Meet the World's Top 10 Young Prodigies

Mikaela Irene Dimaano Fudolig, born in 1991 or 1992, is a Filipino physicist known as a former child prodigy. She earned her undergraduate degree at just 16. Fudolig was a second-year high school student at Quezon City Science High School before being admitted to the Early College Placement Program (ECPP) for testing. At the age of 11, she began college at the University of the Philippines Diliman (UP Diliman), skipping high school graduation and the UP College Admission Test (UPCAT). In 2007, at 16, Fudolig graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Physics, summa cum laude, from UP Diliman, topping her class with an average grade of 1.099. She then joined the faculty of the National Institute of Physics after graduation.

Mikaela Irene Dimaano Fudolig earned a Master's degree in Physics and in 2014, her Ph.D. at UP Diliman with a thesis titled 'Processing Analytical Achievements of Synchronous Opinion Dynamic Models of Two-Tiered Agents Fully Connected to Single-Type Zealots.' She was also a Fulbright scholar for a Ph.D. program in Behavioral Economics at the University of California, Irvine, under the supervision of Donald G. Saari. Fudolig worked as a research and development expert for the Energy Development Corporation (EDC) and was an assistant professor at Ateneo de Manila University from 2016 to 2017. In 2016, Fudolig was admitted to the Law College of the University of the Philippines.

Recognized for his extraordinary talent in mathematics, young Cameron Thompson from Penley, Wrexham, England, is hailed as a math prodigy. Currently pursuing a bachelor's degree in evening classes and attending Maelor School during the day, Cameron, despite his exceptional aptitude compared to peers, actively participates in regular classes. Maelor School has taken special notice of Cameron's abilities, providing for his unique needs. Remarkably, the math prodigy is also a patient of Asperger's syndrome (a form of autism). The condition poses challenges for Cameron in communication, socializing with other children, and tends to keep to himself. Nevertheless, Cameron consistently excels academically.

Cameron's parents, Mr. Roderick and Mrs. Alison, recall noticing his extraordinary math abilities when he was just 4 years old. At that time, he engaged in lengthy discussions with teachers at the preschool about negative numbers. Cameron's prodigious talent truly began to shine when he attended secondary school in Prestatyn, Clwyd, where his family lived. He took a special quantitative math test, scoring an impressive 141 points, surpassing the highest possible score of 140. Recognizing Cameron as a 'special gift,' teachers enrolled him in intermediate and advanced-level math classes of the GCSE program (equivalent to 10th grade in Vietnam).

Taylor Ramon Wilson was born on May 7, 1994, and is an American enthusiast of nuclear physics and science advocacy. In 2008, at the age of 14, he achieved nuclear fusion using an inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC) device, making him the youngest person to do so. Taylor Wilson was born in Texarkana, Arkansas, to Kenneth and Tiffany Wilson. His father owns a Coca-Cola bottling plant, and his mother is a yoga instructor. Initially interested in rockets and space science, Wilson transitioned to nuclear science at the age of 10, fully supported by his parents. During high school, Wilson attended both the Davidson Academy of Nevada and the University of Nevada, Reno, where he was provided with a laboratory for his nuclear research. He resides in Reno, Nevada. In June 2012, Wilson was awarded the Thiel Fellowship, a $100,000 scholarship that requires recipients to forgo college during the two-year fellowship. In 2017, Wilson was honored as a member of the Helena Group, an 'exceptional and astute' advisory organization composed of global leaders focused on executing world-improving projects.

In 2008, Wilson achieved nuclear fusion using an inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC) device, a variant of the Farnsworth-Hirsch fusor, invented by Philo T. Farnsworth in 1964. He used a neutron stream from the deuterium-deuterium fusion reaction to conduct nuclear experiments and explore new nuclear fuels inside the IEC device. In March 2012, Wilson delivered a TED talk about building his own nuclear fusion reactor. Alongside IEC reactors, Wilson conducted advanced nuclear thermal research using thick-plasma focus devices. He also constructed and developed nuclear diagnostics for fundamental nuclear research. In 2010, Wilson participated in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in San Jose, California, earning awards for his project titled 'Subdividing Insight: Detecting Prompt and Delayed Gamma Ray Emission and Applying it to Identify Proliferation Materials.' In May 2011, Wilson showcased his radiation detector at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles, California, competing against 1,500 contenders and winning a $50,000 prize.

