Arfa Karim Randhawa
Born: 1995
Current Age: 13
Arfa Karim Randhawa is the youngest person ever to become a Microsoft certified professional at the ripe old age of 9 years, 9 months and 6 hours to be precise. Her interest in computers began early when she passed by a computer lab in her school in Pakistan. From that point on she possessed an amazing curiosity and aptitude in using and creating Microsoft programs. At the age of 10 she travelled to the United States with her father to meet Microsoft founder, Bill Gates and also had the privilege of meeting Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf.
Suhas Gopinath, CEO of Globals Inc.
Born: 1986
Current Age: 22
Most of us worry about finishing class assignments on time or who to take to the latest Abhishek Bachchan flick. Suhas Gopinath has bigger things on his mind. Although he wasn’t old enough to drive in some countries or sign legal documents, he took over as CEO of his own multi-national corporation at age 17. Gopinath dreamed of becoming a vet as a kid, but at 14 he became fascinated by the Internet. His interest started with the creation of his own Web page but soon turned to the development of a new company. In 2000, Gopinath started Globals Inc., an IT service company that now boasts 11 offices worldwide, more than 400 employees and profits of more than $1 million a year.
Gopinath’s talents gave him global recognition because he is not only the youngest CEO in the world but also one of the most innovative. He often speaks at conferences to people twice his age (or older!) offering tips on how to run their businesses. Recently, he initiated a programme for other young people interested in business called “Building Entrepreneurship Skills in Youngsters”, which was applauded by the Hon’able President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. Gopinath did all this while working on his BE in information science at the MS Ramaiah Institute of Information Technology!
Not only forward-thinking in business, Gopinath has a lot to say about social issues as well. He spoke at a young leaders’ conference last year about the importance of viewing the world as a global community without political borders. Gopinath is just as passionate about animal rights. He recently sat down with petaDishoom to discuss his views on business, animal rights and what young people can do to revolutionise both.
Victor M. De Leon III, Professional Gamer
Born: May 6, 1998
Current Age: 10
LiL Poison is the Youngest Pro Gamer in the World!.
He started video gaming at the age of two years old! LiL Poison started competing at the age of 4 years old at a local New York Halo Tournament.
At the age of six MLG recruiters signed LiL Poison as a Pro Gamer and officially made LiL Poison the youngest signed professional gamer in the world. At 7 years old LiL Poison proved to the world that his title of, professional gamer wasn’t just a fluke. At the 
largest free-for-all competition ever held, he placed 2nd out of 550 other contestants.
At the age of 9 years old LiL Poison competed in a 1vs1 Boost Mobile Challenge and qualified for the Championships in Las Vegas. He entered the event seated 1st place out of over 3500 gamers. He placed 3rd place overall. Besides the Boost Challenge LiL Poison has participated in three one verses one challenges in 2007 and was unbeaten at every event in which over 200 challengers participated.
Marla Olmstead
Born: 1999
Current Age: 8
Marla Olmstead made her first abstract painting while still in diapers, crouching on her parents' dining-room table. She was not yet 2. Her big break came when she was 3, and a family friend hung her paintings in a coffee shop in her hometown of Binghamton, N.Y. By the time she was 4, she was scarfing down cookies at the packed opening of her first solo gallery show. A local reporter covered the story, and the New York Times picked it up. Soon, news crews from all over were rushing to report on the adorable blond moppet and her colorful canvases, calling her 
a "budding Picasso," a "pint-sized Pollock." Within a few months, she sold more than $300,000 worth of paintings. And then, just short of her 5th birthday, the bubble burst. In February 2005, 60 Minutes aired a report by Charlie Rose implying that Marla's father, a night-shift manager at a Frito-Lay plant and an amateur painter himself, was guiding her compositions. Sales of the paintings quickly dried up, the family was barraged with hate mail, and the New York Post gleefully piled on the puns, reporting that "the juvenile Jackson Pollock may actually be a full-fledged Willem de Frauding."
Ruth Lawrence
Born: 1972
Current Age: 36
Child prodigy Ruth Lawrence has achieved a starred first in Mathematics at Oxford University.
