Updated 08/01/2015 – 18.45

TODAY THE BT Young Science and Technology Exhibition opened its doors to the public.

The event has a vast array of projects covering areas as diverse as the coloration of potatoes to the representation of murder in the media.

Today is the 51st year the event has been held and it will feature 550 exhibitions – which has been whittled down from an initial 2,077 entries.

Over the course of the event, 82 judges will speak to the entrants about their projects before the winners are announced tomorrow. In total, there will be more than 120 prizes given out – with one entrant winning the title of ‘BT Young Scientist of the Year’.

The winner will take home €5,000 and can look forward to a sponsored trip to London.

The exhibition runs through until Saturday.

TheJournal.ie visited the RDS to meet some of the entrants. Here are some of the exhibitions that visitors to the BT Young Scientist Award can looking forward to seeing over this weekend…

How is feminism perceived in modern society?

Mia Kovacs and Alannah Humphreys decided to look into this subject after watching Emma Watson speaking at the United Nations as part of UN Women’s HeForShe campaign.

In their research they aimed to define how feminism is perceived in modern society and mark out its continued importance.

Is the media murdering murder?

With her project, Hannah Allsopp has looked back at crime statistics since 1846 – attempting to determine if things have actually gotten worse, or if that’s just what the media wants you to believe.

Is there a correlation between irritable bowel syndrome and anxiety?

For their project, Sinead Harrington, Simone McNeill and Aoife Donellan from Scoil Mhuire gan Smál in Roscommon looked into the correlation between IBS and anxiety after a friend of theirs who suffered from both conditions spoke out.

To gluten or not to gluten?

There has been much made out of the gluten-free diet and its apparent health benefits and this was reflected in some of the projects on display. For their project, Sophie Kenny and Aisling Quinn from Wicklow examined how hard it is to maintain a gluten free diet – even after the swell in its popularity as a dietary fad.

In keeping with the gluten theme – Rachel Fitzmaurice and Caoimhe Gaughan from Roscommon looked at whether going gluten free changes perspiration levels in sport. Their results showed that cutting out the protein composite may not reap supposed athletic benefits.

First published 07/01/2015

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