Ethan Jordan Bortnick, born on December 24, 2000, is an American pianist, singer, composer, recording producer, and musician. At the age of three, he uncovered a range of musical skills, including perfect pitch, on a toy keyboard. Eventually, he made appearances on The Tonight Show, Oprah, Disney, Nickelodeon, and special award-winning concerts broadcast on PBS. Ethan has delivered over 4 nationally televised special concerts, setting record-breaking viewership. On October 3, 2010 (at 9 years old), Bortnick entered the Guinness World Records as the 'Youngest Solo Musician to Headline His Own Tour.'

Bortnick has been featured on national and international television programs. He has actively contributed to raising over $50 million for charitable organizations. In 2011, Ethan Bortnick's Musical Time Machine, aired on the AEG Network LIVE, received two Telly Awards, and Bortnick earned three Telly Awards in 2014 for The Power of Music. Bortnick has held over 1,000 concerts worldwide. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Bortnick initiated daily live performances on YouTube.

At just 4 months old, he delved into children's books and astonishingly answered questions correctly. By the age of 4, he became the youngest member of the international organization Mensa - a gathering of the world's highest IQ individuals. At 5 years old, he completed an educational program at Stanford University. Tanishq Abraham is a prodigious American child with Indian ancestry.

Tanishq Mathew Abraham was born in 2003 in California (USA) and is considered a true Physics prodigy. Gifted from a young age, at just 4 years old, he was invited to participate in the 'American Mensa' competition - a society for individuals with high intelligence quotient. At the age of 7, he began studying Astronomy at American River College. Not only was he the youngest student in the class, but he was also the top-performing student. He has published essays on NASA's Moon Science website.

Priyanshi Somani is the mathematical prodigy from India. Somani began mental calculation at the age of 6, and at 11, she became the youngest participant in the mental calculation competition at the 2010 World Cup. Somani outperformed 36 other participants from 16 different countries.

She clinched the championship in mentally calculating the square root of 10 six-digit numbers in a record time of 6 minutes and 51 seconds. Remarkably, Somani accurately calculated all the numbers. In January 2012, Somani set a new record by mentally calculating the square root of 10 six-digit numbers in just 2 minutes and 34 seconds.

Akim Camara was born on September 26, 2000, in Berlin, and is a prodigious German violinist who started playing the violin at the age of two. Camara was born in Berlin to a Nigerian father and a German mother. In May 2003, at the age of two and a half, Akim was taken under the tutelage of instructor Birgit Thiele at the Marzahn-Hellersdorf School of Music to learn the violin. At this time, Akim was still in diapers and could not speak accurately, similar to any toddler just learning to walk, but he could remember the musical pieces he heard and the names of all the instruments in the orchestra. Impressed by his memory and innate 'musical ears,' Akim's teacher began instructing the child twice a week, each session lasting 45 minutes. Akim participated enthusiastically, and partly due to his memory, he learned to walk very quickly. After six months of applying this relatively gentle training regimen, Akim had his first performance in December 2003 at the age of 3 in the Christmas concert 'Schneeflöckchen, Weissröckchen' organized by the Marzahn-Hellersdorf School of Music.

