Sean Atitsogbe, a 10-year-old Ghanaian-born American with a passion for science, has in recent months put Ghana on the map by featuring on major television programmes in the United States.
At just 10 years old, Sean Atitsogbe has become one of the youngest voices shaping how science reaches young audiences online.
Known to his growing followers as “Sean the Science Kid,” the self-taught science communicator is using social media to make complex topics simple, and millions are tuning in.
Sean’s videos, which break down subjects ranging from brain chemistry to quantum theory, have drawn more than 780,000 followers across YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook.
In April, one of his Instagram reels explaining why breakfast is the most important meal of the day went viral, introducing him to an even wider audience.
His parents say Sean’s gift appeared early. At just nine months old, he read the word “Carter’s” off a store sign, stunning his family.
By the age of three, he had outgrown preschool, completing the entire program in a week and advancing straight into second grade at High Achievers Academy.
Despite his age, Sean teaches himself most of what he knows. “Sean teaches himself,” his mother, Eunice Atitsogbe, said in an interview.
That drive for knowledge has set him apart, and earned him a spot in American Mensa, a society for people with IQ scores in the top two percent.
Sean also lives with hyperthymesia, a rare condition that gives him an unusually powerful memory. “The second I learn something, I kind of memorize it,” he said on CNN’s Chasing Life podcast with Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
Watch the CNN’s interview below.
It’s one of the reasons his videos stand out, he explains science with clarity, detail, and accuracy.
But his rise hasn’t come without lessons. Earlier this year, Sean shared an incorrect fact about the heart’s pumping capacity, which sparked online criticism.
Instead of retreating, he addressed it directly. “I’m a 10-year-old,” he reminded viewers. “Like, let 10-year-olds be 10-year-olds.”
For Sean, teaching science is about more than sharing facts, it’s about trust.
He avoids clickbait, cross-checks his sources, and insists on credible information. “Science doesn’t have to be confusing,” he said, stressing his mission to make learning accessible to everyone.
Outside of content creation, Sean’s ambitions are even bigger. At just four years old, he came up with a term for his dream career: “neurocardio surgeon.”
He wants to specialize in both brain and heart surgery, believing the two organs are deeply connected. “If one is damaged, then what’s going to happen to this loop?” he explained,
Sean is also developing his own scientific ideas. Among them is the “graviton quantum sponge theory,” his attempt to bridge quantum mechanics and relativity by proposing that the universe might contain “dimensional holes.”
He admits the theory is still a work in progress but jokes about scientists not “stealing his idea.”
Despite his rare abilities, Sean insists he is still a regular kid. He plays games, scrolls social media, and sometimes forgets chores.
His parents were even advised by psychologists to encourage more play, though Sean’s curiosity keeps him learning naturally.
Beyond science, Sean pays attention to the world around him.
He speaks openly about violence, misinformation, and online harm, urging people to be mindful of what they share and how they treat others.
“Stop hurting our friends,” he says simply, his way of calling for compassion in an increasingly divided world.
When asked what keeps him hopeful, his answer is immediate: “Myself.” He lives by a personal motto he once heard in a barbershop: “If your dreams don’t scare you, they’re not big enough.”
His surname, Atitsogbe, indicates one of his parents comes from Volta Region in Ghana.
By: Joshua Narh