
EXCLUSIVE Family stunned to learn their beloved son is behind world's first sperm race
The family of a teenager behind a first-of-its-kind 'sperm race ' has told Daily Mail they were in the dark about the shocking contest until last week.
Baby-faced Eric Zhu teamed up with other teenage tech overachievers to create the eye-popping spectacle scheduled that will take place on April 25 in a downtown Los Angeles space that's normally used as an interior set for Hollywood movies.
Their plan is to live race sperm in order to raise awareness of male infertility. They're using $1.4million in funds raised from Silicon Valley investors to throw the event.
But Zhu's parents had no clue he was behind it.
'I had no idea what was going on until my international friends called me last Wednesday,' he recalled Zhu's father, Sam, 49. 'They said they saw some news about it on a website.'
His wife, Yan, 47, and younger son, Eddy, an accomplished competitive swimmer, will be attending the race in person while Sam livestreams it at home.
Despite a last-minute change of venue, amped up spectators are expected to cheer on two college students who will have their spermatozoa battle it out to the finish line in a microscopic talent competition.
Tickets for the event are listed as $20 for students and $40 for general admission. VIP tickets are priced at $999.99.
A description of the event on the Dice ticket platform boasts with fanfare: 'Witness the world's first live sperm race — where science meets sport.
'Two college students, featuring Tristan Mykel and Asher Proeger, will compete in the ultimate battle of fertility and fitness, racing their own sperm under the microscope.'
It states there will be 'live visuals and epic commentary' or the 'historic showdown.'
The event was originally to be held at the Hollywood Palladium, a famed Los Angeles concert location, but venue bosses 'didn't like the press they were getting' and cancelled the contract last week.
'Palladium ended up kicking us out of the venue, Zhu told Daily Mail. 'They didn't like the press at all.'
Zhu and his team of entrepreneurs, including former Mr Beast content strategist Garrett Niconienko, scrambled to find a new venue and now the show is being held at the LA Center Studios in downtown Los Angeles.
'I feel that this kind of idea is crazy, but I think about it, it makes sense as well,' Sam, a biological scientist for a large agricultural company.
'Initially I was very surprised but now I think it's a good idea.'
Sam first heard about his son's bizarre scheme from a friend across the other side of the globe on April 16.
His eldest son started his first money-making business when he was 13 from the bathroom of Carmel High School in the Indiana town (pop: 100,000) where the family live.
Zhu began creating and scaling business models in lockdown during the Covid pandemic, helping companies, including venture capital firms, manage their data systems.
He told Daily Mail he was kicked out of Carmel High School after starting his first business, Aviato, in the bathroom while skipping classes.
'I was stuck at home during Covid and just started speaking with as many people as possible in business and finance..
Eventually, with his first business flourishing, Zhu moved to San Francisco when he was 15, opened an office and began connecting with tech gurus such as Sam Altman, CEO of Open AI.
Another tech wunderkind, 16-year-old Nick Small, head of business manager consulting firm Stealth, is also a co-founder of the sperm start-up.
The event will feature stats, leaderboards and instant replays. play-by-play commentary, instant replays and leaderboard.
The 'race track' being used is 8 inches long and is modelled on the female reproductive system.
'Faster sperm is healthier sperm,' Zhu told Daily Mail. 'And no one has really paid attention to sperm health recently. Like if you look at it, like 50 years ago, sperm count has declined by half.'
Two students from rival universities, the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles, were found to have 'matching biomarkers' and selected to take part.
The company's manifesto, Zhu wrote online, states: 'Sperm racing isn't just about racing sperm (although, let's be honest, that's hilarious). it's about turning health into a competition. it's about making male fertility something people actually want to talk about, track, and improve.
'We're taking a topic no one wants to touch and making it interesting, measurable, and weirdly changing this paradigm. Because health is a race and everyone deserves a shot at the starting line.
'We've put together a team of researchers and operators who's built things people said couldn't work—and made them massive.'
Zhu commented that the goal was to have fun while raising awareness about male fertility. 'We want to turn health into competition,' he told Daily Mail.
'Sperm is surprising as a biomarker. The healthier you are, the faster sperm moves.'
Once the fresh sperm samples have been retrieved - shortly before the race - they will be placed in a pipette and injected into a 'microfluid device.'
A live video feed, magnified 40 times to display the 0.05mm sperm, will track their progress to the finish line.
Sperm typically swim at about 5mm per minute, meaning each race will take at least 40 minutes. Whichever crosses the finishing line first, as 'verified by advanced imaging', will be declared the winner.
'We're taking a topic no one wants to touch and making it interesting, measurable and weirdly changing this paradigm,' Zhu said.
