Juvenile study - Beetle larvae that consume plastic and cosmetics produced from quark are among the ways young individuals aim to alter the world.
The biggest accomplishment of her life is credited to the hamster Elvis. He loves mealworms. Every night, Beeke Drechsler feeds these worms, which are the larvae of the Great Black Beetle, to her hamster. And that's when Beeke made a remarkable discovery- "Although the larvae nibbled on the plastic ramp in the hamster's cage, they didn't excrete any microplastics."
Beeke Drechsler was thrilled. Could these little beetle larvae be the solution to a huge human problem? The disposal of the surplus plastic waste we've accumulated. Three friends- Beeke, Leo Roer, and Malte Cox, students at the Wilhelm-Hittorf-Gymnasium in Münster, decided to scientifically investigate this phenomenon.
Four years have passed since then. It started as a project by inquisitive students but has turned into a successful research project by young adults. Beeke and Leo will soon be 18, while Malte is already. In March, they won the North Rhine-Westphalia state competition for Jugend forscht in the Biology category. Over the weekend, they competed in the federal final at the Science Center Experimenta in Heilbronn and received a special prize from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research for a project on the theme “Future-Oriented Technologies.”
Jugend forscht is Germany's most recognized youth competition for scientific talent and was co-founded by stern. Over 10,000 girls and boys participated in this round. They are supported by 250 companies, universities, research institutions, 5,000 teachers, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Dieter Schwarz Foundation, and more than 3,000 experts and university professors who critique the research projects. "The best thing is being able to talk to professors at the same level in the juries; I am taken seriously," says Anna Maria Weiß, 18 years old, fascinated by astrophysics. She proved the existence of a new exoplanet and demonstrated that TOI 1147b is a "Hot Jupiter," a planet similar in size to Jupiter but much hotter.
At home, a lot is talked about young people, but little with them. And if so, with concern. How are they supposed to tackle all the issues we left them, from the climate crisis to the economic stagnation of the German economy? Katarina Keck, managing director of the Jugend forscht Foundation, math teacher, and previous principal of the Albert Schweitzer Gymnasium in Erlangen, is optimistic: "If you see twelve-year-olds presenting their photovoltaic seawater desalination plant and doing it better than many adults, you don't need to worry about the future of Germany."
At Jugend forscht, theory and practice are combined. It's both elitist and egalitarian at the same time. Anyone can participate in Germany. Many winners have since made a career in science. But Keck also thinks of the participants like the two girls who aimed to create Quark Biokosmetik: "It wasn't rocket science, but they worked precisely and efficiently and achieved it."
And that's the real deal: implementation. This is a significant problem in Germany due to the so-called "German paradox." "Within universities, lots of excellent fundamental research is occurring in numerous areas, but those developments often don't advance to the stage of practical application," says Katharina Höltl, Professor at the University of Stuttgart and director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Work and Organization. The innovations decay in the "death zone" between when they're proven to function in a lab and full-scale production.
Jugend forscht trains both theory and practice simultaneously, including rocket science and at least the creation of prototypes. So Leo Blume from Essen has even taken his project - a multidimensional sorting algorithm - to the point of practical application. "The code is available to the public on the internet for anyone who's interested," says the 16-year-old. Leo discovered sorting algorithms initially through the question of how he could best arrange his books by color on his bookshelf. Although this may seem trivial, sorting algorithms are among the most difficult problems in computer science. They are applied in various ways, such as efficiently planning the logistics flows of international shipping companies. At the federal final, Leo was awarded the Konrad Zuse Society prize for an original work in computer science.
The queries that fuel research curiosity tend to be hard to let go. In some cases, they can even shift one's life path. Beeke Drechsler and Malte Cox never realized their talents were in the natural sciences at first. Beeke opted for advanced German and History, while Malte chose German and Social Sciences. "We taught ourselves the chemical and bioanalytical fundamentals for our project," throws in Beeke. They were granted access to the University of Münster's labs and uncovered that a specific type of intestinal bacteria from mealworms is responsible for plastic degradation. This intrigues Beeke so much that she now desires to study biology. "We've advanced to the point where we can now cultivate the bacteria outside the larva, and the plastic breakdown works almost like in a Petri dish."
Perhaps the reason Jugend forscht flourishes is because the questions of young people are taken seriously and given the opportunity to uncover their responses. Whether it's about mealworms, the optimal sorting of colors, or the enquiry into whether existence is possible on a planet beyond our solar system.
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The achievements of Beeke Drechsler, Leo Roer, and Malte Cox in the field of plastic waste disposal have been making headlines in Germany. Their research on beetle larvae that consume plastic and their potential role in innovation has garnered national attention.
Three years into their project, these young researchers have not only advanced their studies but also received recognition at the Jugend forscht competition. Their work on the degradation of plastic using specific intestinal bacteria found in mealworms has piqued the interest of biology enthusiasts, highlighting the importance of youth research in addressing global challenges.
