YouTube and Lenovo, the computer manufacturer, have announced a science
contest called SpaceLab for students around the world ages 14 to 18, and
it is not quite like any other science contest. For one, the students,
who can enter individually or in teams of up to three, do not actually
have to perform any experiments.
Instead, they will make videos
to pitch ideas for experiments that could be conducted in the
zerogravity environs of the space station. The two winning entries will
be built and flown there, and astronauts will conduct a demonstration
that will be broadcast to classrooms via YouTube. "The headline idea
was, 'Let's create the world's largest, coolest classroom in space,"'
said Zahaan A Bharmal, director of European marketing for