Former Chief Editor, Cleodie Swire, shares with us some of her experiences while working on Young Scientists Journal. Cleodie is now studying Medicine at Clare College, Cambridge. We wish her all the best for her future.

Stem cells are one of the brightest hopes for the future of modern medicine. It is thought that it is possible to use them to cure a vast array of illnesses and disorders, ranging from diabetes, to Parkinson's disease and even to help the sufferers of trauma, such as those with spinal damage. Stem cells are unspecialized cells which have the potential to specialize into many different types of cell. The number of different cells into which they can specialize depends on their potency, with embryonic stem cells having the most potential (totipotent). These embryonic stem cells are first formed when a sperm cell fertilizes an egg cell. From this single cell all the cells in your body are descended.

Telomeres are found at the end of chromatids and prevent chromosomes from deteriorating as they are replicated. As these run out in the human body, the amount of times that cells can duplicate is limited. They therefore can so control the lifespan of the organism. Tumours can activate Telomerase making them biologically immortal and able to replicate rapidly. This allows the tumour to thrive without ageing. This article investigates the potential of using Telomeres in the fight against cancer and the eventual possibility to slow down the ageing process of the human body.

To maintain an aircraft in air during steady and level flight, an upwards force to support its weight must be produced. Such a force is commonly known as lift. Many contradictory theories have been developed about the possible ways through which lift is generated and the debate still remains widely open. The common explanation, which seems to give the correct answer, uses incorrect physical arguments and wrongly appeals to the Bernoulli's equation. A more correct explanation of the lift relies on the idea that along curved streamlines a difference in pressure exists, which provides an explanation for lift.

At the International Science Conference in March, Kunal presented a poster about the new supercomputer developed by IBM called Watson and discussed the possibility that it could in fact revolutionize the way we view the current healthcare system. In this paper, he discusses what Watson is, how it works, how it rose to fame, and its possible uses for the future, as well as how this machine, or any other supercomputers of the future, can alter the healthcare system for ever.

We decided to study the process of converting light energy to chemical energy in photosynthesis. To do this, we made a three-layer artificial model containing a reducing agent, a photocatalyst, an electron transfer chemical, and an oxidizing agent. The oxidizing agent was only reduced when benzoquinone alone was used in the middle layer. A potential difference across the layers was only measurable when this experiment was performed in light. We can, therefore, conclude that in our model, benzoquinone plays a role in photo catalysis and electron transfer.

Visible from space, the light from our cities pollutes our night skies. Sobue decided to measure the light levels at night around Japan using a Sky Quality Meter (SQM). He tried to determine the reliability of SQMs and accuracy of his results by comparing the measured light pollution levels with electricity consumption statistics and light pollution guidelines. He then calculated the altitude at which the majority of light causing light pollution is reflected: Between 2-3 km above ground level and verified that light pollution is greater near heavily populated areas.

This group of students aimed to develop a more efficient type of binchotan battery. They did this by setting up several batteries and changing one of the electrolytic solution, the electrode material or the material of the conducting wire. They plotted graphs of voltage against time as each variance discharged. The higher the voltage and the longer it endured, the better the material. They found the binchotan battery works best using sodium sulphate as the electrolytic solution, platinum wire, and binchotan wrapped in visking tubes.

This group became interested in the light that is given off in chemiluminescent reactions and by chlorophyll. The intensity, wavelength, and quantity of light was measured from several chemical reactions and compared with the light given off by chlorophyll. They found that the properties of the emitted lights are different for each fluorescer. Fluorescers which can emit light have several aromatic rings such as chlorophyll.

This team of young Japanese scientists were interested in why the Blue Grotto in Italy was blue and thought it may be to do with the light transmissivity properties of water. They, therefore, carried out several experiments modeling the water in the grotto as water in boxes. They found that percentage of light absorbance was dependent on the dimensions of the container and the reflective properties of the container wall. In all cases, red light was absorbed the most and this was especially significant across large depths of water. They concluded that this was why the Blue Grotto appears blue and hope to establish a relationship between transmissivity and volume.

