Sana Raoof, a senior at Jericho High School in Jericho, New York, conducted research on a branch of topology called knot theory. The central question in knot theory involves how to prove that two knots are the same or different. The reason this is difficult is that a knot can be drawn in an infinite number of ways, yet it is still the same knot. Mathematicians use knot invariants to assign consistent values to knots; however, every invariant so far has generated false positive results, meaning that knot equivalents cannot be guaranteed. Until now, that is, since Raoof recently proved that a

preexisting invariant, the Alexander-Conway polynomial, can guarantee knot equivalents on all knots corresponding to lattice chord diagrams.

Because knot theory has applications in biochemistry, Raoof's research may shed new light on a problem plaguing scientists for decades: the protein folding problem, or how proteins from amino acids fold up three-dimensionally in nature. Since there is a direct relationship between the structure and function of organic molecules, Raoof's work could provide insight into the workings of the basic machinery of life.

In 2007, deadly contaminants penetrated the pet food supply in the United States, causing the deaths of hundreds of animals. Food additives contaminated with a toxic combination of melamine and cyanuric acid were found to be the cause. Though food imports are currently screened via chromatographic and mass spectrometric methods, the instruments, as well as the reagents, are expensive. Additionally, implementation of these methods requires highly trained personnel.

In her search for a better solution, Natalie Saranga Omattage, a student at The Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science in Columbus, Mississippi, explored alternative methods of detecting melamine and cyanuric acid in food. Using peptides with a high affinity to these chemicals, Omattage developed an effective quartz crystal microbalance-based biosensor capable of detecting melamine and cyanuric acid at low concentrations and in just a matter of minutes. Further, the biosensor is portable, less expensive than current screening methods, and does not require highly trained personnel to operate.

With growing global interest in hydrogen, science and industry are looking for ways to produce it more efficiently. One of the ways to produce hydrogen involves using a catalytic process with a methanol-reforming reaction. In order to generate hydrogen more efficiently, a high-activity catalyst is desirable.

For her chemistry project, Yi-Han Su, a student at Taipei First Girls High School in Chinese Taipei, developed a process to improve the activity of a catalyst, resulting in an improved process for generating hydrogen.

This method can be generalized for the synthesis of other multi-composition materials to achieve high homogeneity.