Saturday, April 12, 2008

All is not lost, part II

I recently did a post about an 11 year old who caught a mistake at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, AND got them to change it.

Here is another story that makes me feel as though all is not lost in this country. A 14 year old girl is trying to do something to mitigate the zebra and quagga mussel invasion of California. Brenna Callero has invented a compound that she is hoping will deter the mussels from clinging to anything it is painted on. She's using a concoction she created for a science fair project last year to kill mosquitoes, and adding a glue-like (and I assume waterproof) substance so it will stick to plastic and concrete. She came in 4th-place in the state with last year's project.

I love this quote: "I love science," said Brenna, a ninth-grader at La Reina High School in Thousand Oaks. As opposed to my 17 year old step-daughter who recently vehemently stated, "I hate science."

Scientists at the California Department of Fish and Game are taking her very seriously and helping out with the study.

"She wanted to use all natural ingredients because she has allergies and didn't want to sneeze while all the science was going on." That only means she's not allergic to marigolds and lemon rind, the active ingredients in her compound. She's smart enough to eventually figure out that most things that cause allergies are natural...

She apparently wants to try out for the Ladies Professional Golf Association. If her golf career doesn't pan out, she should definitely consider a career in science. Maybe she could do both.

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