Green algae have become the target of extermination, because they cause eutrophication and damage to aquatic environments. However, this group noticed that the fish tank in their biology laboratory containing green algae was cleaner than the one that did not. They decided to test whether green algae had a purifying effect on the water by measuring nitrate and ammonium levels in the water. They found that both ammonium and nitrate ion concentrations were significantly reduced by green algae and reached a level of equilibrium when growing with goldfish. Finally, they explored the idea of creating biofuel from green algae and concluded that it could be a useful resource.

A group of students want to study mosquitoes and their larvae. They hypothesised that colour may affect how frequently mosquitoes land on an object and that CO ₂ may cause mosquitoes to swarm since they are usually attracted to animals which all respire, releasing CO _2. They found that mosquitoes landed on darker colors the most frequently and although they swarmed about a human hand, high levels of CO ₂ did not cause them to swarm. The team hope to study other habits which may be useful in helping reduce mosquito populations.

Loggerhead Sea Turtles are a currently endangered species. This team wanted to investigate whether environmental changes such as temperature variations affected their breeding rates. The team studied 29 breeding places for a year and calculated the hatching rate with temperature. They found that the best temperature to lay and hatch eggs is 24 to 33°C. And they concluded that if the temperature in their local beech where to change, this would affect the turtle population.

Aphids are very troublesome for farmers. However, pesticides often have an unexpected influence. In the first series of experiments, the team tested aphid's responses to odours and colours. They found crushed orange peel to be the most effective repellent and yellow to be the best attractive color. From this, they designed a simple method of keeping aphids away from plants. This team also noticed variation in larval body colors of a descent of aphids. In their second series of experiments, they discovered that this resulted in an asexually reproducing, winged adult and that larval nourishment requirements, survival rates, and ability to withstand fasting of this variation were different to other individuals of the same descent. They concluded that this adaptation had come about to enable the descent to survive even if the hosting plant is killed.

Some plants have been found to have hydrophobic surfaces and the properties of these were studied. The angle of contact of water droplets was measured under a microscope and compared for different species of plants. It was concluded that perhaps it was an effective adaptation for the lotus plant to wash mud off its leaves to maximize light exposure for photosynthesis.

These students decided to investigate whether biodiversity of the dandelion varied with environment type around their school. To do this they used 5 m ² quadrats and recorded the position of certain types of leaves. However, they found that there was no correlation between certain types of leaves and the environment. They hope to target other inherited features in future studies.

After taking an interest in the lamella ridge structure of morpho butterfly wings, I investigated the self-organisation of crystals. Experiments were carried out by growing snow crystals and metal leaves, and analysing the shapes formed for fractal properties. It was found that both chosen examples displayed fractal properties and that for metal leaves, deposition rate increased with time and decreased with increasing thickness of the upper fluid layer, and fractal formation is dependent on the surface tension between the two fluids. These properties may have applications in both natural and artificial materials.

Champagne overspill is a problem that is well-known for party hosts and sommeliers (wine waiters). In this project, I endeavored to develop a solution to this common problem, one that has the potential to revolutionise the catering market at home, in social bars, and in corporate events. I started by considering the feasibility of the product by conducting three vital experiments - the change in CO ₂ concentration of the champagne over time, the ability of ultrasonic waves to reflect off the champagne in a feedback system, and finally, a test of the durability of the product by applying virtual forces to various faces of the body (using solid works and a self-made simulator). From these experiments, the final outcome was comfortably deemed feasible in a virtual but conceptual form. I then set out to develop the virtual product using electronic, structural, and mechanical prototyping as well as programming. The computer-aided design (CAD) of the product was also developed throughout the project. Having finally emerged with a successful outcome, I then evaluated my project against the 'desired outcomes' of my project. Not only does my research and design accomplish this small problem, but the underlying mechanical principles can be applied to many other areas of the catering market.