Announcing the winners of the YouTube Space Lab competition from Egypt and America

YouTube-Space-Lab-Winners-3 YouTube and Lenovo have announced that the YouTube Space Lab competition has reached its most important stage, as astronauts will reveal the results of implementing the two winning experiments live from the International Space Station so that the whole world can watch them on YouTube. The live broadcast will link the ISS to YouTube Creator Square in London on Thursday, September 13, starting at 1:30 PM GMT/8:30 AM ET. The broadcast will be shown on “The Science Guy” program, presented by Bill Nye. The program will also host the international winners, namely Amr Mohamed, from the Egyptian city of Alexandria, and Dorothy Chen and Sarah Ma, from the city of Troy, in the American state of Michigan.

The YouTube Space Lab competition, which was launched in October 2011 in partnership with, among others, Space Adventures and in cooperation with NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Japan Aerospace Research Organization (JAXA), is a global science competition in which age groups from 14 to 18 years participate, with the aim of developing a scientific experiment that can be carried out in space. The world is now scheduled to watch the two winning experiments as they are carried out in space by astronaut Sunita Williams via a live broadcast on YouTube from a distance of 250 miles above the Earth’s surface and aboard the International Space Station. The program lasts 40 minutes and begins with an interview conducted by presenter Bill Nye with the global winners and other special guests via a Google+ Hangout. The program also presents the story of the Space Lab competition through video clips covering the competition since its launch.

After that, NASA's Mission Control Center is scheduled to contact the studio and the International Space Station for a conversation with US astronaut Sunita Williams and to learn about the results of the two winning experiments. In his remarks about this event, famous science teacher, Bill Nye, who hosts The Science Guy, said, “The YouTube Space Lab competition provides a unique opportunity to attract students’ interest in science, which is extremely important in the development of society. In this context, I am pleased to host the live broadcast from the International Space Station on YouTube, as this in itself is a scientific achievement, and I also look forward to hearing the results of the scientific experiments that students have thought up.”

It is worth noting that the names of the winners - Amr Mohamed (winner in the 17- to 18-year-old category) and Dorothy Chen and Sarah Ma (winners in the 14- to 16-year-old category) - were previously announced during a ceremony hosted in Washington, DC, last March. The ceremony was attended by the competition’s partner organizers, namely NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Japan Aerospace Research Organization. These winners are now scheduled to discuss the results of their experiments with the astronauts who are carrying them out on board the International Space Station. Amr Mohamed, 18, had come up with an experiment that could provide an answer to the question: “Can you teach an old spider new tricks?” The award he received included a visit to Russia for a unique training opportunity offered to astronauts from the Russian “Star City,” which serves as a training center for Russian astronauts.

Amr's experiment revolves around a proposal to explore the effect of lack of gravity on the way zebra spiders hunt their prey, and whether or not these spiders will modify their behavior in space. As for Dorothy Chen and Sarah Ma, both 16 years old, they came up with an experiment that asks the question: “Can we use superbugs from space to treat diseases on Earth?” Their experiment attempts to explore whether compounds and nutrients can stop bacteria growth in a different way in zero gravity, which in turn may open the door to discovering a way to fight bacteria more effectively on Earth. The prize that Dorothy and Sarah received included a tour of the Japan Aerospace Research Organization's facilities, in addition to watching the launch of the rocket carrying the two winning experiments from its base in southern Japan.

Don't forget to tune in to this live stream on YouTube on Thursday, September 13! Publisher: Rami Qandil, Middle East and North Africa #Lenovo #TheScienceGuy #YouTubeSpaceLab #GoogleNews