Horror movies inspire an entrant in the Young Scientist competition to study how diseases can spread

CAN ZOMBIES tell us how diseases spread? Or should we be keeping track of virus genetics? How noisy are hospitals – and could a little classical music be just the tonic for high blood pressure? And do you really know what’s in cosmetics such as anti-wrinkle creams and nail products?

Those are some of the health-related topics that have had students from around the country working hard on their projects for the BT Young Scientist Technology Exhibition, which runs in Dublin this week.

One of the most eye-catching project titles is The Epidemiology of a Zombie Plague.It's something Ross Brannigan was inspired to look at after he watched zombie movies, particularly 28 Days Later, where a virus rapidly wipes out humans.

“I wondered if it would actually spread like that, and if it did how would people cope with it,” says the fifth-year student from Coláiste Phádraig in Lucan, Dublin.

He wrote a series of computer simulations where zombies could infect humans, and then used them to look at how various aspects could affect the spread or containment of disease.

“I set the zombies to move around randomly and interact, and when they saw a human they would frenzy and go towards them like a predator,” explains Brannigan. “The disease spread really quickly – the whole of Dublin would have been gone within 108 hours – so I put in variations in each simulation to see the outcomes.

He found that if humans in the computer simulation clumped together for survival, the risk of infection went up, while offering weapons (which could represent vaccines in real epidemics) made the humans more resilient to the zombie threat.

Computers and epidemics also feature in another project – but this time looking at a real virus: H1N1. Emma Cooke and Lauren Fagan, from Loreto Secondary School in Balbriggan, Co Dublin, became interested in the swine flu virus when they saw media reports about it.

Their teacher, Niamh McNally, introduced them to the world of bioinformatics, and the students used computer tools to look at genetic sequences of H1N1 in public databases and then compared them with the vaccine.

“It’s incredible to see the information you can get,” says Cooke, whose appetite has now been whetted to study the area further after school.

“I went to some open days this year and my interest in the project guided me towards the talks on studying biotechnology because I found it so enjoyable – that’s something that has come out of it for me personally.”

As well as epidemics, sound has also been making its mark in the health entries this year.

Aisling Healy and Kate O’Callaghan from Coláiste Choilm in Ballincollig, Co Cork, decided to find out about noise levels experienced by premature babies being cared for in neonatal intensive care.

With the support of staff at Cork University Maternity Hospital, the students used sound meters to measure noise levels in and around an empty incubator in a storage room, and also within the intensive care area itself.

The students found that in the storage room, noise levels rose to 60-80 decibels when they opened doors on the incubator or patted it, and that the incubator itself was amplifying sounds.

Initially, the pair had hoped to work on a method to help reduce the noise levels inside incubators, but time didn’t allow, and it’s something they may follow up on again. “The two of us are interested in the area, we have learned a load about hospitals and how everything works there, and about babies in general,” says Healy.

And from one sound to another: this time music and its effects on blood pressure.

In a series of carefully controlled experiments, Ian Lee and Luke Madden from Saint David’s CBS in Artane, Dublin, measured the blood pressure (systolic and diastolic) and heart rate of teenagers before and after listening to various types of music for 20 minutes.

So what did they find? If you want to bring down your systolic and diastolic readings, Beethoven is a good bet, but rock music (in this case Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit) will have the opposite effect. Meanwhile, dance music pushed up the systolic values but didn't seem to have much of an impact on bringing down the diastolic numbers.

Doing the research drove home how carefully experiments have to be planned, according to Lee, who wants to study medicine.

“Every detail is really important, you have to keep everything constant so the results and conclusions can be drawn, everything has to be precise.”

Beauty products didn’t escape scrutiny this year, and Edward Cooke of St Gerard’s School in Bray, Co Wicklow, took a closer look at anti-wrinkle creams. He found out more about the ingredients that claim to erase lines, and he also surveyed 40 women about their experience with various products.

Vitamin A and Q10 ranked highly, according to Cooke, who found that many anti-wrinkle creams do have a temporary effect.

And while you are at it, how about getting those nails done? Transition-year students Caroline Nicholson, Lucy Mulligan and Eimear Flynn from St Joseph’s College in Lucan zoned in on the chemicals involved.

“We saw the sixth years going to the debs, they were getting their nails done and we wondered was it affecting their health,” recalls Nicholson.

The trio researched various ingredients in nail products, including gels and disinfectants, and they have been surveying beauticians about their awareness of the chemicals and the measures they take to protect themselves from exposure to them.

“I would definitely be interested in a career in science,” says Nicholson.

The BT Young Scientist Technology Exhibition takes place at the RDS in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, between January 12th and 15th. This year attracted a record-breaking 1,735 project entries from 3,943 students in 346 schools around Ireland. Of those, 520 projects are to take part in the exhibition. Doors open to the public from Thursday afternoon. Ticket prices are: adult €12, student/concession €6 and family (two adults and three children) €25. See btyoungscientist.com