Google Science Fair 2011 boasts big names, big prizes (video)

Dust off the baking soda and bust out the vinegar, because Google's throwing a science fair. That's right, the internet giant is taking the time-honored tradition of hastily constructed teenage science experiments online. Entrants must be between 13 and 18 years old and submit their projects (in English) via Google Sites by April 4th. Once the projects are in, a panel of real-life teachers will select 60 semi-finalists. From there, the pool will be narrowed down to a group of 15, who will attend an in-the-flesh fair at Google headquarters in Mountain View, CA, this July. The big event's judges include CERN's Rolf-Dieter Heuer, Google's Vint Cerf, and Nobel Laureate Kary Mullis. Grand prize winners in three age groups will receive a $50,000 scholarship, a trip to the Galapagos islands, and some stuff from LEGO and Scientific American. On second thought, maybe the baking soda volcano isn't such a great idea. (Rube Goldberg-inspired promo video after the jump.)Continue reading Google Science Fair 2011 boasts big names, big prizes (video)