1. Tao Zhexuan.
Terence Tao
Mathematicians at UCLA
Among the great mathematicians of our time, many people may have scored 800 points in the mathematics part of the SAT. But Tao Zhexuan scored 760 points at the age of 8, and showed his talent in mathematics at an early age. Twenty-five years later, 33-year-old Tao Zhexuan has become one of the most accomplished and respected mathematicians in the United States. From 65438 to 0999, 24-year-old Tao Zhexuan became the youngest professor in the history of UCLA, and later won the Fields Prize for outstanding mathematicians under 40, known as the "Nobel Prize in Mathematics".
In a discipline where some people may spend their whole lives studying a difficult problem, Tao Zhexuan has made important contributions in many aspects, from nonlinear equations to number theory, which explains to some extent why his colleagues are still seeking his guidance. Charles Fefferman, a mathematician at Princeton University, spoke highly of Tao Zhexuan: "Only a few mathematicians in each generation are top-notch. He is one of them. " Feverman himself is a mathematical genius.
Tao Zhexuan's most famous research involves prime numbers or the form of prime numbers. The so-called prime number or prime number is a positive integer, and there are no other factors except itself and 1. Although Tao Zhexuan mainly devoted himself to theoretical research, his breakthrough research in compressive sensing enabled engineers to develop more complex and effective imaging technologies for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), astronomical instruments and digital cameras.
Tao Zhexuan said: "Scientific research is sometimes like a TV series being broadcast. Some interesting plots may have been sorted out, but there are still many wonderful unsolved plots to be discovered. But scientific research is different from TV series, and the next thing is to think clearly by yourself. " Tao Zhexuan said that he likes to challenge some difficult mysteries, and the only way to climb this peak is to overcome relatively small and more controllable problems: "If there are some things I know how to deal with, but I can't, I will be very upset. I think I must be quiet, calm down and discuss the problem in detail. "
2. Jeffrey Bode
University of Pennsylvania organic chemist
Jeffrey Bird, 34, said that organic chemists have few ways to "sew" molecules with complex structures. Bird found a new method in his research, which may help to produce peptide-based drugs, such as insulin and human growth hormone, which are usually expensive. Many organic chemists once thought that the mature method used to make these protein-adding a single amino acid like a chain bead-worked well. Bird said: "These methods are really good, but only if you plan to make a relatively short protein, or if you want to make a small amount of protein."
As the chain becomes longer and longer, it is more difficult to distinguish these wrong sequences from the correct ones if individual beads cannot be connected in series to the "peptide chain". In order to improve this, Bird discovered a new chemical reaction (α-keto acid reacts with hydroxylamine) to form amide bond. In this way, he linked small and easily synthesized peptides (amino acid chains) into longer peptides. Bird pointed out that in organic chemistry, "we may propose better and more effective methods than at present."
3. Katie Walter
Katie Walter
University of Alaska ecologist
In order to deeply explore the impact of greenhouse gases on local ecology and global climate, 32-year-old Katie Walter kept looking for methane seeping from Arctic lakes. As the temperature rises, the Arctic permafrost melts and ice water flows into the lake. Bacteria in lake water always feed on carbon-rich substances (animal remains, food and dregs before the ice age), and at the same time produce methane, a "collector" 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. The increase of methane leads to the increase of temperature, which accelerates the melting of permafrost.
Walter said, "This means that if you open the refrigerator door, everything in it will melt." Walter and his colleagues are classifying the carbon content in Arctic "refrigerators" in Alaska and eastern Siberia, trying to understand how much will be converted into methane during the melting of ice. In 2006, Walter's team found that the amount of methane produced in the Arctic was nearly five times that previously reported by scientists.
4. Amy bet
Stem cell biologist at Harvard stem cell institute
1999, Amy Wegos received her doctorate in immunology, and at the same time, she received a phone call from the National bone marrow donor Project Registry. Years ago, Vegos volunteered to donate bone marrow, and now some people need it. Inspired by this incident, Wegos developed bone marrow stem cells and took adult stem cells as his postdoctoral research topic. Today, 35-year-old Wegos has become one of the most famous scientists in the field of adult stem cells (cells that produce blood and muscle). Her research work includes isolating these cell groups, discovering how the human body regulates them, and understanding how to use these cells to treat diseases.
Wegos is now determining how blood cells transfer between blood and bone marrow and how they reproduce. This work may improve the survival rate of transplanted cells, thus helping to improve the efficiency of bone marrow transplantation. This summer, a new study published by Wegos said that the muscle function of mice with muscular dystrophy was improved after transplanting muscle stem cells into them. "They immediately began to produce new muscle fibers," Vigos said. Although there is still a long way to go to apply these findings to people, the results are still very encouraging. "
5. Joseph tran
Joseph tran
Mathematicians at UCLA
We can imagine that before your operation, the doctor has not only performed this operation hundreds of times before, but also practiced it on your replica. Joseph Trang, a 3 1 year-old mathematician, is helping to realize this dream. He uses mathematical models to simulate operations involving patients' tendons, muscles, fat and skin. "We have been using mathematical equations to simulate the work of these organizations," Zhuang said.
