From the 21st to the 26th of August, 3 young students and a teacher from Escola Secundária Júlio Dinis (in Ovar) will represent Portugal in one of the largest pre-university science competitions in Asia, the CASTIC – China Adolescents Science and Technology Innovation Contest, in China.
In their luggage, young scientists carry “Larvas: plague or solution?”, a project awarded at the 2023 edition of the National Science Exhibition, organized by the Youth Foundation.
Focused on the growing challenge of the presence of plastics in ecosystems, André Silva, Carolina Leite, and Lara Pereira, coordinated by Professor Carlos Oliveira, tested the biodegradability of this material and also of styrofoam using mealworms (tenebrio molitor) and moth larvae. waxworm (Galleria mellonella). These species – most recognized for being pests for cereals, stored products, or bee hives – have shown potential for faster degradation of expanded polystyrene and various types of plastic (synthetic, recycled, and biodegradable), and may open new ways to deal with these materials of slow decomposition and high concentration in the environment. Presenting these results at this event is a great responsibility that “not only demonstrates the quality of the project but also the confidence that the jury placed in us to be the representatives of Portugal in one of the greatest science exhibitions in the world”, says André Leite.
For Carla Mouro, executive president of the Youth Foundation, the national participation in CASTIC “is a demonstration of the talent and curiosity of Portuguese youth. In the National Contest of Young Scientists and in the National Exhibition of Science, with the contribution of schools, teachers, and national institutions, we see that young people are increasingly better prepared to contribute to a future in which scientific knowledge represents progress and in which The power of ideas helps to solve very concrete problems, such as the ones we face in terms of the environment and sustainability.”.
With an annual periodicity, CASTIC is organized by the Chinese Association of Science and Technology and the Chinese Ministry of Education, already having 37 editions. The 2023 edition takes place in Wuhan. Annually, CASTIC hosts scientific projects in various areas – from social sciences to astronomy, including environmental sciences –, bringing together more than 500 students from all over China and about a hundred international participants.
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