Dublin teen wins top science prize for physics project inspired by her cat

Irish Independent

10-07-2025

Amelia Lupascu, a 16-year-old student at Adamstown Community College, was named overall winner for her project Through Another Eyes, which explores how animals perceive the world in completely different ways from humans.
Her entry, inspired by her pet cat Zorro, investigates how animals use not just light, but sound waves, heat, and even magnetic fields to navigate and understand their surroundings.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Amelia said the idea started close to home.
'I came across this idea because I have a cute little cat,' she said.
'I was aware they could see the world in different colours than us humans, and began to wonder what other animals see when perceiving the world.'
Cats, she explained, don't see colour the same way people do and, in fact, miss out on large parts of the visible spectrum.
'They're dichromatic, so they mainly have two types of colour receptors. They don't really see red at all, so they mostly see the world in shades of blue and green,' she said.
But what fascinated Amelia even more was discovering that not all animals rely on sight.
'Seeing the world can mean many different things, it's not limited to light entering an eye,' she said.
'Some creatures use echolocation, some sense heat, others navigate using magnetic fields. That really intrigued me and provided a new angle to the question.'
The Eurekas competition, organised by the Institute of Physics as part of its Limit Less campaign, aims to break down stereotypes around who can study physics and how it can be approached.
Entries came in a range of formats, from poetry and music to experiments and presentations, with 274 submissions this year alone.
Amelia, who was a runner-up in last year's competition, also won a prize at this year's BT Young Scientist Competition.
Her project, 'Sealing The Future, Polymer-based adhesives for safer internal wound healing', was awarded third place in the senior individual project category.
Amelia says the Eurekas win has also given her clarity about the future.
'I've always been interested in science,' she said. 'I haven't narrowed it down to a specific field yet, but I'm definitely planning on going in that direction.'
Two other Dublin-based students were also recognised.
Mariia Rudnitska (13), from Nord Anglia International School, came second for her project on the physics of mirrors, while 14-year-old Katie Staunton, from Mount Sackville Secondary School, was highly commended for her entry on quantum physics and the double slit experiment.