Macinley Butson loves a challenge.
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At just 12 years old the young inventor has created a unique, organic way to save her vegetable patch from the pesky garden snail.
First she tested barriers of bark, flour and salt before hitting on a winner – an electric fence for snails.
By using a strip of copper tape combined with a moat she’s managed to stop snails in their tracks without squirting any pesticides on her seedlings.
‘‘The copper tape reacts with their mucus and acts like a snail electric fence,’’ Macinley said.
A moat then becomes a second line of defence. An air-conditioning duct cut in half and filled with water stops the most determined snails from their meals.
‘‘It’s environmentally friendly,’’ she said. ‘‘The snails generally drift in the water and can’t get out. It’s a safe way to minimise the risk of snail damage to seedlings.’’
For her efforts Macinley took out first place in the year 7-9 category of the prestigious Science Teachers Association of NSW Young Scientist Awards at the University of Wollongong.
Macinley was encouraged by her father, who is a medical physicist, and her brother, year 12 student Ethan Butson, who was the overall winner of the NSW Young Scientist of the Year.
Ethan, 17, designed an augmented reality system to help stroke patients and vision-impaired people with improved vision and object definition.
‘‘Through augmented reality I worked out a way to project fully sensitive vision for stroke patients to better avoid obstacles when they’re walking,’’ Ethan said.
‘‘This is done by using different visual effects to reduce the complexity of an image with the use of a cap with a forward facing camera attached and virtual reality glasses.’’
It is the third time that Ethan, from The Illawarra Grammar School, has won the coveted title.
Last year he created a smartphone app which uses a GPS system to determine how much time a person could stay in the sun, wherever they were.
The program measures UV exposure based on skin type and a database computer program to forward-plan UV exposure.
Ethan hopes to one day become a scientist, while Macinley, who is also a TIGS student, is interested in marine biology.
Both are now eligible to compete in the National BHP Science Awards.