The first step is to turn those equations into a standard "digital human body", which can respond to the surgeon's virtual surgery in real time. Next, Trang's idea is to let doctors customize this tool. Then in the future, medical imaging technologies such as CT and MRI can reveal whether a patient's tendon is harder than that of ordinary people, so that doctors can adjust the "digital body double" accordingly. "You may want it to be as close to the real experience as possible," Zhuang said.
6. Jack jack harris
Yale university applied physicist
Quantum mechanics describes a crazy micro-world, in which particles run at the speed of lightning and thunder, often violating the classical laws of physics that we are used to. Jack harris's goal is to use "strange, even inscrutable" microscopic laws to solve the problems we encounter in the microscopic world. He said, "The final' Eureka moment' will be the sudden discovery that a microscopic object is engaged in some activities that are absolutely unimaginable in classical physics."
Harris, 36, is currently studying the insignificant pressure caused by a single photon (electromagnetic particle) jumping off a small moving mirror. We can give an image example to feel the magnitude of these pressures: on a sunny day, the sun will push your body with a millionth of a pound, and we will definitely not feel this force. Harris hopes to make full use of the characteristics of photons, so that indestructible cryptographic systems and ultra-sensitive astronomical instruments can finally detect the intangible phenomenon formed instantly after the Big Bang.
7. Sarkish Mazman
California Institute of Technology biologist
Among the1000 trillion bacteria parasitic in human digestive tract, some pathogens can induce diseases and malignant immune responses, while others have immune systems to protect their hosts. Sachis Mazmaniya, 35, is devoted to the research on how beneficial bacteria can enhance human health. Mazmaniya said: "They don't care about us at all, except whether we can provide them with a stable and nutritious environment." He regards the symbolic relationship between the human body and microorganisms as a potential "gold mine" for treating many diseases.
Mazmania believes that the interaction between human body and intestinal bacteria is very important, for example, we can understand how the abnormal immune response of human body to these microorganisms further develops into colon cancer. Mazmaniya said: "The potential of beneficial bacteria seems infinite." He added that the philosophy that supported his research was "In nature, anything is possible. Therefore, I am willing to investigate any possible cause or result of scientific problems. "
8. Doug Natel Sen
Condensed matter physicist, Rice University
Doug Netherson, 37, is Benjamin Franklin in the micro world. He studies the properties of electrons at the atomic level. The consistency of classical physics and quantum physics at atomic level makes the study of electronic properties more important. Nissen's research contents include: complex electrons flow through single molecule transistors, and deliberately replace silicon transistors in electronic instruments with organic semiconductors-carbon-based materials. This budding technology is expected to make the dream of making light and flexible organic electronic instruments come true.
Unlike those who devote their main energy to the physical fields such as super particle accelerators and supermassive black holes, Netherson has delivered the gospel for condensed matter and nanotechnology. He shared his happiness with you in a very popular blog. He said: "In my heart, I consider myself an experimentalist. I am playing with these novel toys. It is quite interesting to conduct this level of physics research. "
9. Michael Elowitz
Molecular biologist at California Institute of Technology
In 2000, 38-year-old Michael Ilowitz designed a gene circuit to make E.coli glow in a Petri dish. This is a great moment, he said. In retrospect, these cells behave like fluorescent lights at Christmas. But this experiment that brought good luck to everyone finally failed. Although these cells emit light, their luminous intensity is different. This variability between cells involves the same procedure, which prompted Ilowitz to carry out a series of new experiments. He said that these experiments mainly study "what makes different cells play different roles."
Now Ilowitz is studying some mechanisms through which cells with the same genetic factors use and control random fluctuations in their biochemical molecules to produce cell diversity. Ilowitz said: "Understanding the role of chaotic fluctuations will help us understand how the surviving bacteria are diversified and how single-celled organisms form multicellular organisms."
10. Yang Changhui (Yang Changhui)
California Institute of Technology Electronic Engineering and Biological Engineering
With the continuous improvement of microscope performance, its volume and cost are also increasing, which has a direct impact on research. Yang Changhui, 36, said: "The cooperation between the function of microscope and basic needs is not tacit." Yang Changhui combined chip technology with microfluidic technology to make a cheaper micro-microscope. He said that this microscope is about the size of a bumblebee's hair, and its circuit is as big as a dime. It has no optical lens. Its working principle is that a small amount of liquid flows through the microchip, which takes pictures of the sample and transmits it to the computer.
