Young scientists research telepathy, food preservatives, blue green algae

By Dawn Anderson
Posted 3/21/17

For Cranston resident Austin Theroux, a freshman at Bishop Hendricken High School, an interest in complex power Psychology was the motivation for his experiment, “Ganzfeld Telepathy.” German for …

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Young scientists research telepathy, food preservatives, blue green algae

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For Cranston resident Austin Theroux, a freshman at Bishop Hendricken High School, an interest in complex power Psychology was the motivation for his experiment, “Ganzfeld Telepathy.” German for “whole field,” Ganzfeld is a technique whereas the examiner uses controlled sensory input with the hopes of improving results in tests of telepathy and other natural phenomena.

In it, he hypothesized that sensory deprived subjects would react more accurately to telepathic images than non-sensory deprived subjects. After conducting research, performing the experiment and finally collecting data, he was able to prove his hypothesis.

“Once a person is sensory deprived, there’s a higher accuracy of telepathy,” he said Saturday morning as students from across the state arrived at the Knight Campus of CCRI carrying boxes and display boards for the Rhode Island Science and Engineering Fair.

Another student, Johnston High School sophomore Ryan DeCesare, focused his project on microbiology. His interest in the field stems from working in the food industry with his father, whom he credits for teaching him. His project consisted of comparing chemical versus natural preservatives on maintaining color and food safety in salami. Last year, he won a grant in microbiology for his project that evaluated the ability of spices to destroy food bacteria, concluding that garlic is especially effective.

They were two of the 250 students from over 30 schools who competed in this year’s fair. Students from public, private and Catholic schools contributed a total of 202 projects for judges, some of whom are former competitors themselves.

Fair director Mark Fontaine said, “There are a dozen or so former science fair competitors back for judging; it’s super cool to see.” One of those expected this year is Justine Fortier, who was the first student to consecutively win the state fair four times as well as going on to the international fair four consecutive years. “She’s one of our big success stories,” Fontaine said.

Now an engineer at Raytheon, her mother, Claire Fortier, spoke of the time and effort students put into the fair and says for her daughter, “It gave her an opportunity she wouldn’t have had otherwise.”

Although the fair provides countless opportunities for students to quench their thirst for knowledge, Fontaine has seen a decline in public school participation in the years he has run the event. He attributes it to an overall decline in school enrollments, increased competition for student time, over-scheduled students and the misconception that the fair is not contributing to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

The 175 judges grade each senior project five times and each middle school project four times. Fontaine was pleased with the multiple judging as it ensures recognition of the best projects.

The judging of the fair also consists of choosing 10 finalists and, from that field, one runner up and two “best in fair.” The top two winners will be eligible to participate in the International Science and Engineering Fair, which will be held in Los Angeles.

One of last year’s winners, senior Nicolas Berg of Bishop Hendricken High School, spoke of the experience. “It’s humbling,” he said, speaking of being a part of the nearly 1,000 displays from students all over the world. His project this year was “Impacts of 1, 2 Propanediol Effluent Discharge on Reproductive Rates and Dispersion Patterns of Photosynthetic Microorganisms.” Inspired by events in Warwick Pond, his extensive research on laboratory grown samples helped him realize there were formations never seen before which might affect regulations in the future. Unexpectedly, he came across what he believes is his discovery, that cynobacteria is feeding off of the byproducts of glycol, which is used for deicing aircraft, after it has been broken down.

“It’s not something to attack airport authority,” he said, speaking of how bacteria are able to metabolize glycol, “but regulations on glycol may be misinformed.” Berg has already been accepted to three colleges where he wants to major in biology with hopes of doing pure research.

The top 10 finalists from the Junior Division are Dorothy Breen, St. Pius X; Sophia Comiskey, St. Philomena; Madison Martins, Sacred Heart; Emma Humphrey, Wilbur McMahon School; Isabella Heffernan, St. Mary Academy - Bay View Middle School; Zakir Girach, Islamic School of Rhode Island; Jacob Phillips, Fr. John V. Doyle; Chris Regan, Cluny School, Andrew Cavanagh, St. Peter School; and Sean Jacob Alcordo, Sacred Heart.

The top 10 finalists from the Senior Division are Kelly Aldana, TIMES2 Academy; Alisha Toribio, TIMES2 Academy; Priyanka Bonifaz, Barrington High School; Paige Noland, St. Mary Academy - Bay View; Christina Curran, Barrington High School; Claire Martel, Barrington High School; Nicolas Berg, Bishop Hendricken High School; Anjali Subramanian, La Salle Academy; Isabella Miller, Mount St. Charles Academy; Emily Kaczynski, South Kingstown High School; and Liam Bullard, Mt. Hope High School.

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  • DanElliott

    It's disappointing that there's a lack of participation among our public school students. Toll Gate and Pilgrim missed the cut (or perhaps, weren't represented at all). There seems to be great emphasis on group projects today and less nurturing of exceptional talent and skill in individual students. I always had a lot of respect for the kids who were less social but highly intelligent. It's too bad that we don't seem to be giving our public school students the high quality educational experiences they deserve. We can certainly do much better.

    Congrats to Ryan DeCesare. More garlic for the win! Who can argue with that?

    Dan Elliott

    Greenwood

    Thursday, March 23, 2017 Report this