Scientists in a spin with fidgets and snail oil
Students show off super projects in bid to be named BT Young Scientist
EVERY child in the country has blissfully spun a fidget spinner on their fingers while the rest of us looked on with confusion.
But for some budding young scientists, the plastic devices were a distraction – not a concentration aid.
Two Dublin Transition year students explored how concentration levels were affected by fidget spinners, along with chewing gum and classical music.
“While we were studying for the Junior Cert in our after-school class, we noticed that the majority of students were either playing with fidgets, listening to music, or chewing gum,” said Le Cheile Secondary School, Tyrrelstown, pupil Kelvin Tobun (15).
“So for our experiment we gave everyone in one class fidget spinners, another with music, and a third with chewing gum. The fourth class we used as a control and didn’t give them anything.
“We then gave them a short memory test with numbers to see how they got on.”
Their results showed that fidget spinners did not help with concentration levels at all, while listening to classical music and chewing gum had some benefits.
“We realised that fidget spinners actually draw you away from everything else in the outside world.”
Thousands of young students across Ireland packed into the RDS to showcase their projects during the second day of the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition.
The iconic event, now in its 54th year, will see students address issues such as combating fake news as well as making innovations in the digital sphere. There was even time for some selfies as a visit from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar sparked a flurry of excitement. But the main draw remained the science.
Donegal student Iarlaith Mac Fhionnghaile decided to put a drink-driving myth to the test and find out once and
for all if two drinks can impair a motorist’s ability. In the name of science, more than 100 people from the 17-year-old’s community in Letterkenny drank shots of vodka and got behind the wheel of a driving simulator.
“The simulator recorded every traffic violation they did on the roads. I got 107 people to test it sober and then again afterwards when they consumed alcohol.
“We invested about €500 to fund the pop-up bar and gave the men two double vodkas and the females half the amount.”
The total findings of his two-drink driving experiment was staggering.
“Overall, their total driving errors increased by 66pc,” said Iarlaith.
“There was a huge increase of participants weaving on road lines and their peripheral vision was worse.”
Dylan Donohue (16) from Adamstown Community College, Dublin, entered this year’s Young Scientist’s Expo to discover why transgender people have some of the highest suicide rates in the world. “I chose this project to bring awareness to what trans people go through and how it can impact their mental health,” he said.
“School can be a very big challenge. When I came out in second year, I was terrified people were going to bully me. I was afraid I was going be called names and hurt.”
Some 270 trans people were surveyed on how comfortable they feel doing daily tasks, like going to the bathroom in public places.
“I found that a very high amount of trans people have mental health issues because of social expectations.
“Unfortunately, they’re three times as likely to attempt suicide, but to be honest this fact didn’t surprise me.”
Meanwhile, two transition year students from Co Cork are using snails as a remedy to treat scars. Mairead Dennehy (16) and Natalia Kowalczyk
(16) from St
Aloysius College, Carrigtwohill, have discovered that snail slime is just as effective on scars than specialist skincare products widely available.
Already a popular treatment in Asia, the two girls studied the effects of ‘Snail Gel’ and compared it with the widely known skincare product Bio Oil.
“We were very interested in using natural remedies to treat scars as opposed to manufactured moisturisers that often contain a lot of chemicals,” said Mairead.
“We found that snail gel wasn’t more effective treating scars on people than Bio Oil, but it still had a noticeable result,” said Natalia.
This year’s winner of the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition, to be announced tomorrow, will be presented with a cheque for €7,500, a trip to the historic Bletchley Park and the BTYSTE perpetual trophy.
The 2018 overall winner will also receive the opportunity to represent Ireland at the 30th EU Contest for Young Scientists when it is hosted in Dublin in September.