This microscope can be installed on a small handheld display, only the size of an iPod. Yang Changhui's idea is that doctors in developing countries can use this tool to test blood for patients or check local water supply systems. He said: "This will be a very durable tool, and doctors can carry it in their pockets."
1 1. adam riess.
Adem Rees (adam riess)
Astrophysicist, Johns Hopkins University, USA
After an astronomical research team led by Adem Reiss discovered the fact that the universe was expanding at an accelerated pace, he began to turn his attention to the field of astronomy. From 1929, scientists always thought that the universe was expanding, but before 1998, scientists always thought that the earth's gravity would gradually end the expansion of the universe. However, when 38-year-old Reese tried to consolidate this theory by using the data he collected from observing distant star explosions, the results were inconsistent with the facts. A few days later, he proved that his data showed that the universe was expanding at an accelerated rate.
This discovery shows that the huge repulsion generated by a mysterious dark energy overcomes gravity and accelerates the expansion of the universe. This dark energy accounts for 72% of the total energy in the universe. He said: "It's like throwing a ball into the air, and it will continue to rise." In September, he won the MacArthur Prize of $500,000, and now he intends to use the money to uncover the mystery of this mysterious dark energy and its influence on the universe.
12. Nicole Kim
Molecular cell biologist, University of California, Berkeley
Nicole King, 38, is now looking for the answer to how single-celled organisms evolved into plants, fungi, multicellular animals and other types of life. In order to find clues, she focused on the study of choano flagellates, a population of single-celled eukaryotes, which is considered to be the living organism closest to animals.
While sequencing the chromosomes of one of the organisms, Jin and her colleagues discovered the genetic code of the same protein fragment used to "bind" the information transmitted between animal cells. It is very surprising to get such a discovery in this creature. According to King's hypothesis, protein, the ancestor of these single-celled animals, once interacted with the extracellular environment. They prey on bacteria and find chemical signals by sticking cell surfaces together. Later, this situation made cells stick together and they could exchange information with each other. Jin said that explaining the origin of multicellular bodies is the key to understanding the origin of animals. She commented that her research "reviewed the genealogy of our ancestors and other primates."
13. luis von ahn.
Computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon University
The 30-year-old luis von ahn has made small achievements in various network fields. Booking tickets online and cracking the distorted images of words are Feng An's work areas. In 2000, he helped develop this anti-spam technology, called verification code. The verification code is effective because the computer can't answer the questions raised by the verification code, and only people can answer them. Von Ann's ultimate goal is not to cheat the computer. He hopes to use the unique intelligence of human beings to eliminate the defects of computers in completing some important tasks.
One way to narrow this intelligence gap is verification code. Every day, he uses about 654.38+08 million computer users-all of whom may be ticket buyers-to input information and scan text on the homepage to enrich its information. So far, computers can't recognize words. Researchers hope to fully digitize the archives of The New York Times after 1950s by next year. Feng An also compiled a game program. His purpose is: the more you play, the more data you provide, which will better help the computer identify images. He said: "I don't think what we are doing will be tasted."
14. Tapio schneider
Environmental scientist at California Institute of Technology
The complex interaction between atmospheric turbulence and heat exchange effect has great influence on global climate. Tapeo Schneider, 36, developed a computer simulation program to better understand how their interaction affects the climate. He said: "conceptually, I don't want to create a microclimate for myself in the laboratory, but we can't form a global climate in the laboratory, so computer simulation is the best second choice."
In a development project, he recently used an earth simulation to show that monsoons can form in shallow water, such as swamps. Harley's traditional monsoon model can't fully show the global monsoon situation. Schneider said that people don't know much about the continuous movement of water vapor in the climate system. "This is one of a series of problems that I will study for many years." Schneider's goal is to formulate a series of basic physical laws for climate. He said: "The laws of thermodynamics give a macroscopic description of microscopic behavior. I hope to make similar laws for the climate. "
15. Sarah seeger
Sarah seeger (Sarah seeger)
Astrophysicist at MIT
In the late 1990s, the scientific community questioned the existence of exoplanets in one way or another. At that time, 36-year-old Sarah Siegel made a bold prediction that these distant shining celestial bodies passing in front of the stars would definitely become the next frontier for astronomers. Siegel's bet prediction finally paid off-her theoretical model of the chemical properties of exoplanets helped researchers measure the atmosphere of a distant world for the first time. Siegel believes that we will discover distant relatives of the earth in the next few years, but her ultimate goal is by no means limited to this.
