Speaking to Lusa, the President of the Youth Foundation, Carla Moro, highlighted the “increasingly impressive quality” of the young national scientists and the importance of “betting on science” for the country.

Andre Silva, Carolina Leite and Lara Pereira, all 18-year-old students at the Escola Secundária Júlio Dinis in Ovar, won second place in the China Teen Scientific and Technological Innovation Competition (CASTIC) and were also distinguished with the ‘Special Prize’ from the Indonesia Young Scientists Association, an award Provides access to a new contest promoted by this organization.

“It is worth noting the increasingly impressive quality of projects presented by young Portuguese in competitions organized by the Foundation. This project that went to China was selected by the National Science Fair and the quality of the work in the exhibition is impressive,” said Carla Moreau.

Under the coordination of Professor Carlos Oliveira, the three young scientists presented a project entitled “Larvae: Plague or Solution?”, which tested the biodegradability of plastic as well as Styrofoam using mealworms (tenebrio molitor) and larvae of the wax moth (Galleria mellonella).

According to information provided by the Youth Foundation, “These types of larvae, generally known as pests of cereals, stored products or beehives, have shown the potential to degrade faster than EPS and various types of plastics (synthetic, recycled and plastic)”. biodegradable), to be able to open up new ways to deal with these slow-to-degrade and high-concentration materials in the environment.”

CASTIC is organized annually by the China Association of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Education of China, and already has 37 editions, and this year’s edition was held in Wuhan, from August 23 to 25.

The event hosts science projects in various fields, from social sciences to astronomy, including environmental sciences, and brings together more than 500 students from all over China and about a hundred international participants.