The 13-year-old is the youngest British person ever to earn a first-class degree and the youngest known graduate of Oxford University.
As well as being the only student to attain that grade this year she is also one of two students to be awarded a prize and special commendation for the degree she has completed in two years instead of the usual three.
The teenager - who never went to school and was tutored by her father Harry Lawrence - said that the result was much as she had expected.
Mr Lawrence has been his daughter's constant companion and attended all of her lectures and tutorials at university.
They arrived at the Examination School together on a tandem bicycle to see her results posted on a board.
Impressive figures
Ruth, from Huddersfield, told Sue Cook on Breakfast Time that she intends to stay in Oxford for the next three years doing some sort of research.
She does not yet know which branch of mathematics she will specialise in or what she would ultimately like to achieve, but because of the broad range of options she has taken - including pure and applied maths - says she "can go off in virtually any direction".
By the age of nine Ruth had already entered the record books by achieving a grade A in her Pure Mathematics A-level.
Ruth intends to spend the Ј100 prize she won from Oxford University on new maths books for her 14th birthday next month.
Facts
In 1981 Ruth Lawrence became the youngest person ever to pass the Oxford entrance exam.
She gained her PhD in 1989 and went to work at Harvard in the US. Her father went with her.
From 1993, in her mid-twenties, Ruth was an assistant professor, then professor, at the University of Michigan studying knot theory.
Gregory Robert Smith
Born: June 9, 1989
Current Age: 19
Gregory Robert Smith was born in Reading Pennsylvania, and is the founder of International Youth Advocates. Gregory graduated from high school at the age of 10, and later graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and minors in history and biology from Randolph- Macron College.
Nguyen Ngoc Truong
Born: February 23, 1990
Current Age: 18
At 14, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son became the second-youngest player in the world to earn an international chess grandmaster title, giving Vietnam a name in the international chess arena.
Born in Feb. 23, 1990, Son was dubbed Vietnam’s child prodigy by international media after becoming the country’s youngest international grandmaster - the highest-level title achieved in chess. Before Son, no other Vietnamese chess player had gained such quick success.
With his inborn ability and early training, Son quickly developed his skills and diverse playing styles. Soon he was able to beat any other global player his age, including the most talented from powerhouse chess countries.
Son won a gold medal at the International U-10 Chess Championship as well as several other medals.
He also inspired a chess movement in his hometown of Mekong Delta’s Kien Giang province.
But, Son probably wouldn’t have gotten to where he is today without the help of the leaders in Kien Giang’s Sport Department. The department carried out a special program to develop young talented chess players by sending them to a two-year training program at the renowned Hungarian Chesscom Center.
After 20 months at Chesscom, Son improved significantly and impressed the chess circle in Hungary.
According to Hoang Minh Chuong, founder of Chesscom, Son now needs to compete at more major international competitions to gain experience and become a professional player. This means Son needs to sacrifice winning medals at smaller tournaments with players his age, said Mr. Chuong.
In addition, the chess star needs more financial support and training to enter bigger chess playgrounds, he said.
In a talk with Thanh Nien, Trinh Hoang Cuong, a chess coach from Kien Giang said the province, which manages finances for Son’s training, currently faced difficulties finding an appropriate training school for Son.
But, he said that many people and leaders in the province believed in Son’s talent and would do everything to help him develop his gift. In return, the province hopes Son will be one of the top 20 world chess players in the next few years, he said.
Meanwhile as the Lunar New Year approaches, Son said he wanted to become a world famous player and would do his best to fulfill his dream
Ethan Ong
Born: 1999
Current Age: 8
Ethan Ong, born in the United States of America, raised in Singapore and currently staying in China, was attracting huge crowds of admirers when at the tender of age of 5 years old he became Singapore's Youngest Busker, receiving high TV, Radio and newspaper attention, which led to a special 30 minute TV documentary "Superkid - Singapore's Drum Prodigy" and then later a Cable TV documentary entitled "Child Extraordinaire." Ethan also participated in the Singapore Drum Festival Competition last year and clinched the championship honors 
in the Junior Category. He was recognized as the "undisputed winner" by the judges in this inaugural drum event held in Asia Pacific.
