thedailywhat:

Kickass Kid of the Day: A Maryland-based scientist has developed an incredibly accurate mechanism for detecting pancreatic cancer, which is faster than current methods, as well as 100 times more sensitive and 28 times cheaper. Oh, and the scientist is 15 years old.

For his discovery, high school freshman Jack Andraka just won the Gordon E. Moore Award at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, which comes with a $75,000 prize.

Andraka’s method uses single-walled carbon nanotubes — which he calls “the superheroes of material science” — to detect a pancreatic cancer marker in urine and blood samples. In a blind test, it had a 100% success rate.

“I did not expect for it to be this good,” he said, “I was blown away by how sensitive it was.”

[huffpo.]