PROFILE: Taylor Wilson, teen physicist

Taylor re-enacts the famous Dr. Strangelove scene.

Taylor Wilson is a 17 year old student who is obsessed with radioactivity.  He’s been chasing radioactive elements and the dream of being a physicist since he was in the fifth grade.  He is now one of the most prominent teen physicists in the world.

Taylor is the youngest person in the world to create Nuclear Fusion, and the 31st person to do it privately outside of government and industry.  He did it using a Farnsworth Fusor reactor. With the reactor he has the capability to make stable elements radioactive, and so he conducts research in the fields of basic fusion science, homeland security, and nuclear medicine.  With his reactor, he personally has approximately the same nuclear capabilities as Iran.

Taylor attends the University of Nevada and the Davidson Academy.  The Academy is a Reno-area public school for the profoundly gifted.  Students in the top .01 percent of the nation can apply, and if they are accepted, can move to Reno and take advantage of the special programs offered.

Taylor is originally from the Texarkana area.  He found his passion very early, and it’s taken him all kinds of places.  The young teen physicist  said in a TED talk in early March:  “I started out with a dream to make a star in a jar in my garage, and I ended up meeting the President of the United States!”

Find out more about Taylor on his Nuclear website: http://sciradioactive.com/Taylors_Nuke_Site/Welcome.html

Read an excellent Popular Science article about Taylor:  http://www.popsci.com

Here’s his TED Talk:

And here’s a news article on CBS news:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 Adam Gertsacov is the co-founder and co-organizer of Digital Family Summit.  He wears many hats, including those of a professional clown, an author and publisher, an artist/educator, a non-profit administrator, a P.T. Barnum impersonator, a flea circus impresario, and the esteemed hat of the Clown Laureate of Greenbelt, Maryland.