News from the world of science, by CLAIRE O'CONNELL
European award for Cork student
Cork student Richie O’Shea, who was overall winner at the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition in January, has picked up another award: this time the Adene Special Prize at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists.
O'Shea received the accolade in Portugal for his project, called A biomass fired cooking stove for developing countries.
He used simple components and tools to develop his own prototype of a highly efficient and near smoke-free cooking stove from waste materials, mainly cans, that can burn hot using only scraps of wood.
Following the original success of his project at the Dublin exhibition, Richard was invited to join a research team in Trinity College Dublin over the summer to explore variations of his work.
O’Shea, who attended Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal in Blarney, recently received 575 points in his Leaving Cert and is now studying engineering at University College Cork.
See btyoungscientist.com to enter upcoming competition.
He ain't heavy, he's my brother
NEANDERTHALS WERE more resourceful than we give them credit for, according to Dr Julien Riel-Salvatore from the University of Colorado in Denver in the US.
He led a study that claims to have found ornaments, bone tools and other innovations at a Neanderthal site in southern Italy.
“When we show Neanderthals could innovate on their own, it casts them in a new light,” Riel-Salvatore told the BBC.
“My research suggests that they were a different kind of human, but humans nonetheless.
“We are more brothers than distant cousins.”
The study is due to be published in the Journal of Archaeological Method and Theoryin December, according to the BBC report.