FRI SEP 26, 2014 AT 12:03 PM PDT
Three 16-year-old girls win Google's global science competition with breakthrough project
byJen HaydenFollow
They started on the project after learning about the 2011 famine in the Horn of Africa. The girls came up with an experiment that resulted in seriously impressive results that are considered a breakthrough in crop yield technoology:Three 16-year-old girls win Google's global science competition with breakthrough project
byJen HaydenFollow
When a gardening project went awry, they discovered a naturally occurring bacteria in soil called Diazotroph. The girls determined that the bacteria could be used to speed up the germination process of certain crops, like barley and oats, by 50 percent, potentially helping fulfill the rising demand for food worldwide.
More on the project:
Using naturally occurring Rhizobium strains of the Diazotroph bacteria family, they carried out an extensive study of their impact on the germination rate and subsequent growth of the cereal crops wheat, oats and barley.Detailed statistical analysis of their results indicated that these bacterial strains accelerated crop germination by up to 50 per cent and increased barley yields by 74 per cent.
Such a cereal crop performance improvement could significantly assist combatting the growing global food poverty challenge and benefit the environment by reducing fertilizer use.
Not only could the project change crop yields, they earned some pretty notable rewards:Such a cereal crop performance improvement could significantly assist combatting the growing global food poverty challenge and benefit the environment by reducing fertilizer use.
As the Grand Prize winners, Ciara, Émer and Sophie receive a 10-day trip to the Galapagos Islands provided by National Geographic, a $50,000 scholarship from Google, a personalized LEGO prize provided by LEGO Education and the chance to participate in astronaut training at the Virgin Galactic Spaceport in the Mojave desert.
See the video presentation about their award-winning project below the fold.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL9N7O0uJoU
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/...science-competition-with-breakthrough-project
