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Episode 1 of Decoding Genius, a podcast series by GE that asks what is a genius and how do you become one, available now for download from decodinggenius.com.au or via iTunes
When Maya Burhanpurkar was 10, she devised a new "smart" antibiotic. Two years later, she joined the hunt for a cure to Alzheimer's disease, and then filmed a documentary on climate change. And this year, at the age of 17, she's got even bigger plans to change the world.
In Decoding Genius, a new podcast that launched October 27, Burhanpurkar speaks of the trials and tribulations of being born a genius. When the Canadian was 10-years-old, she emailed dozens of professors asking to use their labs to work on an idea for a new "intelligent" antibiotic that kills specific bacteria. "I didn't get a lot of responses," she says, "and the ones that I did said 'no, you really can't work here Maya, you're ten.' So then I told my parents I'm going to build a lab in the basement."
She did indeed build her own microbiology lab, and is now contributing to world-leading physics and medicine.
The new six-part podcast series talks to geniuses like Maya Burhanpurkar, and their support network, discovering what makes a genius and challenging perceptions of what the word means. It looks at designing genius babies, at the complex issues of living with genius, and whether a genius can be bred, a theory espoused by one of the world's greatest inventors, Thomas Edison, who said: "Genius is 1 per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration."
Decoding Genius is hosted by Australian mathematician Lily Serna, best known for her work on Letters & Numbers, and focuses on six young geniuses who are changing the world in their respective fields. Interviewees include just-nominated Australian of the Year candidate Jordan Nguyen, who is creating mind-controlled wheelchairs; Ivan Zelich, who at 17 is being touted as the next rock star of mathematics thanks to the creation of a new theorem which allows people to calculate problems faster than a computer; and Kelcie Miller-Anderson, a 20-year-old aiming to save the environment through the 100 per cent natural remediation of polluted areas.
Serna also speak to experts around the world who help her to unlock the secrets of genius, such as world renowned expert, and Emeritus Professor of Gifted Education at the University of New South Wales, Miraca Gross, who has led a study on the top 0.03 per cent of Australian gifted children. "To be a genius, you have to have learned a different way of looking at things," she says. "You have to have the potential to look at things in a different way."
The podcast series breaks down the characteristics of geniuses, noting that they are insatiable in their need to know, they are altruistic, they work incredibly hard, they're personable and they're humble. It also asks experts whether it is possible to be or create a genius - if there is a blueprint for genius - or whether they are simply born that way.
It also investigates how the world views and interacts with genius, as well as how to spot a genius in your midst, examining the tell-tale signs of early genius, such as in Miller-Anderson's case, when she potty-trained herself before she was 18 months old.
Serna says she hopes Decoding Genius will infect you with the need to know, and that a little genius dust will rub off when you "don't settle for things as they are, but always question why things are so".
Just like the journey changed her, Serna says the series will make you re-think the way you think.
Decoding Genius launched on October 27. Download or subscribe here.
The Decoding Genius podcast was produced by Made by Fairfax in partnership with GE.