A Taiwanese high school student won a major prize at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in the US on Friday for her discovery of a bacteria that breaks down Styrofoam.
On the eve of the conclusion of the fair in Reno, Nevada, Tseng Yi-ching (曾依晴), a student at National Taichung Girl’s Senior High School in Taichung City, was awarded the top prize in microbiology, a press release issued by the National Taiwan Science Education Center said.
Tseng won the prize for her discovery of a bacteria in the digestive ducts of mealworms that can decompose Styrofoam, which is not biodegradable.
She was also awarded cash prizes by three other sponsors of the fair, totaling about US$10,000.
She will also be offered NT$200,000 by Taiwan’s Ministry of Education, which usually gives this sum to students who win honors at international fairs and competitions, as well as a chance to enter university without having to take the entrance examination.
Six other students from Taiwan also won various prizes at the fair.
They are part of an 11-member team organized by National Taiwan Science Education Center for this year’s fair.
The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair is billed as the world’s largest pre-college science competition. It brings together an estimated 1,600 young scientists from about 50 countries every year.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow