Stars join forces to switch kids on to science

Stars have come together to celebrate science and technology with Will.I.Am’s robotics competition.

The Black Eyed Peas rapper rallied the support of his Hollywood pals in his mission to shine a light on maths and science to kids across the US - and make it cool instead of geeky.

The likes of Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Britney Spears and Bono threw their weight behind the cause by giving recorded messages for the national competition I.Am.FIRST: Science Is Rock n Roll, which aired on ABC on Sunday night.

FIRST - which stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology - is an annual competition founded by entrepreneur and inventor Dean Karmen.

This year the finals were combined with a pop concert featuring Black Eyed Peas and Willow Smith.

More than 250,000 students from across the US built and programmed a total of 22,000 robots robots for the competition. Fewer than 600 teams made it to the finals ,

Wil.I.Am told viewers he was inspired to contact Karman, who invented the Segway, after being impressed by the eco-friendly two-wheeled vehicles at a stadium on his last tour.

“The first thing he said to me when I called him was ‘I need your help with FIRST’,” he said.

Even US President Barack Obama lent a hand to support the cause, telling viewers at the top of the program: “May the best robot win.”

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