Students' Ultimate Science Prize: Dinner with a Nobel Laureate
Four Groton students will be dining with a Nobel Laureate next week—an honor they earned by winning the recent MIT Science Trivia Challenge.
In late April, Cam Derwin '15, Evan Haas '15, JJ Kim '14, and Alaric Krapf '15 participated in the Science Trivia Challenge, sponsored by the MIT Club and part of the Cambridge Science Festival. The Groton School team, who dubbed themselves "JJ and the Meerkats" in homage to JJ, their team captain, were among 16 teams competing at the high school level. There was also a middle school division.
The students competed in two rounds with 10 questions during each round. Moderator and renowned physicist Walter Lewin made the event both playful and educational, adding his personal insights throughout. After a question about the average density of the sun (answer: about the same as water), Dr. Lewin added his own challenge to the audience: how much more dense is the center of the sun than the outer sun? (Answer: only 100 times more dense.)
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The students competed in two rounds with 10 questions during each round. Moderator and renowned physicist Walter Lewin made the event both playful and educational, adding his personal insights throughout. After a question about the average density of the sun (answer: about the same as water), Dr. Lewin added his own challenge to the audience: how much more dense is the center of the sun than the outer sun? (Answer: only 100 times more dense.)
At the end of the competition, Groton's team had the highest score (beating Commonwealth School) and won the gold prize—dinner with Chemistry Nobel Laureate and MIT Professor Richard Schrock. Schrock catalysts have been at the forefront of green technology for the pharmaceutical and other olefin-based manufacturing industries.
The Groton group is looking forward to this rare honor. Evan Haas '15, who has done extensive research with catalysts, is especially excited. "Having worked with olefins over the course of the winter and doing a lot of metal catalysis at Tufts University over the summer, I am delighted with the chance to meet someone who invented the modern organometallic catalyst," he says.—Bobbi Lamont
Above, Groton's winning team with MIT Physicist Walter Lewin
The Groton group is looking forward to this rare honor. Evan Haas '15, who has done extensive research with catalysts, is especially excited. "Having worked with olefins over the course of the winter and doing a lot of metal catalysis at Tufts University over the summer, I am delighted with the chance to meet someone who invented the modern organometallic catalyst," he says.—Bobbi Lamont
Above, Groton's winning team with MIT Physicist Walter Lewin
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