Microplastics filtration, noninvasive glucose monitor among Google Science Fair winners

The winners of this year’s Google Science Fair were just announced, and from a pool of 20 finalists from around the world, five took home prizes for their solutions to health and environmental challenges. The overall winner in the contest for those 13-18 was 18-year-old Fionn Ferreira from Ireland for a nontoxic way to eliminate microplastics in water. When ingested, the grain-sized particles can cause organ damage and the chemicals they contain have been linked to impaired immune function. Other winners of note: a high schooler from Russia who created a prototype of a device that interprets hand gestures from those who are hearing impaired into spoken words, as well as a sophomore from Indonesia who developed a cheap and noninvasive glucose monitoring device that doesn’t rely on drawing blood.