Young STEM Journalism Articles

This article was written by an outstanding participant in Double Helix’s Young STEM Journalism Bootcamp!

This year, Letterly partnered with Double Helix to launch the inaugural 4-week program, inviting students aged 8 to 18 to write science news articles on the topics that matter to them! This article went through multiple rounds of editing with 1-to-1 feedback from Letterly’s highly qualified and passionate writing coaches. 

Students were asked to research topics about the most innovative and world-changing current events in the STEM world, ranging from AI in education, to genetic engineering, to gophers saving volcanic plains!

Articles written by Students

Connor McCulloch

Becoming the Next Spiderman

Remember when you were a child and wanted to be a superhero? You’re not the only one, because children always want to become their favourite superhero, whether it be Batman, Superman, Iron Man, or Captain America. Since 1962, when the web-slinging, friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man made his debut in Marvel Comics, he has been a favourite hero of children all over.
Connor McCulloch

Saving the Great Barrier Reef

The Australian Great Barrier Reef is a site that is beautiful to its age. The GBR is more than 60,000 years old, and it is still a world travel destination. Over the past 230 years, the reef has become a home of shipwrecks. 1,200 ship vessels have been sunk on the reef, with only 114 being discovered. These include the HMS Pandora (1791), SS Gothenburg (1875), Foam (1893), SS Yongala (1911). In 1981, the GBR was declared a world heritage area, due to its ‘outstanding universal value’.
Shreyaa Ramaswami

World’s Smallest Scuba Diver

The latest research by Lindsey Swierk, a scientist at Binghamton University, has found that a small, semi-aquatic species of lizard, now claims the title of ‘world’s smallest scuba diver.’
Shreyaa Ramaswami

The Effects of the Collision of Cyclones Seroja and Odette

In 2021, the world saw a rare and powerful weather event: two major cyclones, Seroja and Odette, collided and caused severe destruction in different parts of the world. Though they started in separate oceans, they came together off the western coast of Australia, creating devastating effects. This anomalous occurrence showed how unpredictable and powerful tropical storms can become when they interact.
Nora Vastag

Global Warming is Causing Dengue Cases to Soar

Whether it's stress and uncertainty from forced displacements from wildfires, rises in sea level, or fear and hunger from poor nutrition in places where people can’t grow food, climate change is one of Earth’s biggest threats. Recent scientific discoveries show that mosquito-induced Dengue cases are set to double in the next 25 years, especially in warmer areas like the Americas and Asia, and could potentially affect over 250 million people. “It’s evidence that climate change already has become a significant threat to human health and, for dengue in particular, our data suggests the impact could get much worse,” says Dr Erin Mordecai, an infectious disease ecologist at Stanford University.
Nora Vastag

The Great Hunt

Imagine hunting a species that is ten meters larger than you. Well, that is what a pod of killer whales are doing in the Gulf of California. Last year, marine biologist, Erick Higuera, and his colleagues researchers uncovered the killer whales to have learned a series of unique skills to hunt down whale sharks, the world's largest fish.