REN Redes Energeticas Nacionais : Students from Escola Secundária Sebastião e Silva were awarded for their project concerning electromagnetic fields and health

A group of high-school students from Escola Secundária Sebastião e Silva, in Oeiras, won first place in the eighth edition of Medea, an initiative by REN and by Sociedade Portuguesa de Física (SPF) to promote Physics knowledge among young Portuguese people and society in general.

With the coordination of teacher Conceição Pedruco, students André Duarte, Pedro Sarmento, Ana Monteiro, Maria do Carmo Fernandes and Francisca Borges, of the 11th grade of Science and Technology of Escola Secundária Sebastião e Silva, belonging to the São Julião da Barra School Group, had the opportunity of presenting their project in front of an audience of classmates and teachers.

Under the name of World Wide Webers, this team of students developed a scientific work that sought to identify and measure the low-frequency electromagnetic fields that surround us and found that we have electromagnetic fields around us in our everyday lives: at home with our appliances, on the subway and on the train. According to this student team's website (http://worldwidewebers.new2know.com/wp/), the work also allowed for them to find that exposure to these Electromagnetic Fields 'has no impact on human health' and that it is safe 'to assume that non-ionizing low-frequency radiations are not harmful to health, although definitive conclusions will only come with time and with the execution of additional studies in the area. For now, we are safe!' the winners also found.

The World Wide Webers will also be acknowledged during the National Physics Conference, which takes place on 1 September 2018, in the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Beira Interior, in Covilhã.

At the eighth edition of Medea, two special mentions were also awarded to the team 'Acima da Medea', from the Camilo Castelo Branco School Group, in Vila Nova de Famalicão, and to the team 'Fragmentados', from the Santa Cecília Music Academy, in Lisbon.

The ninth edition of Medea is already open for registrations. Registrations are open until 26 January. Students can sign up at http://medea.spf.pt/

About Medea:

Established in 2008, MEDEA is directed to students from the 10th to the 12th year of secondary and professional education. It enables practical application of the training provided in the educational institutions, combining scientific knowledge with the students' everyday lives via experiments carried out by the students themselves, inside and outside the classrooms.

The participants prepare a science project based on measurements of electrical and magnetic fields of very low frequency 0-300 Hz, in the environment, specifically at their school, at home and in the vicinity of electric power transmission lines; and on the search for scientifically credible information concerning possible effects of these fields on human health. Participating schools receive an instrument to measure electric and magnetic fields that the students use during the project. Each team then creates a website dedicated exclusively to MEDEA, where the team presents all obtained results, performed searches and other information relevant to the project. The teams with the best projects will be awarded.