Science congress comes to a close

THIRUVALLA: Faced with the problem of ‘how to cross the road safely every day’, a group of students from the government girls high school Thevara have come up with a unique idea on just how to go about it. They presented the device, ‘technological hands for safe crossing’, at the Children's Science Congress, which was organised as part of 29th Kerala Science Congress at Thiruvalla, on Monday.
The device, designed by the team led by Aswathy Manoj, has a buzzer and an LED light which could be installed on the zebra crossing at the two ends of the road. Sensors are installed on the two ends of the road and when a person stands on it and gets ready to cross the road, the buzzer will ring and the LED light will turn red. No vehicle will be allowed to pass till the person has crossed the road.
When it was installed in front of the school on trial basis, it helped in avoiding a number of accidents, the students said. Team also comprised of Ancy Rose, Devi Priya and Kripa Mary Aleena and they did the project with the help of their teacher Nisha Antony. This was just one of the 16 presentations that were made by the students at the event. All the students would get 70 grace marks in their Class X examination.
The presentations included eco-friendly compositing of fish waste, energy conservation in tea shops for sustainable development, maida: a silent killer and influence of moon faces on cultivation and harvesting. The presentations were held at the Abdul Kalam hall at Mar Thoma College which hosted the science congress.
Scientific innovations should be based on the needs of the society, said M C Dathan, scientific advisor to chief minister while speaking at the valedictory function the event.