Whiz Kids: Okay, these kids rock! I wish that (a) I had spent more time learning science and math in high school and college and (b) I was a kid now, when orthodoxies are being constantly challenged and knowledge is exploding and traveling at light speed (or, at least, internet speed). Check this:

High-school scientists from across the United States showed off work in genetics, molecular biology, mathematics and other fields that judges said rose to the professional level. "It just blows me away. They're all just incredible," said Joel Spencer, a New York University professor who served as a judge at the Siemens Westinghouse Competition in Math, Science and Technology. Research done by finalists in the nationwide competition could lead to faster Internet speeds, more effective antibacterial drugs and better energy conservation.

Craig Venter, who helped to develop a map of the human genetic code as chief scientist at Celera Genomics Group, told the finalists that advances in computing power and more teamwork between scientists in different disciplines has led to a climate in which innovation is almost constant. That sense of discovery and excitement is a marked contrast to the early 1970s, when graduate-school professors told him that nearly everything had been discovered, he said. "Now it's almost impossible not to discover something," Venter said.

Okay, time to get off my gluteus and maximize.