Transport and pollution engage young scientists

The annual Young Scientists' Exhibition is always a reliable indicator of what is troubling not only emerging researchers, but also the greater population. So for 1999 there is plenty of endeavour focusing on traffic, water pollution and food; and for those facing the new year with a resolution to trim down, dieting, too.

Traffic, however, perhaps more than most, makes its presence felt. Increasing traffic is translating into more accidents and "near misses" on Irish roads, according to Sean O Muiri (15), a third-year student at Colaiste an Spioraid Naoimh in Bishopstown, Cork.

Following 50 separate surveys of traffic movement on a secondary and link-road in the city, he found the highest probability (49 per cent) of a traffic accident in evening time, while those who wore seat belts were less inclined to have a crash. He attributes the latter finding to "belted-up" drivers being more cautious and more inclined to evaluate the implications of their driving and that of others.

His Crashing Statistics project applied the "conflict method" of evaluating traffic. This includes recording the equivalent of the aviation term "near miss".

"Those who were wearing belts were less likely to be involved in conflict or collision," he says. He found seat-belt use at 9.8 percentage points higher than the national average of 55 per cent; confirming a greater use in urban areas.

He also examined the influence of speed and weather, but accepts the need to do more work in this area, and would like to do detailed work on "regional black-spots".

Public perception is very much against using the bicycle in the current climate, students from Colaiste Iognaid in Galway found.

In a comprehensive survey of people attending three second-levels schools in Galway, NUI Galway and Galway Institute of Technology, almost all had a bicycle, but 85 per cent had never cycled to school or college, explains Brian O'Connell (16), whose team of fellow transition year students is completed by John Boylan and Owen Coyle.

In a project to evaluate the possibility of introducing an integrated cycle-lane system in Galway, they found 70 per cent of respondents said they would not cycle to school under present conditions, citing concerns about safety, absence of cycle lanes and the general view that cyclists are considered "lower-class users on the road".

Roads infrastructure may not be able to handle sharply increasing vehicular traffic, and cycle lanes may be an environmentally friendly and less costly option in easing gridlock, but public attitudes need to be changed first. If cyclists were given adequate priority, assured of greater safety provision on the roads and educated about the cycling option, the transition from car to bicycle was possible. Moreover, they found that 75 per cent would consider changing to a bicycle "on a fairly regular basis" under such conditions. If that meant once or twice a week, the reduction in car traffic in Galway, as elsewhere, would be dramatic, he says.

A second-year student from Salerno Secondary School in Galway, Niamh McKeown (13), collected 450 starfish from six sites is an effort to evaluate their biology and the damage they cause to commercial shellfish fisheries, notably mussel populations.

Based on starfish taken from Lough Swilly, Co Donegal, and Clarinbridge, Co Galway, she found four varieties: common starfish, spiny starfish, Bloody Henry starfish and the seven armed variety. The first two, however, were the most common and caused most devastation.

Her research shows that adding lime to water, as is done in some areas, is not an effective way of curbing their population. In contrast, the use of "hairy ropes", known as starfish mops, to which the fish stick when trawled through a shellfish bed, is more successful and environmentally acceptable.