The editors of TIME for Kids spoke with seven incredible young innovators. They’re using STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) and their imaginations to invent new solutions to problems faced by people around the world.
In 2016, Erin Smith, then 16, watched old videos of Michael J. Fox. She recalls noticing that “when he laughed or smiled, it came off as emotionally distant.” The early symptom of Parkinson’s is called facial masking, and for a science-fair project, Smith chose to explore it. She filmed some 15 nursing- home residents as they watched Super Bowl commercials, then screened their expressions using off-the-shelf facial- recognition software.
Image: Illustration by Aiste Stancikaite for TIME
