What kind of scientific research doesn’t just solve a narrow problem, but helps build toward a future we really want to live in? That’s the question @foresightinst brought to ISEF 2026, the world's largest high school science fair run by @Society4Science. We gave out the Existential Hope Award to projects showing great potential to contribute to a positive future for humanity, with bonus points for interdisciplinary thinking and awareness of broader societal implications. This year's winners: - First place: an AI system that simulates how cancer cells respond to drug combinations, to help match patients to the right therapies faster - Second place: a brain-monitoring app that detects when your attention is fading and nudges it back in real time Congratulations! More details about the winner projects below ↓

🥇 First place: The Virtual Cell 2.0 Finding the right drug combination for a cancer patient is hard. The number of possible combinations grows fast, and testing them all in a lab isn't realistic. A student from Stanton College Preparatory School built an AI-assisted simulation system that models how a specific cancer cell will respond to different drug combinations based on its genetic and protein profile. The system generates millions of possible biochemical reactions, then trims them down based on the cell's actual molecular makeup. It can run a full simulation in about 35 seconds. Tested across 12 cancer cell lines and 12 targeted therapies, the model's predictions matched real lab results with 95%+ accuracy. The goal: help oncologists prioritize which drug combinations are most likely to work for a specific patient's tumor, before ever running a trial. More details: isef.net/project/cell00…

🥈 Second place: REWIRE Attention spans are declining among teenagers, and that has real consequences for learning, memory, and comprehension. A student from Arizona College Prep High School built a web app called REWIRE that monitors brainwave activity in real time using data from a non-invasive electroencephalogram. When the app detects that your focus is dipping, it delivers a small audio or visual cue to re-engage you, personalized to your own baseline. In a study with 49 participants across 245 sessions, the group using REWIRE showed significant improvements in reading focus, comprehension, and spatial memory compared to the control group. The idea is that consistent, timely feedback during moments of mental drift can actually strengthen attention over time, not just catch lapses as they happen. More details: isef.net/project/beha04…