Abstract :
When natalie Portman won an oscar for her performance in ´Black Swan´ earlier this year, the New York Times published lesser-known details of her career. it turns out that in high school, before studying neuroscience at harvard, Portman reached the semi-final rounds of the prestigious intel Science talent Search research competition with a method for converting waste into energy. Previous winners and near-winners, the article said, had gone on to gather seven nobel Prizes, two Fields medals in mathematics and other notable awards.