These Kid Scientists Will Make You Feel Old And Unaccomplished

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How did you spend your days in school, besides praying for snow days and cringing about Phys Ed? If you’re like these students, who will be attending the White House Science Fair, you’ve been busy changing the world.

On Wednesday, in the sixth annual White House Science Fair, the White House will host the one hundred budding young scientists who are already making advancements in science, technology, engineering, and math—some as young as 8 years old.

They may not have driver’s licenses, but they have won local and national science awards and are seeing their creations change humanity for the better.

Meet a few of the kids who make you question your early life choices:

Sindhu Bala, 12, Ellie Englund, 12, Sydney Gralike, 13, Julianna Jones, 13, Reagan Mattison, 12, and Christina Yepez, 13, are Girl Scouts who created a substance that both dissolves styrofoam and turns the resulting sludge into glue.

Annie Ostojic, 13, designed a more powerful yet more energy-efficient microwave oven.

Simon-Peter Frimpong, 13, Maya Max-Villard, 13, and Grayson Fast, 14, designed and built a more comfortable prosthetic leg.

Hannah Herbst, 15, devised a way to generate electricity using ocean currents.

In order to remain effective, vaccines need to be kept refrigerated. But in underdeveloped countries, electricity can be inconsistent. So Anurudh Ganesan, 16, created a “Vaxxwagon,” which keeps vaccines from spoiling without ice or electricity.

Gabriel Mesa, 16, is building a better battery, one that generates energy mechanically, not chemically. And unlike our current batteries, it’s environmentally safe and compostable.

Augusta Uwamanzu-Nna, 17, created a new type of cement, one that doesn’t erode underwater. Her invention can prevent offshore oil wells from leaking.

Kaisa Crawford-Taylor, 17, created a program to uncover four black hole candidates after sifting through data from 2.7 million galaxies.

Olivia Hallisey, 17, developed an inexpensive and portable diagnostic tool for the Ebola virus based on silk.

Yashaswini Makaram, 17, created a security system for cell phones, based on the way you lift your phone to your ear.

Savannah Cofer, 18, Valerie Chen, 18, Matthew Sun, 17, and Varun Vallabhaneni, 17 developed a material that absorbs heat to protect firefighters from flash fires, as well as sustained heat.

Amro Halwah, 18, Stephen Mwingria, 17, and Si Ya “Wendy” Ni, 18, built a subway-crawling robot that vacuums up debris on the tracks, thus preventing track fires.

To turn unclean water into something drinkable, Deepika Kurup, 18, devised a solar-powered system that uses silver to remove bacteria.

18-year-olds Shaneel Narayan and Jahsene Tongco built a solar-powered charging station, so cars can be completely powered by renewable energy. (Surprisingly, the energy needed to charge electric cars currently comes from fossil fuels.)

Neil Davey, 20, invented an early detection system for cancer cells. His method also gives details of the cancer in question, so doctors can more precisely treat the patient.

Talie Cloud created an organic insecticide based on the bitter melon seed.

Kimberly Te and Christine Yoo created a way to both remove oil from oil spills in oceans and use the oil for energy, turning a big problem into a solution.

Let us know in the comments if you want to go back in time, rip the TV remote from your young hands, and make yourself invent the time machine.

Feature Image Credit: WhiteHouse.gov.

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