I am not trying to knock these kids… their initiative rivals that of some adult scientists I know… But the media really needs to take a step back and calm down when they report on this stuff.

It’s not just child prodigies, there’s quite a good amount of ‘hobbyists’ out there which come up with some wacky stuff as well, as they’re no students at MIT or working for some major firm or no longer kids they usually get burried away in the last pages of some magazine nobody reads.

What I believe is a major reason why they come with such ideas though is cause not the majority of their time goes wasted on getting the right papers, getting the funding, making sure it’s ethically accepted, etc. They’re just working on a level so down to earth they usually can just go their way without worrying with except of course making that science fair deadline.

I blaim the entire bureaucracy which has come with science in the past century and slows things down or even prevents it from being started at all. And a lack of subsidizing funding for scientific creativity. Just as artists get subsidized in some countries for making art I believe inventors should have access to the same, not getting them all in the corporate world but basically allowing that “science fair” mentality to go on. Coming up with the most surprizing things and what usually would be at relatively low cost.

I lol’ed at the exam questions, haha “Salt makes the roads white”. The next fake snow! Kinda reminds me of the science questions I used to get at the age of 14. Although that’s the age at which we first get science classes here at school, so it’s not that big of a surprise getting questions like those as rediculous as they are.