Ethan has received open recognition and compliments from Chris Brien and his favourite Artist Akira Jimbo:
Ethan says "I think it's super cool to be a Zildjian Artist, just like my all-time favourite Drum Maestro Akira Jimbo. It is encouraging and exciting to be able to represent Zildjian at 9 years old! I simply love the sound of Zildjian cymbals!"
Abigail Sin
Born: 1992
Current Age: 16
Since her debut solo recital at the age of 9, Abigail Sin has appeared in concerts across the globe, including major venues in London, Manchester, Hamburg, Bucharest, Kivrograd, Kaunas, Baltimore, Denver, Richmond, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Singapore. These performances included a seven-concert tour of Ukraine, Lithuania and Germany in 2006. Ms Sin’s performances have also been recorded and broadcast over national radio and television in Romania, the United States, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Ms Sin has performed with various orchestras including the London Soloists Chamber Orchestra, Lamont Symphony Orchestra, Kaunas Symphony Orchestra, Dnipropetrovsk Philharmonic Orchestra, Singapore Festival Orchestra and Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Last year she gave the Singapore premiere of Rodion Shchedrin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 at the Singapore Arts Festival.
One month after the Shchedrin premiere, Ms Sin met Rodion Shchedrin himself in Verbier, Switzerland, where she was the youngest pianist selected to take part in the Verbier Festival and Academy. During the festival she studied with eminent artists such as Claude Frank, Emile Naoumoff and Gabor Takacs-Nagy, and gave numerous solo and chamber music performances.
Ms Sin has also attended the Bowdoin International Music Festival, Gold Country Piano Institute and the International Festival of Young Musicians in Lithuania. She has participated in master classes with Earl Wild, Julian Martin, Yong Hi Moon, Jerome Lowenthal and Dmitri Alexeev. For the Fall 2007 semester, she was an exchange student at the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
In September Abigail won 1st prize at the Viardo International Piano Competition in Dallas. She has also won 1st prizes at the Virginia Waring (USA), Ibiza (Spain) and Independent Music Competition (Ukraine), as well as 2nd prizes at the Schimmel (USA), Krainev (Ukraine) and ASEAN Chopin (Kuala Lumpur) International Piano Competitions. In Europe she was awarded “Most Outstanding Performer” at the International Festival of Young Musicians (Lithuania). Earlier in her studies Abigail was also awarded the HSBC Youth Excellence Award for Musical Excellence (Singapore).
Ms Sin, 16, began studying under the direction of Dr. Thomas Hecht at the age of eleven and is currently a 3rd year piano performance major at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of Singapore.
Sho Timothy Yano
Born: October 22, 1989
Current Age: 19
Yano reportedly played Chopin on the piano at age 3. He went to the Mirman School as a child. After scoring 1500 out of 1600 on the SAT at age 8, he entered Loyola University Chicago at age 9, graduating summa cum laude at age 12, and now attends the Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago in the MSTP (Medical Scientist Training Program), which is designed for those seeking to earn an MD and PhD. According to him, he owes much of his success to his mother, who noticed his superior intellectual capabilities at an early age and helped encourage and motivate him through rigorous academic enrichment. He also attributes his educational and intellectual accomplishments to his inheritance of superior genes which, combined with his strenuous effort and training, resulted in superior intelligence. His mom also homeschooled him through the 12th grade, saying she felt other students his age wouldn't be as interested in their studies. .
Sources 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Photo sources 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
The Globe of Science and Innovation at night. The wooden globe is a structure originally built for Switzerland's national exhibition, Expo'02, and is 40 meters wide, 27 meters tall. This wooden building was given to CERN in 2004 as a gift from the Swiss Confederation to mark 50 years since the Organization's foundation.
Assembly and installation of the ATLAS Hadronic endcap Liquid Argon Calorimeter. The ATLAS detector contains a series of ever-larger concentric cylinders around the central interaction point where the LHC's proton beams collide. 
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