Fridaygram

By Scott Knaster, Google Code Blog Editor

This week was the big finish to the first global Google Science Fair. Earlier this year, we invited students aged 13 to 18 to submit science projects to this new competition. More than 10,000 young people from more than 90 countries sent in their entries. Two months ago, 15 projects were chosen as finalists. And last week, the members of those teams were flown to Google headquarters in Mountain View, California for the final judging. The winners:

• Lauren Hodge (13-14 age group) for a study about reducing carcinogens in grilled chicken.
• Naomi Shah (15-16) for her project relating better indoor air quality to a reduced need for asthma medication.
• Shree Bose (17-18), who found a way to improve ovarian cancer treatment for certain patients.

Congratulations to the winners and to everyone who participated!

While you’re thinking about the great accomplishments of people so young, here’s another fact to make you ponder time in a different way: Neptune has just completed its first full orbit since its discovery in 1846, or just about one Neptune-year ago (that’s a little more than 164 Earth-years). Happy birthday (or something), Neptune.

Finally, I’m not sure if Neptune has any creatures that can match this remarkable rainbow toad. This animal was last seen in 1924 (right around half a Neptune-year ago) and had never been depicted in color before. This weekend, consider taking some time to go outside and see what you can discover.

Fridaygram posts are lighter than our usual fare. They're designed for your Friday afternoon and weekend enjoyment. Each Fridaygram item must pass only one test: it has to be interesting to us nerds.