Some people were born to be scientists. The girl in this video clip is certainly one of them.

"I always wanted to find out if the reaction of vinegar and baking soda would burn the skin," said SquabAttack, the amateur chemist. "I eat a lot of sour foods and therefore didn’t find the vinegar to be too unbearable."

How hardcore is that? She was willing to risk hurting herself to answer a scientific question!

This is is why bright kids should be encouraged to work in real research labs — with close supervision! They have a level of energy and curiosity surpasses jaded graduate students such as myself.

When I was her age, I would have killed to do the kind of repetitive benchwork that drives me nuts today. Every single time that I mentor some teenage kid that is working on a science project, they are thrilled to play with pipetters, vortex mixers, pH meters, and other tools that may seem mundane to an experienced scientist.

Some universities allow talented high school students to work in real research labs during the summer, but those opportunities are few and far between. In my opinion, the best things that an aspiring teenage scientist can do are: read lots of science magazines, try to visit the labs at local universities, search for summer research experience programs, and do lots of backyard experiments.

Would anyone else care to offer some advice?