She said: "What I really want to do is to determine what kind of gas alien life may produce. These gases will accumulate in the atmosphere and may be detected at a very long distance. " As a step in this direction, Siegel is looking for non-oxygen-based "signatures" that may be left by life on earth, such as hydrogen sulfide. Siegel spent her childhood in Canada, and her father always used various ideas to develop her creativity. She said: "Fantasy is a crucial habit, and it is this habit that makes me an excellent scientist."
16. Jon jon kleinberg.
Jon jon kleinberg.
Computer scientist at Cornell University
In the mid-1990s, if you searched for "Discovery Magazine" on the Internet, it meant that you were struggling to find the answers you needed among thousands of messy results. 1996, 24-year-old Jon kleinberg developed an algorithm that completely changed online search. Today, if you type "Discovery Magazine" in the search box again, the first search result you get is the magazine's home page, thanks to Kleinberg. Kleinberg is 37 years old. He created a topic search algorithm HITS based on hyperlink analysis, and evaluated the value of web pages through two indicators: authority (the quality of published content and whether it is recommended by other web pages) and hub (whether it is connected with excellent web pages).
Kleinberg continues to integrate computer science, data analysis and sociological research to help develop better tools to connect social networking sites. According to his idea, whether we can see that information increases with the passage of time when it spreads in space-he calls it a geographical hotspot on the Internet-depends on our interest in a particular area. Kleinberg said that our social network links and friendships can rely on these geographical hotspots, "by typing in the location instead of the name or time", making the search easier.
17. Edward Boyden
Neuroengineer, MIT Media Lab
Some specific types of bacteria and algae have genes that can convert light into electricity. Edward Boyden, a 29-year-old, implanted one of these genes into nerve cells to make them respond similarly. He said, "If we irradiate these cells with light, we can activate them." On the basis of creating similar transgenic nerve cells, Boyden is studying brain implantation by engineering means-they can be stimulated by light pulses. He hopes that this implant can help control diseases such as Parkinson's disease. Sometimes, doctors will treat Parkinson's disease by implanting stimulators that can generate electricity. Boyden said: "Light can do many things that simple electric stimulators can't." Using this technology, researchers can selectively make their transgenic nerve cells respond. By implanting an optical device that can emit different types of light, researchers can control neural circuits more accurately.
18. richard bong Bono
New york University Systems Biologist
Richard bong Bongnu, 33, said that it is good to record all the parts obtained after cell dissection by type, but the real holy grail for biologists is to know how each part controls and dominates the functions of other parts. "You may know that A and B are related, but this does not describe the whole picture of the whole system. You don't know how the parts interact. I want to mark arrows on these lines to show these effects. "
By tracking the activities of almost all genes in a free archaea (a bacteria-like prokaryote), Bonu recently pieced together all the parts to understand how genes affect their respective expressions, and then asked him to describe the "control circuit" of this organic life like a research machine. In the process, he found some surprising things: archaea did not fully respond to external stimuli, such as light and toxic chemicals. "It will use the same integrator to process these environmental stimuli, so it won't have an infinite number of reactions." He pointed out that understanding the limited range of microbial behavior can provide great help for developing drugs and biofuels through genetic engineering.
19. Sean frayn
Inventor of hendinger wind energy company
Sean Flanner, 27, knows how to create simple and practical technical solutions to make qualitative changes in people's lives in developing countries. He is a member of a team dedicated to using sugarcane charcoal as a cheap cooking fuel. His solar disinfection plastic bag can purify water and turn it into drinking water. In contrast, the "wind belt" designed by Flana may have the greatest impact.
His design was inspired by the dynamic principle adopted by the collapsed Taco Ma Haixia Bridge 1940. After four years of hard work, he finally designed the world's first wind turbine without a turbine. When the wind blows, a piece of plain fabric wrapped in polyester film will vibrate quickly, driving the magnets installed between the coils at both ends to generate electricity. In developing countries, the "wind belt" only needs to generate 10 watt of electricity, which can illuminate a room all night, without the need for expensive and dangerous kerosene lamps.
By selling intellectual property rights of inventions to large companies, Flana hopes to raise more funds for creative projects in developing countries. He said: "Developing countries are facing the biggest challenge. I think most of my inventions and innovations in my life will come true in developing countries. If I switch to other areas, I will go crazy. "
20. Jonathan prichard
University of Chicago/Howard Hughes Medical Institute Geneticist
It's easy to think that evolution happened millions of years ago, but 37-year-old Jonathan prichard proved that we have actually been adapting to the environment in real time. Simply put, evolution never stops. Prichard and his colleagues used a statistical model to track the rapid spread of genetic variation in the population, and identified hundreds of genomic regions that have recently mutated due to natural selection. He said: "If a new mutation appears in a certain population and is prevalent, natural selection will rapidly increase the frequency of this allele mutation. In many cases, the variation frequency between people is very small. If the frequency difference is large, they will naturally stand out. "