and created a computer vision model. He attached a low-cost lens imaging system in order to algorithmically classify and count cells in a blood sample. This tool can now provide a rapid, portable and automated blood morphology test in the most rural regions. 

What was the inspiration behind your project? 

My grandfather was a doctor in rural India and owned his own clinic. Over the years, my mother told me stories of villagers who would line up to get blood biopsies at his clinic, often showing up incredibly early in the morning. This helped me realize the disparity in rural diagnostic conditions (especially for complex internal conditions) and the need for a portable, automated means to analyze blood, especially in areas where trained microbiologists and expensive equipment are scarce. Thus, this project has been a long term goal of mine, and as I have conducted separate research in hematology, machine learning and computer vision, my skills and experience have culminated in this one piece representing my work in the fields of AI and biology.

When and why did you become interested in science? 

My interest in science has always stemmed from a love of reading. Some of my earliest memories are sitting with my father and pouring over a book about constellations and astronomy. The concept of finding patterns in seemingly endless swathes of stars was how I got started in the scientific process. Eventually, I abstracted that love for pattern-finding to other fields like math, computer science and artificial intelligence. In my opinion, that in itself is a succinct summary of science – looking at some chaotic system and deciphering meaning through the skills at hand. Whether one does that with a microscope, a computer program or a pencil and paper, the process is essentially the same – a different means to an end, but a very similar end overall.

What words of advice would you share with other young scientists? 

Research is all about building a palette of interests and mixing and matching the colors to create something new. Nearly all of my project ideas originate at the confluence of two or more fields – microbiology and artificial intelligence (this project), engineering and chemistry (my portable water treatment project a few years ago). I'd encourage young scientists to diversify their interests, build a love for several fields and then see what beautiful things come from their confluence.

Editor's note: We're celebrating this year's impressive 20 Google Science Fair finalist projects over 20 days in our Spotlight on a Young Scientist series. Learn more about each of these inspiring young people and hear what inspires them in their own words.

Name: Matthew Reid

Age Category: 13-15

Home: Sussex, UK

Project: The ArduOrbiter: a lightweight, open source satellite





When Matthew learned in science class that 2,000 satellites currently orbit the Earth, he was eager to understand the effect of such a large quantity of satellites. He set out to develop a new lightweight, open source satellite that is under 5 centimeters in size, so that he could observe the earth without overcrowding orbital space. With the money he received from his 14th birthday, he built the ArduOrbiter using existing Arduino technology and aluminum. The ArduOrbiter-1 can communicate effectively and has a long battery life. Matthew looks forward to launching his satellite and using a cluster of them to build an alternative global communications system in the future.

What was the inspiration behind your project? 

I have always been interested in space, and after playing the computer game "Kerbal Space Program," I became particularly interested in the mechanics of space flight. This led me to study orbital mechanics and develop an orbital mechanics computer program. I wondered how cool it would be to have my own satellite and remembered Elon Musk’s quote, “If something is important enough, even if the odds are against you, you should still do it.” I started seriously researching the subject. Through this, I discovered CubeSats, which are four-inch cubes filled with electronics and sent into orbit. However, whilst these were cheaper than regular satellites, they still cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to develop and deploy. Then I came across the relatively undeveloped satellite concept of PocketQubes. Although being much smaller than CubeSats (being only 2 inch cubes), they still appeared to cost tens of thousands of dollars to produce. I started to wonder why these satellites were so expensive, since all they had to do was provide power for their payloads and communicate with a ground station. The costs seemed unreasonable, so I decided to build my own PocketQube satellite for a fraction of the cost of traditional PocketQube satellites.

When and why did you become interested in science? 

As long as I can remember, I have been interested in science.

 On New Year’s Eve 2008, when I was eight, I remember my oldest cousin teaching me the basics of atomic theory with chopped tomatoes and cucumber. My cousin went on to get a Master’s Degree in Physics and played a significant role in developing my interest in science, physics in particular.

 Although my project may be viewed primarily as an engineering project, engineering is the practical implementation of science. My initial interest in engineering came from when, at age nine, I got a “LEGO Mindstorms” set for Christmas. This not only taught me the fundamentals of programming, but also created an interest in developing practical applications for programming which, in turn, has led to my current Space Satellite project. 

What words of advice would you share with other young scientists? 

Google and YouTube allowed me to access all I needed to know and learn about building my own space satellite – these are essential tools for all scientists and engineers in the twenty-first century and should be utilised as much as possible. Throughout the development of my project, I was amazed by the amount of free help people from around the world were willing to give me. Be polite, take the advice, check it, use it, work hard. And if you want to do it, do it.

Posted by Adam Feldman, Product Manager and Pavel Simakov, Technical Lead, Course Builder Team

(Cross-posted on the Google Research blog.)

When we last updated Course Builder in April, we said that its skill mapping capabilities were just the beginning. Today’s 1.9 release greatly expands the applicability of these skill maps for you and your students. We’ve also significantly revamped the instructor’s user interface, making it easier for you to get the job done while staying out of your way while you create your online courses.

First, a quick update on project hosting. Course Builder has joined many other Google open source projects on GitHub (download it here). Later this year, we’ll consolidate all of the Course Builder documentation, but for now, get started at Google Open Online Education.

Now, about those features:

• Measuring competence with skill maps In addition to defining skills and prerequisites for each lesson, you can now apply skills to each question in your courses’ assessments. By completing the assessments and activities, learners will be able to measure their level of competence for each skill. For instance, here’s what a student taking Power Searching with Google might see:

This information can help guide them on which sections of the course to revisit. Or, if a pre-test is given, students can focus on the lessons addressing their skill gaps.

