Long Beach, California (CNN) -- Taylor Wilson is going to create a safer source of nuclear energy, help reduce the world's stockpile of nuclear weapons, screen container ships for weapons and power manned missions to other planets. But first ... he has to graduate high school in May. Jack Andraka is going to bring his 3-cent screening test for pancreatic, ovarian and lung cancer to market -- an alternative to a standard $800 test. But Jack, 16, hasn't been to high school much lately and isn't even sure he'll graduate. The two teenagers with Justin Bieber style haircuts wowed the 1,400 people who attended TED2013 this week, fitting the conference's theme: "The Young. The Wise. The Undiscovered." They were among a number of youthful speakers who Time magazine's Ruth Davis Konigsberg called "some of the biggest showstoppers at the annual event."
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TED2013 conference theme was "The Young. The Wise. The Undiscovered"
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Speakers included a mix of young and older voices, many with ambitious ideas
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One 18-year-old with nuclear reactor experience proposed a different power plant design
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Older voices expressed concern about economic and political challenges facing America
@placeholder stands for "technology, entertainment and design," although its subject matter has branched out widely since its founding nearly 30 years ago.