We didn't call them brilliant for nothing. Since we began singling out promising scientists two years ago, our awardees have racked up dazzling further accomplishments. Here's a sampling of what they've been up to.

DAVID WAGNER
UC Berkeley computer scientist Wagner co-authored a withering critique of an Internet-based voting system that the U.S. had planned to introduce for citizens living abroad. The report, which described multiple security flaws, led to the program’s abrupt cancellation in February.


SARAH TISHKOFF
The war between the sexes just got more colorful. In July, University of Maryland molecular anthropologist Tishkoff discovered surprisingly high variations within a gene associated with color blindness in men, suggesting that women might see a broader array of colors.


ERIK DEMAINE
Last year, 23-year-old MIT mathematician Demaine parlayed an obsession with origami into a cool half-million from the MacArthur Foundation. Not too shabby. Now this former child prodigy, who attended college at age 12, is officially a “genius.”






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