Don't get hung up on "14 year old". Pay attention to "took up origami 6 years ago". That's 6 years of passionate learning, experimenting and improvement.
Also, ‘years’ tend to be a lot more hours for kids, and each hour yields more learning due to neuroplasticity. I learned so much faster at 15 than I do at 35. I know more now, which often more than makes up for slower learning, but I can’t learn difficult novel subjects in depth as fast as I once did.
I’m glad I learned OS in depth during high school via Gentoo linux. And engineering/physics/math in college. It’s very easy to assimilate any new knowledge which can be understood through those areas of first principles.
But learning more advanced math is quite a task now.
Also don't get hung up on "folded". He hasn't innovated a design (it was invented by a Japanese astrophysicist, Miura-Ori), merely measured sustainable load across different designs.
This is weight distribution on a flat plain. Think of Roman Arches.
On a curved plain, weight distribution of THIS origami falls apart as pressure is added horizontally (not just vertically).
It looks like the top 10% from 6th to 8th grade Society of Science fairs are invited to participate. They are then selected down to a top 300[1] and a top 30.[2] You can find a project name for the top 300 and a paragraph on each of the top 30.
Don't get hung up on "14 year old". Pay attention to "took up origami 6 years ago". That's 6 years of passionate learning, experimenting and improvement.
Also, ‘years’ tend to be a lot more hours for kids, and each hour yields more learning due to neuroplasticity. I learned so much faster at 15 than I do at 35. I know more now, which often more than makes up for slower learning, but I can’t learn difficult novel subjects in depth as fast as I once did.
I’m glad I learned OS in depth during high school via Gentoo linux. And engineering/physics/math in college. It’s very easy to assimilate any new knowledge which can be understood through those areas of first principles.
But learning more advanced math is quite a task now.
Also don't get hung up on "folded". He hasn't innovated a design (it was invented by a Japanese astrophysicist, Miura-Ori), merely measured sustainable load across different designs.
"Miura" is the name of the astrophysicist. "Ori" (折り) just means "fold", and in "origami" = "fold+paper".
So what is the ideal pattern and how can you build a shelter with it?
I think it would be fun to build a playhouse out of it.
I think that design has the easiest application in something like corrugated cardboard, as the middle layer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miura_fold
Small discussion 3 months ago (43 points, 9 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46106871
Thanks! Macroexpanded:
14yo won $25k for origami that holds 10k times its weight - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46106871 - Dec 2025 (9 comments)
Fun when these things hold a surprising amount of weight. Reminds me when these two engineers on Lego Masters made a bridge:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9WT6TB15yE
wtf, why lego, whhhy? "The uploader has not made this video available in your country"
edit: What, they geoblocked a ~1min clip, wow.
I live in the U.S.: I can watch it.
What is "your country?"
Triangles together strong!
Could concept be applied to submarine vehicles to exponential increase their resistance to pressure at depth?
This is weight distribution on a flat plain. Think of Roman Arches. On a curved plain, weight distribution of THIS origami falls apart as pressure is added horizontally (not just vertically).
Where can we read about the other submissions?
It looks like the top 10% from 6th to 8th grade Society of Science fairs are invited to participate. They are then selected down to a top 300[1] and a top 30.[2] You can find a project name for the top 300 and a paragraph on each of the top 30.
[1] https://www.societyforscience.org/jic/2025-top-300-junior-in... [2] https://www.societyforscience.org/jic/2025-finalists/
The top 30 finalists are listed here:
https://www.societyforscience.org/jic/2025-project-showcase/