Five things we liked at the RDS

Some highlights from the Young Scientist Exhibition

A humidity-regulated case for a wooden musical instrument

Adriana Conway from Sutton Park School in Dublin wantedto bring her fiddle to Spain but was worried it would get warped in the heat. So she decided to investigate the effects of humidity on different types of wood to design a humidity regulated case for musical instruments.

Trihalomethanes in Irish waters

Trihalomethanes (THMs), carcinogenic chemical compounds, end up in drinking water when chlorine from treatment plants mixes with organic matter. Michaela van der Walt, Ailish Breathnach and Joanna Orlowska from Dominican College, Galway, have researched the most effective methods for removing THMs from Irish water supplies.

READ MORE

From the stable to the table - nutritional content of horsemeat versus other meats

Taking their lead from last year’s horsemeat scandal, Sile Ryan, Anna Flannery and Michaela Fitzgerald from Salesian Secondary College, Limerick looked at how equine meat compares with other meats and realised we were probably better off eating horse in the first place.

Pulse Oximeter

Another one from Salesian in Limerick. Adrian Kely and Robert Corby developed a pulse oximeter (for measuring blood oxygen saturation levels) which runs on a laptop’s battery power and a local area network. The boys say it could help save lives in poorly equipped hospital in developing countries.

An investigation of the effect of different cutlery on perception of food

Jason Lenihan and Anna Mustata from Bishopstown Community School in Cork surveyed students to discover how people’s perception of food changes according to the cutlery and dishware they use.

Dan Griffin

Dan Griffin

Dan Griffin is an Irish Times journalist