Most schoolkids will tell you that homework sucks.

Much like how in life you’re either the pigeon or the statue, so in school are you the copier or the copied.

Now a fair amount of school assignments deserve to go straight into the trash, but amongst the rubble there is the odd gem.

Take for example these three discoveries, which only happened thanks to a school project that blossomed.

MentalFloss with this:

A NEW WAY TO EXTEND THE LIFE OF HEARING AID BATTERIES

Minnesota teenager Ethan Manuell didn’t expect to make a major medical breakthrough when he was asked to make a science fair project…his main concern was getting a good grade.

…Using materials he had at home—including old battery-operated toy bugs and the batteries from his hearing aid—he discovered a way to extend the lifespan of zinc hearing aid batteries by 85 percent.

The information is shared in doctor’s offices today. By using Manuell’s trick, hearing aid wearers can save an average of $70 a year on batteries.

THE DISCOVERY OF A BABY DINOSAUR FOSSIL

Kevin Terris couldn’t have asked for better luck during a field trip he took as a 17-year-old. While scanning the ground for fossils at Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah, the student spotted a baby dinosaur skull poking out of the dirt.

Once the rest of the remains were uncovered, paleontologists concluded they belonged to the smallest and youngest duck-billed Parasaurolophus dinosaur ever recorded…

Terris and his classmates visited the dig site as part of a paleontology program at their California high school. The field had already been surveyed by experts when the students arrived, which makes the discovery even more impressive.

After receiving his high school diploma, Terris went on to study geology in college.

A POTENTIAL CANCER TREATMENT

In Dr. Robert Pergolizzi’s class at Bergen’s Science and Technology Magnet School in New Jersey, students are given a lot of freedom. “There are no tests in this class, no homework,” Pergolizzi [said].

Their only assignment is developing an original research project. Freshman student Joshua Meier took that prompt and ended up discovering a possible treatment for cancer…

He discovered that synthetic stem cells are missing a third of their DNA, which makes them age faster. By controlling mitochondrial DNA deletion levels, he was able to slow the aging process.

As a junior, Meier used his findings to come up with a potential cancer treatment. Instead of slowing aging in stem cells, he realized he could reverse the process to expedite aging in cancer cells and stop them from growing. The research earned him second place at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

Pretty decent efforts by the three youngsters up top, and a reminder that you never know when and where innovation will strike.

How about designing something that sorted out the mess that accompanies a good drilling? Too late, because these guys have it sorted.

Introducing Drilby, the kind of gift you should give everyone who will ever operate a drill

No frills, no fuss, no mess.

Fancy giving your mom a Drilby this Mother’s Day? Take a look over HERE, and with Father’s Day just over a month away why not get a head start on that, too?

Homework sucks, we know, but sometimes it’s all worth it in the end.

[source:mentalfloss]