Within two weeks, in July 2004, Akim performed alongside Rieu in a concert at the Parkstad Limburg Stadium in Kerkrade with almost maximum capacity, an audience of nearly 18,000 people, on a child-sized violin, just learning to walk, and wearing a specially tailored small concert tuxedo and business shoes. After amusing the crowd with a 'water trick,' Akim then performed Ferdinand Kuchler's concertino for violin in G, opus 11, followed by a short encore performance. Akim left the stage to thunderous applause and cheers. After the success of Akim's performance, he essentially had to be kept out of the public eye because many German TV stations started pursuing him to appear. Rieu supported Akim under his wing, paying for his music lessons in both the violin and piano and overseeing his instruction (both musical and otherwise) so that Akim would still be 'a good boy.' With the ability to memorize a piece of music after hearing it, Akim's talent developed rapidly, and his youthful enthusiasm and passion for the violin only grew.

Jacob L. 'Jake' Barnett was born on May 26, 1998, in Indiana, and is an American physicist known as a prodigy. He was diagnosed with autism at the age of two. Due to lack of success in special preschool and educators stating that he would not speak or write, his parents decided to support him privately. He developed an early interest in physics and astronomy. Unable to communicate continuously, his parents were late in discovering the thought process he was pursuing. At the age of 13, he co-authored a published physics research paper. According to the biography published by his mother, he is a member of Mensa and Intertel, two societies for highly intelligent individuals. In 2011, Barnett's mother uploaded a series of videos on YouTube. Articles appeared in the media with headlines like 'Child prodigy puts Einstein in the shade' and '12-year-old genius expands Einstein's Theory of Relativity, thinking he can prove it wrong.' Barnett was accepted into the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in 2013 for the one-year Perimeter Scholars International master's program. At 15, he was the youngest student to enroll since the program's inception. In 2014, he excelled in the course. Later, he pursued postgraduate studies at the Perimeter Institute and the University of Waterloo and is preparing for his PhD.

9. March Tian Boedihardjo

March Tian Boedihardjo entered university in Hong Kong at the age of 9, becoming the youngest to step into a college classroom. He excelled in multiple advanced certificates simultaneously, including advanced mathematics, statistics, and GCSE. With such achievements, March Tian was considered for a special program to pursue a bachelor's degree in Mathematics and a master's degree in philosophy simultaneously. Currently, he is a doctoral candidate specializing in mathematics in the United States. Boedihardjo was born into a Chinese family in Hong Kong, with ancestral roots in Anxi, China. After completing his studies at Baptist University in Hong Kong, he moved to the United States and pursued his academic career at Texas A&M University as a visiting scholar and later as a doctoral student. In 2017, he took on the role of assistant professor at UCLA on a three-year contract, a position he held until 2020.

10. Akrit Pran Jaswal

Akrit Pran Jaswal, the Indian prodigy, gained fame at the age of 7 for successfully performing surgery on an 8-year-old with fused fingers. Akrit, hailed as a medical genius, entered medical school at 12 and completed the master's program at just 17. Despite never attending any medical courses, Akrit Jaswal, the child prodigy doctor, was renowned for his healing abilities. According to Raksha Kumari Jaswal, Akrit's mother, he started walking early and skipped the crawling phase. Akrit spoke at 10 months and recited Shakespeare's works at the age of 4. His fame began at the age of 7 due to a surgery to separate the fingers of an 8-year-old girl. After a burn accident, the girl's fingers were stuck together, and the generous teenager Akrit performed the surgery without charging. Following Akrit's healing reputation, the distressed parents of the girl praised the young doctor and sought his free surgery due to their dire circumstances.

After the highly successful surgery, Akrit was hailed as the medical prodigy of the second most populous country in the world. Neighbors and even international visitors flocked to the young doctor's place for treatment. From then on, Akrit was revered as a 'savior' and always cited as an example for children in the village. At the age of 11, Akrit was admitted to Punjab University in India, making him the youngest college student in the country. Akrit's reputation continued to soar. Around the same time, the young surgical expert was invited to Imperial College in London, UK, to exchange ideas with scientists on simplifying basic medical programs. Akrit boldly claimed to have millions of ideas for medicine, but what this child prodigy doctor was focusing on was developing a cancer treatment method.