A 16-year-old girl named Noor Haideri has beaten numerous contestants around the world to emerge the winner of a science contest which earned a 250,000 worth of scholarship to the university.
Noor is a high school junior from Overland Park, United States who won first prize in the Breakthrough Junior Challenge contest for a science video she created about blue light and how it disrupts our sleep cycle.
The Breakthrough Junior Challenge is an annual, global science video competition for high school students. Noor was awarded a scholarship worth of 250,000 for winning in the first place of the contest junior category.
“They call my name up and I think, ‘I’m going to be getting some different award. And then I find out that it’s actually the Breakthrough Junior Challenge. It was one of the best surprises,’ she said while talking about her achivement.
Noor’s video was made on the effect blue light has on sleep which was selected from thousands of submissions by students from all across the globe. The video breaks down the science behind why phone and computer use before bed disrupts sleep quality.
So basically, in our eye, there’s this protein called melanopsin. When blue light enters your eye it gets stimulated, and that sends a signal through the optic nerve to your brain to reduce the production of melatonin. And as we know, melatonin is what makes us go to sleep,” she said.
She mentioned the 250,000-dollar college scholarship, which she won will go toward pursuing multiple doctorate degrees. Noor’s prize also includes the installation of a new state-of-the-art science lab for her high school and 50,000 dollars for her science teacher.