There is some evidence that the Irish Sea is less radioactive this year, according to students taking part in the annual Young Scientists' exhibition, which opens next week in Dublin.
Shane O'Brien, Cillian Duffy and Paul O'Connor measured the levels of caesium 137 and potassium 40 in seaweed and found levels had fallen since last year. The students, from St David's Holy Faith School in Grey stones, Co Wicklow, gathered the Fucus vesiculosis seaweed from three locations along the Wicklow coast, dried it and measured its radiation levels.
Their endeavours will be on show in the Esat Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition, in the RDS, Dublin.
Co Clare student Ronan Kildea looked at Celtic stone crosses and found the figures on the crosses were present in Fibonacci number patterns. Ronan, a student in CBS Ennistymon, Co Clare, has cerebral palsy so his helper William Harrison explained that Fibonacci was a medieval Italian mathematician who came up with a series of numbers by adding the two previous numbers together.
"Ronan suggested they might occur on Celtic crosses, and bizarrely, they do. These crosses, which date from the 8th and 12th centuries, predate Fibonacci," said Mr Harrison.
Students from Loreto College, St Stephen's Green, Dublin, Orla Ormsby, Aisling Corcoran and Eimer Kiely used a laser beam to determine the tensile strength of hair. So far, they've found brown hair is stronger than red and blonde while straight hair is stronger than curly strands.
In all, 465 projects by students from 29 counties will be exhibited. Awards will be presented in the four main categories: chemistry, physical and mathematical sciences; social and behavioural sciences; and biology and ecological sciences and technology.
The exhibition is open to the public from January 11th to 13th from 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. Details from the website www.estays.com or freephone 1 800 924 362.