Zhu added the goal was to have fun while raising awareness about male fertility. 'We want to turn health into competition.'
His parents moved to the States China 25 years ago to attend graduate school and were living in New Jersey when they started a family before moving to Indiana.
'My wife and I, we are quite open-minded,' said Sam of his approach to parenting.
'We don't like other Asian parents - they put on too much pressure for the study of mathematics or other activities to ask a lot of work from kids.
'We just let them do what they are interested in.'
Sam said he believes there are two main factors for raising kids.
'The first one is safety…you need to be safe outside,' he said. 'The other is no drugs!'
His high-flying soon is 'good at getting along with people. He learned lot from genius people he met in San Francisco. He learned from those people older than him and hired a lot of genius people, who are are smarter than him.'

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7 hours ago
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8 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
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The arts charity has admitted it has been 'increasingly challenging' to stage the street events since the Covid pandemic, despite scaling back infrastructure and branding to drive down costs, which is also said to have made the street events less attractive to potential sponsors. The Royal Mile during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe The society revealed it was 'actively seeking' new support from businesses to help pay for 'core elements' of this year's street events programme, but may have to use some of its financial resources to ensure they go safely ahead in August. Chief executive Tony Lankester said there was a need for further talks after this year's festival to try to ensure the street performance are more 'sustainable' in future. Mr Lankester, who is overseeing his first festival after being appointed in January, described the street events as 'world-class and vital to the vibrant atmosphere in Edinburgh each August". The society was asked by the city council to take responsibility for the increasingly street performances in 1999 following the success of a move to close part of the Royal Mile to traffic during the Fringe. The society, which negotiates with the city council and the police on where performances should take place, works with officially registered street entertainers to allocate slots for performances the three-week festival. Most of the running costs of the street events were usually met by commercial sponsors, such as the Royal Bank of Scotland or Virgin Money, the most recent backer before the pandemic. However the only public funding in place for the street events this year is a £75,000 grant from the city council, the only direct funding it provides for the festival, which has been valued at more than £200 million to the economy and sells more than two million tickets every year. The Herald can reveal that the Fringe Society faces having to pay more than £40,000 back to the council following the introduction of a new charging regime for event organisers this year. The Scottish Government has helped meet the costs of putting on the street events in recent years but has yet to confirm any support for this year's festival, which gets underway in just seven weeks. A spokesperson for the society said: 'Street events have been an integral part of the Fringe landscape since the 1970s. They remain one of the largest international gatherings of street performers anywhere, they take place throughout the festival and are free for anyone to attend. 'We took on the operational running of street events at the request of the council in 1999. The delivery costs prior to Covid were generally funded by a single sponsor, which enabled us to cover the costs of staging and supporting the events. 'Since Covid, the market has changed, and the streetscape itself prioritises performance and the movement of people over branded street furniture, making a headline sponsor challenging to secure.' The Fringe Society described the street events as 'a central part of the experience of many residents and visitors in Edinburgh each summer.' The spokesperson added: 'We work closely with the council and local businesses to ensure they are delivered each year, and we're proud of the collaborative approach we've built in recent years. 'But the burden of finding in excess of £250,000 every year for the minimum delivery of the street events is increasingly challenging. 'We are actively seeking partners and supporters who, through activation, in-kind support and donations, can help us ensure we can cover the cost of the required core services to deliver safe, open, accessible and inclusive street events for 2025.' Mr Lankester said: ''The street events are world-class and vital to the vibrant atmosphere in Edinburgh each August. 'They are an essential, iconic and unique part of what Edinburgh offers its visitors and residents and the Fringe Society is committed to making sure this remains true. 'This year we have attracted some public funding to help us deliver the project, and the work of deepening the pool of funders continues. 'We're having some good conversations with local businesses who want to ensure that the energy the project brings to the streets is retained. 'Once this summer is behind us, we urge everyone with an interest in keeping street events thriving to put their heads together to find ways of making the project sustainable, and to be an ongoing part of the summer experience in Edinburgh.' Margaret Graham, the city council's culture convener, said: 'We're proud to host the world's best and largest collection of arts festivals, and the Fringe is an important part of this. 'In recognition of and support for its enduring importance, the Council provides significant grant funding to the Fringe Society. 'The new Fringe HQ in Infirmary Street has been a collaboration between the council and the Fringe Society. This is in addition to considerable operational support from officers to help stage the event, from street management to public safety. 'All of this is in close partnership with event organisers, and I'm pleased that we have such a good working relationship. The recent formation of a festivals leadership group is helping to shape a shared vision for the future of Edinburgh's Festivals, which bring so much to the city.' A spokesperson for the Scottish Government agency EventScotland confirmed discussions were still ongoing with the Fringe Society over potential support for the street events.