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High Schoolers Use Homemade Nuclear Fusion Reactor To Dominate Science Fairs (us.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the extracurricular-reactivities dept.

An anonymous reader writes: 20 high school students gather every Friday night in a basement of a modest home in Federal Way, Washington to work on science experiments using a home-made nuclear fusion reactor. [They've also reportedly won top honors in science fairs as well as college scholarships.] This extreme science club is the brainchild of Carl Greninger, a Program Manager at Microsoft by day, scientist by night. He was concerned about the current state of high school science education, [and] lamented that the public school system does not truly expose students to the excitement of experimental discovery.
So using his own money (and one-ton of radiation shielding), Greninger "gathered some students and built a working nuclear fusion reactor in his garage."

5 of 126 comments (clear)

  1. Are they on a watchlist now? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Serious question.

  2. Science fairs... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When you use students for your pet project and they go on to win every science fair, isn't that more discouraging for the competitors who don't get free money behind the scenes? Or is it naive to think that any participant in a high school science fair is autonomous enough to produce interesting projects on their own?

    Doesn't sit well by me to see them snag a bunch of scholarships and apparently crowdfund their project (according to their website) with all that money and expertise doing (presumably) most of the work for them.

    1. Re:Science fairs... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This. Every highschool-science-fair-kid that I've heard of, that got national recognition, had some pretty heavy-duty backing for "their" project. Focusing on these kids really irritates me. Many, many, many highschool kids could do this level of work if they had the money and experience that these kids had as backup.

    2. Re:Science fairs... by Tony+Isaac · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Perhaps Mr. Greninger should just keep his enthusiasm for science, and his willingness to teach young people, to himself. Then who would benefit?

      I didn't have the fortune of having this man in my life as a student, but I did have a retired friend in the early 1980s who was a computer enthusiast. He purchased an early Apple II, and invited me, a high school student, to come over to learn how to use his new toy. That was when I knew what I would be doing with my life.

      These students are receiving a wonderful gift from Mr. Greninger. It would be great if everybody had the same benefit, but we don't. It's too bad there aren't more passionate people who are willing to inspire high school students. Instead of complaining about those who are missing out, how about let's get up off our rears and look for ways to inspire the young people who are in our own lives!

  3. And furthermore.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    The labor-market currently has far more scientists in it than jobs for them. There aren't nearly enough professorship spots open either. An education in science is a sure-fire way to wind up with crushing student debt and a bottom-of-the-market salary in fast food service.

    We do not need to encourage kids to like science, there is already an abundance of interest. We need to encourage politicians to like science, so they will allocate more money to research and put all that talent to productive use!

    While we are at it, we need to encourage voters to believe that research is a good use of taxpayer dollars. Teaching kids how to build century-old machines will accomplish nothing of the sort.