I have not seen this anywhere else, and I'm not sure if you guys even know of it. But recently, Google started a science fair competition called the Google Science Fair.



Basically, it is not like the science fairs we have in school, it is more like the science fair in which you have to create a project about something that is relevant to our modern world. Something involving calculators perhaps? Anyway, the top prizes are amazing. These are what the top 15 finalists receive:

A Scholarship from Google

A $25,000 scholarship, split equally between team members should a team win this prize. This scholarship is intended to be used towards the finalists’ further education.
A Once in a Lifetime Experience

The Finalists will have second and third choice by random selection of one of the remaining experiences at one of the following partner organizations: CERN, Google, the LEGO Group, or Scientific American. Learn more.
A Personalised LEGO Prize

A personal LEGO color mosaic (one for each team member, to build her/himself) and 1 personal, exclusive LEGO box - specially made for the occasion
Digital Access to Scientific American archives for their school

Digital access for the finalists' schools for a year. This prize is valid up to 12 months from winning the prize on 11 July 2011.

A LEGO Goodie Bag including:

    * A LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT 2.0 set
    * 2 - 4 HiTechnic sensors (endorsed 3rd party accessory sensors - totalling 10 different sensors!)
    * 1 Codatex RFID sensor with tags (endorsed 3rd party sensors)
    * 1 LEGO TECHNIC set (highest pricepoint in 2011 1HY assortment)

A Google Goodie Bag including:

    * A Google Chrome Notebook
    * An Android phone

Scientific American subscription

    * A subscription to Scientific American magazine for 12 months.

I think that is at least $50,000 in total value. Plus, don't forget that you can pretty much get into any college if you're in the top 15. These aren't even the grand finalist prizes, you can find more information on it by going here: <a href="http://www.google.com/sciencefair"> Google Science Fair </a>

The rules are:
- You have to be aged 13-18
- You have to submit a video or PPT presentation of your project (or both)
- Teams of up to 3 people

This is a worldwide competition, and I am definitely entering. So far I have contacted my smartest friends and they don't want to enter. What the heck?!?! Maybe if you want to work with someone else over the internet, you can meet them here.

yeah, that's the question, what to do?
Something that would help the world in some way.
Solution to pollution? Solution to some sort of problem that is affecting many people.
Solution to better education?

I just came up with something just now that I have always wanted to do for a while.
Creating a home power generator. Not the ones where you have to plug it into the wall, then lug it around and they cost thousands of dollars. I'm talking about something like if you are running on a treadmill, you charge a device that can store electricity, for use for later. So you can plug in your cell phone to it or something!!

More rules: This actually looks hard now, but I won't deter!

The following criteria will be used to judge each of the 8 core steps of your project site:

   1.

      About me
      An excellent student will show a real passion for science and be able to present their ideas with confidence, clarity and enthusiasm, and explain what winning would mean to them.
   2.

      The Question
      An excellent question will be interesting, creative, worded scientifically and relevant to the world today.
   3.

      Hypothesis
      An excellent hypothesis will lead on from the question, be tightly focused and build on existing knowledge.
   4.

      Research
      Excellent students will undertake research to help them shape their question and hypothesis and to put their work into a relevant, real-world context.
   5.

      Experiment
      Excellent students will demonstrate that they have used good experimental techniques and describe their experiment clearly and in detail.
   6.

      Data
      Excellent data will be relevant, sufficient to support a conclusion and should be recorded accurately and precisely, and be presented clearly.
   7.

      Observations
      Excellent observations will describe patterns or trends supported by the data.
   8.

      Conclusion
      An excellent conclusion will explain how the experiment answers the question or why it fails to do so and whether or not it supports the hypothesis.

Judges will be looking for the following qualities in your Works Cited section:

Excellent students will acknowledge and provide clear references for sources of information that they have consulted and/or referenced and acknowledge any assistance received (e.g. to find equipment and materials, to stay safe or to use unfamiliar equipment or techniques).

I want in.

but how do I develop an epic project for the Prizm, in under a month, that benefits humanity as a whole 
I have the emulator, but that probably won't be done until summer and only benefits a select group.

Yeah but if you wanna win, it should benefit humanity in some way. That's the only way you'll get first place. It has to have a purpose, there has to be a good outcome from the experiment.

Sounds like I could win

I'm pretty sure he is a senior in college though

I'm thinking about doing a robot that will map out a 3d grid of where it is and make decisions based off of that.
Goal: not to hit anything where it is mapping
Goal2: get an accurate 3d map that can be stored and retrieved.
Goal3: to not let the robot fall
Goal4: (Possible)Add color and more detail to the 3d map
I could think of many ways this could benefit people.(now I'll need an AI to run on it;)) Do you think this is a good idea?
I'm going to try and get a team of 3-4 people including me

I thought of a possible way to accomplish this involving infrared lights and lots of complex math. The problem though is that I believe this might take a pretty powerful computer to map. You could connect the robot to an outside server, but that would take away from its ability. But I might be wrong. If I was to to give this a go, I would just use my good old 84+ as the onboard server unless the math is too complex.