Forty high school seniors today were named finalists for the Intel Science Talent Search 2008 (Intel STS). The competition, often called the “junior Nobel Prize,” is America’s oldest and most prestigious high school science competition. Finalists will travel to Washington, D.C. in March to compete for scholarships, with the top winner receiving a $100,000 scholarship from the Intel Foundation.

Each finalist will receive at least $5,000 in scholarships and a new laptop featuring the Intel Core2 Duo processor.

This year’s Intel STS finalists hail from 19 states and represent 35 schools. New York boasts the most finalists from any state with 15 (the most since 2004), followed by Pennsylvania with four and Texas with three.

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