11-year-old designs a better sandbag

[jimmy olsen]

All Languish engineers should be ashamed they let this kid upstage them like this! 

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/11-year-old-designs-better-sandbag-named-americas-top-young-8C11371015

11-year-old designs a better sandbag, named 'America's Top Young Scientist'

John Roach NBC News

   An 11-year-old boy from Florida has designed a new kind of sandbag to better protect life and property from the ravages of saltwater floods. His invention took top honors at a science fair this week, earning him a $25,000 check and a trip to Costa Rica.

"Living in Florida, I'm keenly aware of hurricanes and saltwater flooding," the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge grand prize winner Peyton Robertson, who is a sixth grader at the Pine Crest School in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., told NBC News.

"Super-storm Sandy really got me concerned about how people can prepare for that damage from flooding. But today, the most common method of flood protection is sandbags. They are really heavy and difficult to transport and leave gaps in between the bags. So, I redesigned the bag," he explained.

Instead of sand, his bag is filled with a mixture of salt and an expandable polymer. When dry, it is lightweight, easy to move and easy to store. Once the bag is positioned, such as to create a barrier around a house, users hose it down with water. The polymer absorbs the water, swells and fills the volume of the bag.

"I use salt so they are heavier than any approaching seawater ... but the twist is when you add salt to the bag it reduces the swelling of the polymer so you need to recalculate how much you put in," Robertson explained.

In other words, the young scientist, who is already taking pre-calculus and trigonometry, realized an interaction between his super-absorbent polymer and salt that required him to calculate the precise mixture to add to the bag so that the full volume fills when water is added.

The bags also have a novel interlocking mechanism that connects them at their midpoints in order to prevent gaps that floodwaters can penetrate.

Robertson tested the bags in the bathtub and a kiddie pool where they easily outperformed traditional sand-filled sandbags. He next hopes to test them "in a real hurricane situation because that is the only way to figure out what glitches or whatever might be in the solution."

As winner of the Young Scientist Challenge, he was named "America's Top Young Scientist" at an award ceremony on Tuesday that also comes with the $25,000 check, which he can spend however he pleases, though has expressed interest in saving it for college.

In addition, Robertson and the other three top finalists will go on a trip next summer to Costa Rica. These are:

    Brooke Martin from North Central High School in Spokane, Wash., who created the iCUPooch device that allows pet owners to video chat and give their pets a treat when away from home;

    Srijay Kasturi, a home-school student from Reston, Va., who invented a device that helps the visually impaired detect objects in their path;

    and Daniel Culver from Montrose High School in Montrose, Colo., who invented an indoor cookstove that reduces harmful carbon dioxide emissions.

Between now and the trip abroad, Robertson said he will continue to pursue his passions inside the classroom as well as hone his skills on the golf course, where he plays competitively.

"I usually shoot from the white tees somewhere around the low 80s, high 70s," he said. "So, I'm pretty good."

[Eddie Teach]

Between now and the trip abroad, Robertson said he will continue to pursue his passions inside the classroom as well as hone his skills on the golf course, where he plays competitively.

"I usually shoot from the white tees somewhere around the low 80s, high 70s," he said. "So, I'm pretty good."

So does he want to be Doogie Howser or Tiger Woods?

[Josquius]

I really can't help but smell the hand of daddy (or mam) here. I just don't believe such a young kid could manage things like this alone. Where would he even hear of the materials he used let alone get them?

[merithyn]

I really can't help but smell the hand of daddy (or mam) here. I just don't believe such a young kid could manage things like this alone. Where would he even hear of the materials he used let alone get them?

His parents probably bought the supplies, but the kid's already in trigonometry and pre-calc. He's not a typical 11-year-old child. As for hearing about polymer, that's a common thing for elementary school kids to play with to learn about science.

[Valmy]

Nobody had ever thought of using polymers in sandbags before?

"I usually shoot from the white tees somewhere around the low 80s, high 70s," he said. "So, I'm pretty good."

Ok now they are just taking this too far.

[merithyn]

Nobody had ever thought of using polymers in sandbags before?

Like the kid said, the problem with polymers is the lack of weight to them. Adding the salt made the difference.

"I usually shoot from the white tees somewhere around the low 80s, high 70s," he said. "So, I'm pretty good."

Ok now they are just taking this too far.

My first thought was, "Parents need to teach the kid some humility."

[Iormlund]

I'm a bit puzzled. Why would you carry full sandbags around? Isn't the ability to fill them on-site their raison d'être?

[grumbler]

I'm a bit puzzled. Why would you carry full sandbags around? Isn't the ability to fill them on-site their raison d'être?

Not really (though the sand and bags are generally delivered to the site seperately).  Their raison d'être is that they are cheap.  This kid has invented the sandbag world equivalent of the Lamborghini.  That's probably why no one bothered to design this before... or, if they did design it, we didn't hear about it.

This isn't the first attempt to refine sandbags.   And I think that, should a superior product be desired, the fill-able metal barriers will probably be cheaper than these polymer things, though not as flexible.  I can see a market for these polymer bags as last-minute reinforcements for threatened high-value sites, though maybe not as a real replacement for sandbags.

[The Brain]

Or you could live on a boat. Worked for Bruce Willis.

[Grey Fox]

Or you could live on a boat. Worked for Bruce Willis.

Kevin Costner 

[The Brain]

Or you could live on a boat. Worked for Bruce Willis.

Kevin Costner 

Worked for him? Really?

[mongers]

Someone will be along in a while to demonstrate a better job can be down with lego bricks.   

[jimmy olsen]

I'm a bit puzzled. Why would you carry full sandbags around? Isn't the ability to fill them on-site their raison d'être?

Takes time to do so though, with these you can deploy them right away.

Grumbler is right that the cost will be the limiting factor.

[MadBurgerMaker]

the white tees

Pfft.

[Josquius]

I really can't help but smell the hand of daddy (or mam) here. I just don't believe such a young kid could manage things like this alone. Where would he even hear of the materials he used let alone get them?

His parents probably bought the supplies, but the kid's already in trigonometry and pre-calc. He's not a typical 11-year-old child. As for hearing about polymer, that's a common thing for elementary school kids to play with to learn about science.

And how is he doing these high level courses?
No matter how smart a kid is its pretty unusual for them to be allowed to do material far above their age level, even if they are capable.