"Everything that can be invented has been invented."

This statement has been attributed (probably falsely) to Charles H. Duell, commissioner of the U.S. Patent Office in 1899.

Duell believed in innovation, as do thousands of U.S. students who participate in science fairs, hoping to discover something new.

Although science fairs rarely seem to venture into unknown territory, they still can inspire students to investigate further.

Diane Pike and Max Weisz, both 14, competed in the Central Indiana Regional Science Fair last year. Patty Zeck has been a science teacher at Northwestern High School in Kokomo for 35 years. All say the fairs can lead to changes in our present and future world.

Last spring, Diane and Max entered projects in their school fairs and did well enough to go on to higher levels of competition. Max, an eighth-grader at Hasten Hebrew Academy, experimented to see how the angles of propeller blades affect flight. Diane, an eighth-grader at St. Thomas Aquinas, experimented with a pinhole camera she made.

"I changed it to see how it would affect the pictures," she said.

While neither one of them went on for further competition, they do think their projects have application to the real world.

"The whole point of my project was changing things about cameras, and if you can change a normal camera to make it better, then that could really help," Diane said.

"I think my project could be used in real life to teach helicopter pilots not to change the angle in the helicopter propeller blade too much because they might turn it into a stall," added Max.

Zeck requires all of her students to participate in science fairs because "the advances in science are determined by research. I don't tell them what to do; I help them discover it."

Zeck said the best science fair project in one of her classes was by a girl who researched the behavior of a newly discovered organism that could live in very hot temperatures.

The girl went on to win the International Science Fair. Zeck attributes her success to persistence and dedication.

"This young lady had such a new idea in science, and was willing to do the in-depth research," she said.

Learning and discovery lead to innovation. Without innovation or the drive to improve, there would be no microwave ovens, color televisions or indoor plumbing.

Zeck, Diane and Max agree the computer is the innovation most likely to affect future generations. Diane said personal computers greatly enhance personal communication. Max and Zeck said the Internet allows much greater access to information.

"I see my students able to manipulate so much more data. . . . They're able to go online. They can access journals and government reports that previously would not have been available to them unless they were sitting for hours in the back of the university library," Zeck said.

While technology has many benefits, it also creates some problems. For example, fast-paced TV commercials and video games have reduced the attention spans of children, researchers have found.

Diane said reliance on technology also makes people vulnerable. "If the power goes out, they wouldn't know what to do," she said.

Max said "the more military technology advances, the faster and quicker they can kill people."

Zeck said some people aren't ready for innovation. She cited some countries' reluctance to use genetically modified crops that might solve food problems.

"A large amount of grain has been sent to Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is having drought. They need to feed their people. They need crops that will grow in a drought-stricken area. However, groups such as Greenpeace that do not like genetically modified material are trying to persuade the Zimbabwean government not to use all of this donated grain because it's genetically modified for the conditions of the drought," she said.

"So science has provided an answer and society, with its prejudice to genetic engineering in this country, is not using the grain for the hungry or for planting. We've got a major problem."

Max and Diane agree that kids have a big impact on the world of science and technology. As Diane said, "They're always asking questions about things, and people have to try to answer them."

Coming next week: Meet Claire Nelson, who worked for about 2 1/2 years on a high-school science project exploring the hazards of using plastic wraps in microwave ovens. Nelson, now a college senior, showed that a carcinogen in plastic wrap can leach into food under some circumstances. Her findings won top science-fair awards and landed her a trip to the International Science and Engineering Fair. Her work also has been published in some science journals.

ASSISTANT EDITORS : Daniel Kent, 14; Lauren Slemenda, 14.