To determine how successful the content is at teaching the desired skills across all students, an instructor can review students’ competencies on a new page in the analytics section of the dashboard.

• Improving usability when creating a course Course Builder has a rich set of capabilities, giving you control over every aspect of your course -- but that doesn’t mean it has to be hard to use. Our goal is to help you spend less time setting up your course and more time educating your students. We’ve completely reorganized the dashboard, reducing the number of tabs and making the settings you need clearer and easier to find.

We also added in-place previewing, so you can quickly edit your content and immediately see how it will look without needing to reload any pages.

For a full list of the other features added in this release (including the ability for students to delete their data upon unenrollment and removal of the old Files API), see the release notes. As always, please let us know how you use these new features and what you’d like to see in Course Builder next to help make your online course even better.

In the meantime, take a look at a couple recent online courses that we’re pretty excited about: Sesame Street’s Make Believe with Math and our very own Computational Thinking for Educators.

Editor's note: We're celebrating this year's impressive 20 Google Science Fair finalist projects over 20 days in our Spotlight on a Young Scientist series. Learn more about each of these inspiring young people and hear what inspires them in their own words.

Name: Krtin Nithiyanandam Surrey

Age Category: 13-15

Home: United Kingdon

Project: Improving diagnosis and treatment for Alzheimer’s with new molecular “Trojan Horse”






Krtin benefitted from the power of medical science as a young child who underwent a successful procedure to restore his hearing. He was curious to see if that same power could cure another ailment he learned of on television – Alzheimer's disease. He found that the Aβ oligomers biomarker is present in high concentrations in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients and also appeared during the earliest stage of the disease. Current diagnostic tools identify certain brain activity only present during the later stages of the disease, making it extremely difficult to diagnose the disease early. Krtin’s new molecular 'Trojan Horse' can potentially be used to diagnose Alzheimer's at a much earlier stage, leading to better treatments for patients.


What was the inspiration behind your project? 

I was always fascinated by neuroscience, but the inspiration for this project came from when I was reading various journal articles on cancer immunotherapy. Cancer immunotherapy works by using antibodies to alert the immune system to cancer. I wanted to extend the use of antibodies to other diseases, so my project has a slightly similar concept to immunotherapy, but a completely different principle. I also chose Alzheimer's because in Britain, we have a growing aging population and dementia is becoming extremely relevant. Also, Alzheimer's disease is considered to be one of the greatest medical challenges of the 21st century, with the fight against dementia becoming an international effort, so I felt that Alzheimer's disease would be a very relevant topic to focus my project on.

When and why did you become interested in science? 

I would say there were multiple moments that triggered my interest in science. I first started to take an interest in medicine after I had a series of operations and a transplant to restore my hearing. I truly admired how doctors and medicine could make a difference in people's lives and I wanted to be able to do the same for others. I also learned in school detail to the applications of science. My teachers were able to extend science out of the classroom and made it more interesting for me.

What words of advice would you share with other young scientists? 

Don't be afraid of making mistakes; every great scientist has made mistakes. What made them great was that they persevered regardless of what happened, and they never stopped asking “Why?” That's how they were able to change the world.

Editor's note: We're celebrating this year's impressive 20 Google Science Fair finalist projects over 20 days in our Spotlight on a Young Scientist series. Learn more about each of these inspiring young people and hear what inspires them in their own words. 

Name: Laura Steponavičiūtė

Age category: 16-18

Home: Vilnius, Lithuania

Project: Detecting the environmental dangers of nanomaterials





Encouraged to read books about the world from a young age by her mother, who’s a science teacher, Laura learned that nanoparticles are in everything from sunscreen to socks. She wondered about their effect on living organisms and used bean sprouts and freshwater to do some testing. She discovered that nanoparticles can lead to higher chemical levels in environments, could potentially force species from their natural habitats and may even lead to extinction. She hopes this research leads to new precautions for nanoparticles and increased awareness about biological effects of chemicals. 

What was the inspiration behind your project? 

The greatest inspiration for my project is ecology. I’m concerned about keeping our planet and its organisms safe. Nanotechnologies is part of a widely expanded research field and various life changing inventions were created by using them. Though in my opinion, science has to be developed comprehensively, it has to be beneficial for humanity and not harmful for nature. While reading about nanotechnologies I had to face the fact that there’s little information about toxicity of nanomaterials. I’ve started thinking about how I could examine the harmful impact of nanoparticles on organisms, for example plants. My teacher encouraged me to try to study the effects to growth processes.

When and why did you become interested in science? 

Nature and science fascinated me since I can remember. I loved taking huge science atlases from the bookshelves and flipping through pages looking for illustrations. When I learned to read, I used to search the pages from atlases I liked the most and read them. If I didn’t know what something meant, I would take the book and go to my mother. She explained what I couldn’t understand. She also took me to her classroom, where there were various models and devices for demonstrative experiments. I remember my sister and I playing with these devices and our mother explaining to us why the devices were created. Then in school, I started learning things by myself, and could explore deeper the laws of nature. I want to know answers to the questions that pop in my head while reading articles or discussing various topics. I want to help to improve our environment and help people. I see science as a way to do that.

What words of advice would you share with other young scientists?

Every time you are able to learn from a difficult situation, you win. You create your own opportunities. Do not be afraid to dream because what is life without crazy ideas?