From building volcanoes that spew lava to making hospitals run more efficiently with artificial intelligence, teens around the world are gearing up for science fairs. But instead of showing off their experiments at the local gym, the competitions are going global and online.
The latest entrant to global teen talent search is the Google Science Fair, which bills itself as the "first global online science competition." It's open to students around the world, aged 13 to 18, and all that's required to enter is a web-connected computer.
"How many ideas are lost because people don't have the right forum for their talents to be discovered?" Google asks in a blog post about the new competition. "We believe that science can change the world — and one way to encourage that is to celebrate and champion young scientific talent as we athletes and pop idols."
Final projects must be accompanied with either a slideshow or video. Registration is open through April 4. Semifinalists will be announced in May and will be invited to present their projects at Google headquarters on July 11. Winning prizes include a trip to the Galapagos with National Geographic Expeditions, scholarships and real-life work experiences, including a five-day stint at CERN in Europe.
The fair joins other international competitions for academically inclined students, including the Intel Science Talent Search and the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology.
John Roach is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by hitting the "like" button on the Cosmic Log Facebook page or following msnbc.com's science editor, Alan Boyle, on Twitter (@b0yle).
