While some boys spend their time thinking about football, others dream of science as a career, finds Nader Habib Boys who are just out of high school often dream of sports, music, or whatever else their peers aspire to. But Amr Mohamed is different, because he thinks mostly about science. Mohamed will be going to medical college in Alexandria soon, a prospect that worries him a bit. "I had heard that to get good grades and eventually a job with the college, one has to be the son of a professor. Unfortunately, I am not," he says. Mohamed's father is a civil engineer, and his mother is a school counsellor. He has two brothers and one sister, and being the oldest he occasionally helps them out with their lessons. Unlike some other students his age, Mohamed likes studying. "I like to study, and I read any book or textbook I find, whether for exams or not." However, Mohamed is not a bookish boy: he used to be a superb field and track athlete, though he says he doesn't have the time for sports these days. The reason is that his passion for science takes up most of his time. Two years ago, he and friend Essam won several computer-programming competitions, but Mohamed decided he didn't want to be a computer programmer. Computers, he says, are fun, but there is more to science than computers. "Programming is great at first, but after a while it gets boring -- just you and the computer all day." Mohamed has since developed an interest in biology, and now he believes that medicine is the right path for him to take, as it combines science with human interests. Mohamed has also entered an international competition to design an experiment for the International Space Station (ISS). "I found out about the competition from YouTube, which is very useful as you find a lot of people discussing science and so on on it," Mohamed says. "Various universities have posted lectures for free on YouTube. I know that some people go on YouTube to watch films or to kill time, but I find it full of fascinating content." When Mohamed discovered Stephen Hawking, Farouk El-Baz and other scientists encouraging participants to apply for the science competition, he jumped at the chance to be part of it. The idea is to design an experiment that can be conducted on board the ISS, an international space facility that cost $100 billion. In order to qualify, applicants have to submit a two-minute video showing the experiment they think should be carried out in either biology or physics. Contestants are asked to choose between several categories in biology that include insect behaviour, bacteria, seeds, and cell culture. "You have to explain your hypothesis, describe how the experiment is to be carried out, and explain how the results could be interpreted," Mohamed says. The deadline for submissions was 10 December, and Mohamed was wracking his brains for an idea for an experiment. Then, suddenly he had an idea. "For some reason, the deadline was pushed back till 14 December, and I felt that I had a chance. I spent a whole day doing research on spiders, and when I had finished I filmed and edited my experiment and then submitted it." Why spiders? Mohamed becomes philosophical on the topic. The future of humanity, he feels, depends on our finding further habitable planets. Human beings are using up the earth's resources at so fast a rate that they will be forced to find another planet to live on, moving all the other creatures with them. "Moving to another planet will be like building Noah's ark," he adds, and this is where his idea about spiders comes in. Mohamed points out that spiders build webs, which they use to live on and to help them search for prey. Whether the webs are suspended on earth or in zero gravity, little changes, he says. There is also another type of spider that does not build webs and that kills with its own hands, so to speak. These spiders, called "jumping spiders", do not build webs, and they hunt their prey in the way that carnivores do by jumping on it and then killing it. This method could not work in zero gravity, as the spider could not control its movements. How will such creatures adapt to zero gravity, he asks. Mohamed has now been short listed as one of 60 finalists out of 2,000 applicants worldwide. His work is being reviewed by 70 of the world's top scientists, academics, and science writers. Six winning entries will eventually be selected, and the winners will be invited on either a week-long trip to Russia, where they will undergo training as astronauts, or a visit to Japan to watch the launch of the rocket heading out with their experiments to the ISS. "If I win, I would like to go to Japan," Mohamed says. "It would be great to see the base from which the rocket is to be launched." Mohamed likes reading right before going to bed, and he spends some of his homework time reading about science in general and not only what is likely to come up on the exams. His family doesn't like him cutting time out of his study time, so he has learned to put the science books inside his other textbooks, so no one will notice that he is not working on his school assignments. Mohamed's view of the education system in Egypt is not a flattering one. "Education in Egypt is pathetic," he says. "Fortunately, my family helped me apply for the International General Certificate of Secondary Education, so I won't need to do the thanawiya amma [state secondary examination] like everyone else." The education system in Egypt encourages students to study to pass exams and not to learn or to awaken their curiosity, he says. "Few students today like science for its own sake, and this is not entirely their fault."
