International Young Scientist Awards

Fusion energy research has reached a landmark achievement with experiments successfully demonstrating sustained net-positive power output. This means that the energy produced by the fusion reaction exceeded the total energy required to initiate and sustain it, a goal scientists have pursued for decades. Fusion works by combining light atomic nuclei at extremely high temperatures and pressures, releasing vast amounts of energy similar to the processes powering the sun. Recent advances in plasma confinement, magnetic field control, and high-performance materials have made this breakthrough possible. Unlike conventional energy sources, fusion offers a clean and nearly limitless supply of power. It produces no carbon dioxide emissions during operation and generates significantly less long-lived radioactive waste compared to traditional nuclear fission. This progress strengthens the possibility of developing fusion-based power plants that could provide stable electricity while supporting gl...

 Recent scientific research has revealed alarming evidence that microplastics can significantly disrupt human cellular metabolism. Microplastics—tiny plastic particles smaller than five millimeters—are now ubiquitous in the environment and have been detected in air, water, food, and even human tissues. The new study demonstrates that when human cells are exposed to microplastics, key metabolic pathways responsible for energy production, lipid regulation, and oxidative balance are altered. Researchers observed increased oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and changes in glucose and lipid metabolism, which are essential for normal cellular function. The findings suggest that microplastics may interfere with enzyme activity and cellular signaling mechanisms, potentially leading to inflammation and long-term metabolic disorders. Particularly concerning is the ability of microplastics to carry toxic additives and environmental pollutants, amplifying their harmful biological ef...

Scientists have reached a major milestone in the pursuit of clean and sustainable power as a fusion energy experiment has achieved record-high efficiency. Fusion energy, which replicates the process that powers the Sun, involves combining light atomic nuclei to release enormous amounts of energy with minimal environmental impact. In this latest breakthrough, researchers successfully generated more energy from a fusion reaction than ever before relative to the energy input, marking a significant step toward practical fusion power.    The experiment used advanced plasma confinement techniques and improved magnetic control systems to maintain extremely high temperatures and pressures required for fusion. These improvements reduced energy losses and increased reaction stability, allowing the system to sustain fusion conditions longer than previous attempts. Unlike fossil fuels, fusion produces no greenhouse gas emissions and generates far less long-lived radioactive waste, making...

Carbon capture technologies are entering a transformative phase as recent research breakthroughs significantly improve their efficiency, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. Scientists and engineers have developed advanced materials such as next-generation sorbents, metal–organic frameworks, and improved membrane systems that can capture carbon dioxide more selectively and with lower energy consumption than earlier methods. These innovations enable carbon capture to be integrated more easily into power plants, cement and steel industries, and chemical manufacturing, which are among the largest global sources of CO₂ emissions. In addition, progress in direct air capture (DAC) systems allows carbon dioxide to be removed directly from the atmosphere, offering a pathway to address legacy emissions. Coupled with renewable energy sources, these systems can operate with a reduced carbon footprint. Research is also advancing in carbon utilization, where captured CO₂ is converted into valuable...

AI-Driven Autonomous Database Systems represent a new generation of database management systems that use artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate core database operations. These systems are designed to self-manage tasks such as query optimization, indexing, workload balancing, storage allocation, fault detection, and performance tuning without continuous human intervention. By learning from historical workloads and real-time system behavior, autonomous databases can dynamically adapt to changing data patterns, ensuring high performance, scalability, and reliability. This research area focuses on integrating AI models into DBMS internals to enable self-configuring, self-healing, and self-securing capabilities. Such systems reduce administrative overhead, minimize human errors, and improve efficiency in large-scale, cloud-based, and data-intensive environments. Autonomous databases are particularly relevant for applications involving big data analytics, real-time processi...

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have discovered a remarkable galaxy merger that occurred just 800 million years after the Big Bang. This early cosmic collision provides unprecedented insight into how the first galaxies formed and evolved in the young universe. Galaxy mergers play a crucial role in shaping galaxies, triggering bursts of star formation, and influencing the growth of supermassive black holes. By observing such ancient mergers, scientists can better understand the processes that led to the large-scale structure of the cosmos we see today. JWST’s advanced infrared capabilities allow it to peer through cosmic dust and capture high-resolution images of galaxies at extreme distances, revealing details that were previously impossible to detect. This discovery not only highlights the power of next-generation telescopes but also offers clues about the pace of galaxy assembly in the early universe, helping astronomers refine models of cosmic evolution. The...