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A team of high schoolers won the 2015 Verizon Innovative App Challenge. This culminated in a visit to the White House for the 2015 Science Fair. The app is designed to help teenagers deal with the stress and depression of being a teenager.
I found this story interesting for a lot of reasons. That app development is considered STEM, that app development is so easy that a group of high-schoolers can do it, that app development is so powerful that anyone can make something that may change the world, that mobile apps continue to become all things to all people. It seems that, instead of books, essays, poetry, etc, a mobile app is now the way to connect and reach everyone.
Sometimes I am simply amazed at how in such a short time, the world has become so ubiquitously connected.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by RobotMonster on Wednesday March 25 2015, @11:50AM
Light on detail? No kidding! According to TFA (3rd link), in addition to a journal, it also includes "descriptions about different kinds of anxiety and depression and their corresponding symptoms". Read a bit further, and it doesn't sound like they actually developed any software yet:
its designers will meet with Massachusetts Institute of Technology trainers in a few weeks to build the app.
This won a national science award? What came second?!
I agree with the sentiment of this comment under the huff-post article:
I don't understand how this is at all innovative...
...This article offers almost no substantive coverage of what makes this app unique....
...It's the worst kind of fluff piece possible: grandiose & vague to the point of embarrassment.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 25 2015, @11:54AM
Sure it's nothing but a vague business plan, but the word "app" was mentioned, so it must be science.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 25 2015, @11:00PM
Building a gadget is NOT Science.
In the library (Dewey system), Science is in the 500s; what these kids were doing would be in the 600s (Technology aka Applied Science).
As the First Post mentioned (good post, Fristy), Science provides an answer to a scientific query by using the Scientific Method. [wikipedia.org]
This demonstrates yet again that most people have no clue what Science is (e.g. "Do you believe in evolution?").
-- gewg_
(Score: 4, Informative) by kaszz on Wednesday March 25 2015, @01:43PM
whitehouse.gov: Meet the exhibitors in the 2015 White House science fair [whitehouse.gov]
"computer program called “Rethink” that alerts users when an outgoing message contains language that is potentially abusive and hurtful"
"designed a new type of spinal implant that expands over time, helping developing spines stay straighter as they grow, and lengthening the time young patients can go between surgeries"
"developed a solar-powered radiation system that circulates air and heats the interior of buildings. It can run without access to electricity or running water."
"a sensor device that can detect when a wanderer stands up, apply pressure on his or her foot, and send an alert to the caregiver’s smartphone via Bluetooth"
"Illumi-cize, uses a pulse meter to measure heart rate and sends that information to a battery-powered computer chip. The chip is programmed to illuminate light-up accessories based on the intensity of a person’s physical activity. The wearable device includes an SD card that collects and stores the data gathered during a workout, "
"battery-powered page turner that could turn pages for people who are paralyzed or have arthritis"
"carbon-dioxide powered battery called PolluCell. Comprised of multiple electrochemical cells wired in parallel circuits, PolluCell harnesses the power of carbon dioxide and waste materials to generate electricity"
And lots of other stuff..
(Score: 2) by RobotMonster on Wednesday March 25 2015, @02:02PM
All of those sound way more impressive.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 25 2015, @06:33PM
fck y btch nd yr fckng wrd fltr 2 y stpd sht tng sshl fckr
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 26 2015, @07:28AM
> This won a national science award?
No it did not. Did you even read the summary?
It won the Verizon App Challenge - not science, just an app competition.
Winning that got them a trip to the whitehouse where no awards were given.