Did you know that you don't have to wait until you are grown up to use your big ideas?  Meet some kids that have had big success with STEM at young ages!

1. 14 year old Kedar Narayan (aka Little Code Ninja) came up with the idea for a game to teach kids the fundamentals of coding when he was five years old.  His parents suggested he look into learning coding because he loved to play video games.  His board game StoriBot is designed with visually impaired players in mind, by using 3-D playing pieces and braille.

2. Lydia Denton is a 16 year old engineer who uses her personal challenges to inspire her inventions.  She invented a "halcyon bracelet" that tracks the users body movements associated with anxiety and gives an alert when they have reverted back to body-centered recurrent movements.  She also invented a "Beat the Heat Car Seat" that can tell when a child has been left in a car and initiates a call to emergency services.  She is passionate about inspiring other women and girls in STEM.

3. 16 year old Zidaan Kapoor has life-threatening food allergies that have caused serious reactions and landed him in the hospital.  Because of this, his mental health has suffered due to food allergy anxiety.  This led him to develop an app called Fight Fears to help other kids suffering from food intolerance anxieties.  The app gives users individualized challenges to help them overcome their fears in an engaging way.

4. Sanjith Udupa, 17, volunteered to help start and sustain FIRST Tech Challenge teams in inner-city Detroit.  This program encourages kids to design and create competition robots.  He also runs programming workshops for kids around the world and runs a YouTube channel.

Do you know a kid who is making big waves in STEM?  Tell us about them!
KZIDAAN KAPOOR

Recycling is an important way to help the Earth by preserving finite resources and cutting down on waste.  Did you know that finding new and better ways to recycle is something that many engineers around the world focus on?  Here are some of the latest innovations in recycling technology.

1. Smart Bins
A smart recycling bin is a new kind of waste bin, fitted with sensors, connectivity features, and data analytic capabilities.  Basically, all of these technologies do the work of separating waste into proper receptacles to make sorting recycling more efficient.
2. Artificial Intelligence
Recycling facilities suffer from a shortage of workers and with the rising cost of recycling.  Robots and special optical cameras are being developed to sort through recycling as it is moved down a conveyor belt, and separate items that cannot be recycled.
3. 3D Printing
3D printing uses a lot of materials, but it's estimated that right now, only 10% of those materials are recycled.  There are recyclable materials that can be used in 3D printing, and scientists are working on making it more sustainable.  Some projections show that up to 40-60% of 3D printed items can be recycled.
4. Pyrolisis
Pyrolisis is the leading technology involved in advanced plastic recycling.  How it works is that plastics are superheated to temperatures of 500° C in the absence of oxygen.  The plastic waste is vaporized in the pyrolysis reactor and then condenses to produce pyrolysis oil (as well as some other byproducts.)  Essentially, it produces far less waste than less advanced recycling methods and generates reusable products.
5. Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is being used to create materials that are stronger and more durable, which also makes them more recyclable!

What do you think will be the next innovation that helps cut down on waste?

The Perseverance rover, launched July 30, 2020, has a special mission on the surface of Mars. The rover, along with its aerial sidekick the Ingenuity helicopter, have the assignment to study the geology of Mars.  This includes seeking signs of ancient microbial life and collecting samples of rock and soil.  Part of the mission was also to demonstrate the technology of the Ingenuity helicopter.  So what has Perseverance discovered so far?

The most exciting finds have to do with the Jezero crater.  Previous orbital images of the crater discovered the crater and suggested that there used to be a lake of water there.  Perseverance has been able to get a lot more information from the surface of the planet.  For instance, on the floor of the crater, the rover discovered igneous rocks.  These suggest the possibility that the lake may have been filled with lava before it was filled with water.  When water flowed in and covered the igneous rocks, it would have created salty mudflats that would likely have been good habitats for any martian life that may have existed.  Perseverance has also found evidence that there used to be winding rivers on the surface of Mars.

All of these discoveries are important because they show us that Mars used to be very different than the planet we know today.  When the rocks that Perseverance is studying were formed, Mars was full of activity-there were volcanoes, flowing rivers, lakes, and even, possibly, life.  Today it is cold, dry, and quiet.  Perseverance may give us some clues as to what happened to change the planet so drastically!

International Women's Day is on Friday, March 8th.  We thought we would celebrate a few days early by highlighting some amazing women in STEM!  These five inspiring women have contributed significantly to their various STEM fields across the world.