Brendan O'Neil presents his findings at the annual meeting of emergency physicians in Boston, MA.

November 10, 2009. Clarkston, MI. When Everest Academy student Brendan O’Neil, age 12, was featured on CBS News recently for a science project he put together for his school’s annual Science Fair competition. His project demonstrated that energy drinks have no significant effect on athletic performance, using Sprite as a control beverage and video games as a way to test reaction times.

Brendan’s father, an emergency physician, submitted his son’s written report to the Annals of Emergency Medicine, a prestigious medical journal. It was published, notwithstanding the author’s age, and Brendan was also invited to the annual meeting of emergency physicians in Boston to present his findings.

But, as the CBS video comments, Brendan did not win the school science fair. His project received a B+, prompting the CBS commentator Russ Mitchell’s closing remark that Everest Academy is “obviously a very tough school.”

Watch the CBS video at this link (click on the video to the left featuring energy drinks).