Teens cook up winning science fair projects

During one of his shifts at 3 Brothers Pizza, Chris Jenkins noticed how customers would grab his pen to sign their credit card receipts. He wondered how clean that pen was.

After long, grinding hours of research and statistical analysis, he confirmed what many have long suspected. Everyone else's pen is slathered with icky germs and disease-inducing bugs longing for new hosts to infect.

The South River High junior's findings, compiled in a project called, fittingly, "No Thanks, I'll Use My Own Pen," took the grand prize at last month's Anne Arundel County Science and Engineering Fair

He and Broadneck High School...