ISLAMABAD — Muhammad Shaheer Niazi, a bright young boy, has given Pakistan something to cheer about amid the doom and gloom griping the country in terms of political and economic stability.

Only 17-years-old and he is already a recognized scientist. He has earned laurels for his visualization of a phenomenon, known to physicists for decades, which can help engineers develop technology for printing, heating or biomedicine.

Niazi’s research on electric honeycomb was recently published in the Royal Society Open Science journal.

Physicists have known the phenomenon of electric honeycomb for decades. It occurs when a layer of oil is placed in an electric field between a pointy electrode and a flat one — and the instability caused by the build up of ions applies pressure to the surface of the oil — creating a beautiful pattern that looks like a honeycomb, or a stained glass window.

The high school student from Pakistan’s city of Lahore managed to photograph the movement of ions that forms the honeycomb besides recording the heat found on the surface of oil. No one has done this before.

Electric honeycomb phenomenon was the problem given to him at the International Young Physicists’ Tournament held in Russia last year. Niazi, and four other students, made up the first-ever team to represent Pakistan at the tournament. Returning from Russia, Niazi decided to get his research published.

It took him another year of work to come up with “novel ideas” before his paper was finally accepted for publication. He received the letter of acceptance just days ahead of his 17th birthday last month.

“Your research is like your child, and you feel out of this world when it is accepted for publication,” Niazi tells the BBC in an interview at his residence in Lahore’s posh Sukh Chayn sector.

With the slim stature of a teenage boy with curly hair and spectacles sitting firmly on his nose, the young scientist cuts a smart figure.

Anticipating the first question, he settles down on a couch next to a desk laden with boxes full of wires, motherboards and incomplete circuits. It is where he conducts his experiments.

How is an electric honeycomb formed? Niazi elaborates: “Electric honeycomb perfectly demonstrates how everything in this universe is seeking equilibrium. Its hexagonal shape is the most stable structure.”

In this case, he says, two electrodes are used; a pointy needle on top of a flat surface with a thin layer of oil on it. High voltage from the needle makes ions bombard the surface of oil, on their way to meet the ground electrode.

“It is just like lightning striking the surface of earth,” he says. But oil is a non-conductor. The ions start accumulating on the surface of oil. As the pressure increases, they create a depression and manage to meet the ground electrode.

In the process the surface of oil loses its shape, something it does not want. So within no time, honeycomb-like hexagonal structures appear on the surface of oil.

“The amount of energy that goes in equals the energy that comes out and thus the flow of electricity is efficient. This way equilibrium is restored,” he sums up. Niazi replicated the phenomenon at last year’s tournament.

To prove his findings, he photographed the ion wind demonstrating that the ions were moving. He also recorded the heat produced through their movement, a finding that needs further study. — Agencies