17-year-old wins first place in Intel Science Talent Search

The winner of the 2013 Intel Science Talent Search was announced today. Sara Volz is a 17-year-old high schooler whose project involved growing algae under her bed, something that earned her the $100,000 prize as well as #1. What makes the algae special? It contains high oil content for cheap biofuel.

Volz is from Colorado Spring, Colorado, and was praised heavily for her work, which is said to be the result of years of effort and of a special passion for the topic that extends beyond mere rote work. According to one of the judges, Volz is well versed in many areas of science, and likewise knowledgeable of advanced mathematics. She beat out more than 1,700 other entries.
The Chairman of the judging panel, who is also a University of Illinois professor, David Marker had this to say: “It’s something she’s worked on for years, and that shows a certain passion and drive that you don’t always see in heavily mentored projects. And what really set her off was that she’s so well-rounded in all areas of science — I was able to ask her very advanced math questions that she answers easily.”

The second-place award and designation went to 17-year-old Jonah Kallenbach, who’s project is titled the mouthful, “Characterizing and Identifying Interactions of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins.” This project focused on the areas of genomics and bioinformatics and looked at abnormal structures within protein chains, something that could eventually be used as part of a larger treatment for illnesses and cancer.

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LG’s first flexible OLED phone due before the year is out

LG plans to launch a flexible OLED smartphone before the end of the year, the company’s VP of mobile has confirmed, though it’s unclear to what extent the work-in-progress handset will actually flex. The OLED panel in question is the handiwork of LG Display according to VP of LG mobile Yoon Bu-hyun, the WSJ reports, with the proposed device set to launch sometime in Q4. LG Display’s work on flexible OLEDs has been underway for some time, though the company’s efforts have perhaps been overshadowed somewhat by rival Samsung’s YOUM development. Last year, according to a Korea Times report, LG Display was preparing for

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Bing Apps for Windows 8 get major updates

Late least year, Microsoft rolled out a half dozen Bing Apps for Windows 8 users, each one focused on a specific category, such as travel and sports. The apps were designed to offer “immersive vertical experiences,” and now, about six months later, a big line of updates for them is being pushed out. Users can grab the updates now by heading into the Windows Store and selecting the updates notification.

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Syrian Electronic Army claims credit for CBS Twitter accounts hack

Yesterday, several of CBS ’s Twitter accounts were hacked, including its main account, and its accounts for 60 Minutes, 48 Hours, and CBS Denver. The hackers got into the account and tweeted a series of things relating to President Obama and the United States being in cahoots with Al-Qaeda . The tweets also had links that led users to malware-infested sites. While CBS was able to regain access to its accounts, it was unable to figure out who was behind the attacks, until now. The Syrian Electronic Army , the same group that hacked 3 of the BBC’s Twitter accounts, claimed

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