从墨西哥辣椒和口香糖到癌症治疗和黑洞，学生们解释了科学、技术、工程和数学领域的概念。
。。。史蒂夫·格施迈斯纳/科学来源
你有没有想过为什么世界不会每次眨眼都变黑？或者说，无能的人怎么会对自己的能力如此自信？或者海洋中的塑料对我们的食物意味着什么？
这些学生有答案。
在我们有史以来的首届STEM写作比赛中，学习网络与《科学新闻》合作，挑战青少年选择一个他们感兴趣的与STEM相关的问题，概念或问题，并以500字或更少的字数向普通观众解释它清晰引人入胜的方式。
我们收到了1，618份参赛作品，涉及医学和心理学，化学和生物学，几何学和天文学等主题。其中，我们的评委，包括《纽约时报》的科学记者和全国各地的科学教育工作者，选出了44名决赛选手——8名获奖者、14名亚军和22名荣誉奖——我们在下面列出了他们。
我们从来都不确定像这样的新比赛会发生什么，但我们希望学生们能以探究和发现的精神来承担这项任务。他们做到了。
我们的一位获奖者告诉我们，在注意到蚁丘主宰着她的后院后，她受到启发，开始研究蚂蚁状微型机器人。另一个人想知道是什么导致了她的许多朋友和家人遭受的睡眠呼吸暂停。一位亚军质疑是什么让辛辣食物如此吸引人，辛辣食物是她墨西哥传统的主食。
为了找到答案，他们搜索了新闻文章和科学期刊，采访了专家，甚至进行了自己的实验。
但是，让我们的获奖者与众不同的不仅仅是他们写了什么或他们用来支持它的证据——而是他们巧妙地解释他们的主题，以便普通观众能够理解它们的方式。毕竟，这是一场写作比赛。凭借引人入胜的钩子、相关的类比、巧妙的隐喻和强烈的声音感，这些作家不仅帮助翻译了复杂的主题;他们还使他们阅读愉快。
但不要相信我们的话。我们将全文发布八篇获奖论文，您可以通过单击下面的作品链接自行阅读。我们希望，像我们一样，你会学到新的东西，并从中获得乐趣。
感谢所有参与的学生，并祝贺我们所有的决赛选手。如果您对本次比赛有任何反馈，请写信给我们 LNFeedback@nytimes.com。
STEM 写作比赛获奖者
按作者姓氏的字母顺序排列。
获奖评论
“A New Cancer Treatment That Is Faster, More Efficient and Less Risky Is Coming: Bacteria Bombs” by William Chesney
“Fat Got Your Tongue?” by Nicole Fang
“Circadian Rhythms: The Conductor of Our Body’s Symphony” by Aliya Fisher
“The Dunning-Kruger Effect: Why Incompetence Begets Confidence” by Allison He
“An Unexpected Dinner Guest: Marine Plastic Pollution Hides a Neurological Toxin in Our Food” by Vivian Li
“Quorum Sensing: What We Can Learn From Eavesdropping on Bacteria” by Jenny Mao
“In the Blink of an Eye” by Rivka Shields
“Tiny in Size, but Goliath in Force: The Colonization of Ant-Based Microrobotics” by Celina Zhao
亚军
“Spice It Up” by Sofia Gutierrez Boker
“Telomeres — Turning Back the Biological Clock” by Hubert Chen
“The Promise of Hot Garbage” by Michael Dekhtyar
“The Death of Classical Geometry” by Elias Leventhal
“Egg Stem Cells May Mean the Creation of New Eggs After Birth” by Erin Li
“How the Phishermen of Today Cast Their Lines” by Amy Liu
“Far-off Galaxy Collision Foretells the ‘Tail’ of Our Future” by Diya Naik
“Gravitational Waves and General Relativity” by Maximilian Niebur
“A New Hope for Bees: Genetically Modified Gut Bacteria” by Eva Panin
“A Zombie Apocalypse?” by Tisya Raina
“Is it the End for the Silver Bullet?” by Jia Cheng Anthony Shen
“Sizzling Steaks and Crusty Bread: The Science of the Maillard Reaction” by Victoria Tong
“Black Holes: The Universe’s Biggest Subwoofers” by Will
“Can We Really Heal Ourselves? Demystifying Placebos” by Phoebe Yu
荣誉奖
“Could Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles Be the Future of Transportation?” by Quinn Alami
“What Are the Effects of Delaying School Start Times on Teens?” by Aylin Ardali
“Should We Trust Our Memories?” by Jessie Gaither
“No, Amazon Does Not Produce 20% of the World’s Oxygen. Our Breath Is a Gift From the Wanderers-on-the-Oceans” by Devanshi Guglani
“Using Rat Urine and Chewing Gum Science Could Thwart Climate Change” by Kwangjun Jung
“Must-Fix-It: Energy Poverty” by Logan Kim
“The Science Behind Tattoos” by Julia Luyk
“The Future of Cancer Imaging Lies in The Starry Night Under the Sea” by Camilla Martinez
“How Microbes Decide Whether We Live or Die” by Gus Morrill
“The Unexpected Legacy of Our Digital Founding Fathers” by Ellee Nakamura
“Forensics Fiction? The Reliability of Facts in Our Courtrooms” by Mackenzie Pavlik
“How Caffeine Can Help You Stick to Your New Year’s Resolutions for Longer” by Joshua Pixley
“Premature Glaucoma” by Marina Lupercio Sanchez
“The Rusty Patched Bumblebee: A Ticking Time Bomb” by Erin Saunders
“Marshmallow Experiment — True or All Fluff?” by Rose Sawilowsky
“The Magic Behind Flu Vaccines — Secret Weapons Against Influenza Virus in the Everlasting Arms Race” by Yihan Shen
“Making Toilets Sustainable” by Ana-Maria Skaricic
“Keeping You in the Loop About Your Poop” by Kenna Sondhelm
“Learning? Sleep On It.” by Heather Szczesniak
“The Effects of Noise Pollution on Marine Wildlife” by Hadley Weathers
“Why Gray Matter, Matters: Inside the Brain of a Psychopath” by Paige Williams
“Being Sustainable After Death” by Tiffany Wu
感谢我们所有的评委
From the New York Times Science and Well sections: David W. Brown, Cara Giaimo, Dennis Overbye, Tara Parker-Pope, Marion Renault, Nicholas St. Fleur and Shannon Stirone
From The Learning Network: Jeremy Engle, Michael Gonchar and Natalie Proulx
Other judges, including science educators from schools and education organizations around the country: Victoria Bampoh, Amanda Christy Brown, Terianne Hall, Annissa Hambouz, Meghan Hess, Shira Katz, Allison Lee, Simon Levien, Keith Meatto, Mariam Naraine, Dawn Parker, Melissa Slater and Vanessa Vieux