Matteo Paz, the young American who has revolutionized NASA with a forgotten AI-based project: “Promising results”

Matteo Paz is an 18-year-old student who has turned the scientific community on its head after identifying more than 1.5 million previously unknown cosmic objects, developing an artificial intelligence-based algorithm that analyzed NASA data and uncovered what the agency itself had not yet seen.

Paz studied information released by NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission, launched in 2009 and continuously scanning space ever since. He fed that data into his algorithm and ended up mapping millions of so-called “variable stars,” objects whose behavior changes over time.

A variable star is the term used to describe constantly evolving cosmic objects such as black holes, volatile newborn stars, and supernovas. The discovery earned Paz a $250,000 prize (around $230,000) and has been published in The Astronomical Journal.

Paz developed the algorithm VARnet, capable of processing hundreds of billions of infrared data records. The program can detect subtle signals – such as changes in brightness or radiation patterns – that point to the presence of celestial objects.

“Being able to contribute in a meaningful way is really special for me,” the teenager said after winning the 2025 Regeneron Science Talent Search. “If I could give advice to ambitious young people: just start. You’ll never know how far you can go until you do.”

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