11歲小女孩成頂尖科學家 她的發明造福世界

A schoolgirl aged 11 has been honoured as "America's top young scientist" for inventing a quick, low-cost test to detect lead-contaminated water.

一名11歲的女學生因發明了一個快速、廉價測試鉛汙染水的方法，而被譽為“美國頂尖青年科學家”。

Gitanjali Rao was selected from 10 finalists who had spent three months collaborating with scientists to develop their ideas.

Gitanjali Rao是從10名參加決賽的選手們中被選出來的，他們花了三個月的時間與科學家們進行合作，來實現自己的想法。

Her device uses carbon nanotubes to detect the presence of lead. Thousands of US water systems are reportedly contaminated by lead.

她的裝置使用了碳奈米管來檢測鉛的存在。據報道，數千個美國供水系統都有鉛汙染的問題。

Gitanjali's invention was inspired by the scandal in Flint, Michigan, where officials are facing charges, she told Business Insider.

Gitanjali向《商業內幕》透露，她的發明是受到了密歇根弗林特市醜聞的啟發，該地的官員們正面臨著指控。

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Until now, testing reliably for lead was expensive and meant sending away samples for analysis.

到現在為止，要想準確可靠地檢測到鉛的存在，這都是非常昂貴的，同時這也意味著要傳送樣品，以用於分析。

But Gitanjali's portable invention allows a sensor linked to a mobile app to give an accurate, almost immediate analysis.

但是Gitanjali的便攜發明，可以通過一個與手機app連線的感測器，就得出一個確切、及時的分析。

Gitanjali said she wanted to further refine the device so it could eventually go on the market.

Gitanjali表示，她想要進一步改善改裝置，這樣它最終就能進入市場了。

Gitanjali won a $25,000 prize for scooping the top award.

Gitanjali因為拿下了本次最高獎項，從而獲得了一筆2.5萬美元的獎金。