In northern China, newly planted trees can face a difficult start, with dry conditions and strong winds making it hard for young roots to get enough moisture.
asserted
roots → plant → moisture
For 14-year-old Jia Mingxuan, the problem was close to home in Aohan Banner, where decades of work have transformed once sandy land into a greener landscape.
asserted
decades → transform → landscape
A simple observation in his family kitchen gave him an idea: use the natural process of condensation to collect moisture from air and direct it towards a sapling’s roots.
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observation → give → roots
Built with steel tubes and recycled plastic bottles, his homemade device later travelled far beyond his hometown, earning an unexpected gold medal at an international invention exhibition in Germany.
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device → build → Germany
Competing against more than 540 inventions from young innovators worldwide at the 77th Nuremberg International Invention Exhibition in November 2025, Jia's unpolished, homemade device still took the top honour.
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device → compete → honour
Jia's next challenge is proving the device works at field scale, and the Shanghai team's refinements could determine whether this homemade condensation idea helps saplings survive across northern China's dry, windswept planting sites.
uncertain
saplings → prove → sites
How 14-year-old Jia Mingxuan turned Aohan’s dry climate into an invention idea
Jia grew up in Aohan Banner, an area that has undergone decades of efforts to control desertification and restore tree cover.
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that → turn → cover
His grandfather was involved in planting trees around the family home, giving the teenager a close view of how much the landscape had changed.
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landscape → involve → view
According to Xinhua, the area had once been far more exposed to sand.
uncertain
area → accord → sand
Annual rainfall is around 380 millimetres, while the county is now reported to have forest cover across about 40.6% of its area, equivalent to roughly 373,000 hectares.
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county → report → hectares
The transformation has not removed the difficulties faced by newly planted trees.
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transformation → remove → trees
Saplings placed in exposed areas still need water while their root systems are developing.
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systems → place → water
Getting that water to remote planting sites can require considerable time and labour.
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Getting → get → time
Jia became interested in that particular stage of the process.
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Jia → become → process
Rather than trying to create another irrigation system, he started thinking about whether moisture already present in the air could be put to use
uncertain
moisture → try → use
PC: Xinhua
The condensation principle behind Jia’s drought-fighting tree device
The starting point came during an ordinary evening at home.
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point → fight → home
Jia noticed droplets forming where steam had condensed on a tiled kitchen wall.
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steam → notice → wall
He remembered a physics lesson about condensation and began considering whether a similar process could happen underground around a tree.
uncertain
process → remember → tree
The idea became the subject of a school invention project in March 2025, when his science teacher asked pupils to develop their own ideas.
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teacher → become → ideas
Jia began drawing plans for a device that could gather water vapour and move the resulting moisture towards the root area of a sapling.
uncertain
that → begin → sapling
His design relies on differences in temperature between the soil surface and deeper ground.
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design → rely → surface
Air is drawn through a steel pipe, while a cap at the top helps air circulate through the structure.
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air → draw → structure
As moisture in the air encounters cooler conditions underground, some of the water vapour condenses into droplets.
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some → encounter → droplets
Those droplets then move into the surrounding soil rather than being collected in a conventional tank.
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droplets → move → tank
Long journeys and 4am checks shape Jia’s sapling watering prototype
Jia boards at school and had to travel about 30 kilometres to his family home to test his prototypes, according to Xinhua.
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Jia → shape → Xinhua
Testing the invention therefore meant making the journey back and forth rather than carrying out every experiment on campus.
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Testing → test → campus
At one point, the prototype was buried about two metres underground.
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prototype → bury → point
Jia sometimes woke up at around 4 am so he could return home, uncover part of the installation and check the moisture readings before travelling back to school.
uncertain
he → wake → school
Steel tubing formed the main structure, while recycled plastic bottles were incorporated into the homemade apparatus.
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bottles → form → apparatus
The device developed through repeated testing in the conditions it was intended to address.
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it → develop → conditions
That local focus later became part of what attracted attention at the international competition.
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what → become → competition
A simple sapling device competes alongside surgical robots and brain technology
Jia took the invention to the 2025 junior competition at iENA in Nuremberg, where more than 540 inventions by young innovators from different countries were presented.
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inventions → compete → countries
Other entries included technologies such as surgical robots and brain-computer interface systems.
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entries → include → robots
For Jia, who had never travelled abroad before, the competition itself was unfamiliar territory.
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competition → travel → Jia
He reportedly wondered whether his rough-looking invention could compete alongside projects that appeared much more technically advanced.
uncertain
that → wonder → projects
The result came as the awards were announced.
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awards → come → ?
After the bronze and silver medals were presented without his name being called, Jia believed his opportunity had passed.
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opportunity → present → ?
His invention was then announced as a gold medal winner.
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invention → announce → winner
Reportedly, Oliver Mayer, chairman of the international jury, said the panel was impressed by both the teenager and the practical nature of his project.
uncertain
panel → say → project
Jia collected the medal wearing a traditional Mongolian robe.
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Jia → collect → robe
…and 20 more, not listed.
The Aporia
