Live from Albuquerque
jklein | June 27, 2007Four Intel ISEF Finalists talk about a tour they took from Albuquerque to the Trinity Test Site, where the first nuclear bomb was detonated on July 16th, 1945.
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jklein | June 20, 2007A special musical performance just before the closing ceremony. Who are the cowboys in suits at the end?
jklein | May 30, 2007Daniel Posch from Hillcrest High School in Midvale, Utah took these photos of contrasting stimulants...
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lbillings | May 18, 2007Last night, many of us returned to our hotel rooms to find papers with a disturbing message slipped beneath our doors. It said, in short, that we had likely been exposed to measles, a rather unpleasant disease best known for the distinctive red or brown dotted rash it causes. An electronic version of the notice is available here.
The initial case, a young girl attending Intel ISEF, is receiving treatment at a local hospital. State health officials believe she was infectious during her time at the science fair, including her visits to local hotels and businesses. What makes measles so…
lbillings | May 17, 2007Ahhh, yes. After sleepless nights and days on end of stressing over project setups and judging preparations, what better way to kick back and relax than to stand at one's booth for four hours taking questions from the general public and the media? It's perhaps fortunate for everyone but the finalists that there's not more room within the exhibition hall; otherwise I'd expect to see an improvised shantytown of jerryrigged tents, hammocks, and lean-tos sprout up this morning as sleep-deprived students take shelter from the public/media onslaught.
But as I said, it's certainly fortunate for us.…
lbillings | May 16, 2007It all comes down to this.
Though they hail from countries scattered far and wide across the globe, though they come from myriad different cultures and backgrounds, ultimately every ISEF finalist's journey here has been the same. For each one, the path to this day, this moment, has been paved with sacrifice. For each one, time to be spent in sleepovers, sports, and other social activities has been instead surrendered to the pursuit of a single idea: scientific perfection. For each one, months, sometimes years, of hard work are on the line.
Even at 7:30 a.m., the numbers of people gathered in…
lbillings | May 15, 2007Tuesday morning started extra early for the finalists who were listed on the final violations list. Several showed up at 7 a.m. to save their projects from disqualification, and fortunately no one appeared to be in danger of missing the 10 a.m. correction deadline.
With a "media" session scheduled between 10 and 11:30 a.m., this is the first day of real full-scale activity. Hordes of international media correspondents have converged on the convention center looking for stories and interviews, and the lobby here is filled with journalists, cameras, and milling students waiting to enter the…
lbillings | May 14, 2007As the floor of the convention center fills with completed displays, an overwhelming sense of significance is growing, like static in the air before a lightning strike. In terms of technical precision and real-world relevance, most of the entries here are light years beyond the stereotypical projects that come to mind when most people think of a science fair. Walking through the aisles, one consistently encounters projects tackling the most intractable problems facing global society today, reconceiving and addressing them with fresh perspectives. These are harbingers of greater things to come…
lbillings | May 13, 2007Intel ISEF 2007 officially began this morning at 8 a.m.! Students, teachers, parents, and observers have been streaming into the Albuquerque Convention Center to prepare the projects for review and judging. In only two hours, we've already seen delegations from Ireland, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Peru, and Russia rush by bearing boxes, showboards, and strange devices draped in plastic.
Official judging doesn't begin until Wednesday, but that doesn't mean there isn't much to do -- the schedule here today is packed with project drop-offs, setups, and inspections by the Fair's Scientific Review…
lbillings | May 12, 2007This is a website by, for, and about some of the most inspiring young people in the world: the finalists of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. This year over 1400 finalists from over 60 countries will arrive in Albuquerque, New Mexico for a week of socializing, learning, competition, and fun.
In keeping with the theme of this year's Fair, "Creating a New Element," Intel and ScienceBlogs.com are creating a new ISEF community website that will expand upon and continue the Fair's incredible tradition of international camaraderie and collaboration.
Starting the week of Intel…