This 11-year-old created a new water testing kit inspired by the Flint water crisis [Mic Archives]

Gitanjali Rao, a seventh grader from Colorado, just became “America’s top young scientist” with an invention that helps detect lead better than the methods currently available. Gitanjali was inspired to invent a solution to water pollution after learning of the crisis in Flint, Michigan. Her design aims to decrease the time and money needed to accurately test water for pollutants. “I hope this helps in a small way to detect and prevent long-term health effects, long-term contamination for many of us,” she said.