A 15-year-old student who invented a flashlight getting power from the holder’s body heat is going home today from California with a big prize and a chance to do further research.

Ann Makosinski was the only Canadian among the four winners at Google’s international science competition. Thousands of young scientists from around the world took part in the competition.

Winning the science and technology competition was “a surprise”. Ann said, “I think it will have a great influence on my future.”

Ann thanked her family for encouraging her interest in science and said that her first toy was a box of transistors (晶体管).

Ann’s prize includes $25,000 and a “once in a-lifetime experience” from Google for her Hollow Flashlight, which has no moving parts or batteries.

The idea for the invention came from seeing unwanted batteries and her friend’s experience. When Ann visited a friend in the Philippines, she saw her friend couldn’t study when it became dark because there was no electricity or light. She saw the need for a flashlight that has no batteries—Hollow Flashlight.

In her project, Ann wrote “I made two flashlights that do not use any batteries or harmful materials. They do not create any noise and will always work. The flashlight needs at least a 5℃ temperature difference between the holder’s body and the environment around to produce light.”

A video of Ann explaining how she created the flashlight has been watched more than 1.4 million times on the Internet.

Though Ann was successful, she has not made a decision about her career path. Ann hopes that she can find a way to join her love of film and science together.

The four winners were chosen from 15 final competitors from eight countries. The competition attracted thousands of students in 120 countries.

Space tourism is not all about rockets—space balloons can do it too! The Spanish company HALO Space had the first unmanned test flight of its balloon in December 2022. It will compete with several other companies in the space-traveling business.

The test lasted 4 hours. The balloon reached 37 kilometers above Earth. People would see Earth from the blackness of space, said the Daily Mail. By 2029, the company plans to carry 3,000 passengers on 400 trips a year. The ticket for each trip will cost between 100,000 and 20,000 US dollars (about 696,000 to 1,392,000 yuan).

The test balloon is 773 kilograms, with a diameter (直径) between 110 and 130 meters (the length of a soccer field). It is filled with hydrogen (氢气), which is much lighter than air. When it flies, it lifts the capsule (舱) connected to it. The capsule can carry eight passengers and a pilot. Passengers can enjoy the360-degree view through the big windows. To ensure people’s safety, the capsule is also equipped with parachutes (降落伞). Another company, the US-based Space Perspective, said that such trips are about relaxation. Their balloon rises slowly at about 300 meters per minute, and takes about two hours to fly to 30 kilometers. Space Perspective is planning to fly their balloons from ships on the sea. Then people can enjoy sunrise and sunset there!

How about forgetting bad memories?

Can we forget bad memories? Someone might tell you that time is the only “cure”. But this might be not true.

Researchers at Canada's McGill University have tested a pill that can help you forget bad memories. They tested it on 60 people and found it to be useful.

All 60 people had experienced painful romantic relationships and wanted to forget them. In the study, they were asked to write about these bad memories. Then, they took a pill that is usually used to treat high blood pressure （血压）. They then recalled their bad memories by reading what they wrote earlier. In the end, they talked about their feelings, saying that they were finally able to forget their bad experiences.

Dr. Alain Brunet, who led the study, believes that the pill can ease（缓解）the pain that bad memories bring. People can take it after bad things happen to them.

How did the pill do this? In fact, your memories change all the time. They’re like papers on your computer. Every time you recall and "open” the papers, you might happen to make some changes and "save" them. Researchers believe that the pill can stop something in the brain from "re-saving" these memories. This means some details of the memory are lost.

However, there are some ethical （伦理的）worries about this treatment. Some people might use it to forget things that they should be learning from, such as when they did a crime.

How do we form memories?

The part of our brain known as the hippocampus （海马体）is important for forming new memories. Scientists found it after studying a patient named Henry Molaison in the 1950s. After Molaison's hippocampus got hurt during an operation, he couldn't store new memories. But he could remember memories from before the operation. This means long-term memories are stored outside the hippocampus. Scientists believe they are stored in the neocortex（新皮质），which controls attention and planning.