I think there is a lot of sensationalization, because teens aren't really expected to do much while they are teens and you do something like this - then catch words like wizkid and wonder boy or whatever get thrown around - "he certainly has shown the stupid scientists spending billions of dollars building a fusion reactor!"

fact of the matter is - today there is just so much information available on the net that you can pretty much build a 3d-printer or a cat scanner or whatever else you fancy at your home.

the bar for being a genius has significantly lowered since the 90s.