Dmitry Omelyanov is working with a fellow student on a project involving cockroaches. They will be competing in science fairs virtually from Ukraine.
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Dmitry Omelyanov is working with a fellow student on a project involving cockroaches. They will be competing in science fairs virtually from Ukraine.
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Sofia Smovz, Serhi Kolomichuk and Dmitry Omelyanov are 17-year-old high school students from Ukraine. They were attending a national science fair in Kyiv in the morning that Russia launched an attack on their country.
Kolomychuk and Omelyanov are residents of Dnipro in central Ukraine. On 24 February, as soon as he heard explosions in Kyiv, he set out on the long journey home in a packed train.
“Since there were a huge number of people, we had to get two people to sleep on the top bunk,” Kolomychuk recounts. morning edition, “People could sleep wherever they could – on the floor, in the vestibule and just sit. Upon arriving home – constant air raid alerts awaited us.”
Smovzh’s family left Kyiv.
The work of Sofia Smovz includes the treatment of cancer. She would compete at the science fair from Paris, where she moved during the war.
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The work of Sofia Smovz includes the treatment of cancer. She would compete at the science fair from Paris, where she moved during the war.
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“My family moved to the western part of Ukraine on the first day of the war,” she says. “I have a younger sister, and we didn’t want her to hear all the explosions.”
His mother and sister are now living in Spain. Her stepfather emigrated to Ukraine and she herself now lives in France.
“The atmosphere in Ukraine when you sit and read the news – it is very difficult to concentrate on studies, and so I moved to Paris,” she says.
Smovzh, Kolomiichuk and Omelyanov are now finalists at this week’s International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Atlanta. There are 1750 finalists from around the world – many in an individual event for the first time in two years.
Kolomychuk, Omelyanov and Smovz are competing virtually.
Serhii Kolomiichuk is a resident of Dnipro, Ukraine. He is working with Omelyanov on a project related to cockroaches.
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Serhii Kolomiichuk is a resident of Dnipro, Ukraine. He is working with Omelyanov on a project related to cockroaches.
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Smovzh aims to find less toxic treatments for cancer. Kolomychuk and Omelyanov are working on a joint project involving the study of cockroaches.
“Cockroaches are carriers of many parasites,” says Omelyanov. “People have long learned to deal with these insects with insecticides, but they have already become a problem. We have found non-toxic aromatic mixtures that can become a complete replacement for insecticides.”
As they work through tough conditions, Smowz talks about what it means to be a finalist at ISEF.
“For me, it’s just personal participation and winning something or not winning something,” she says. “I study and prepare for ISEF to show that Ukraine is a strong and independent country and we are strong in every field, even in science.”
This story was originally published in morning edition Live Blog.
