China has built an artificial sun, hotter than the sun, and has now broken the world record with it. This can apparently be an answer to the almost endless supply of clean energy.
China’s “artificial sun” project sustained a nuclear fusion response for more than 17 minutes. In the latest experiment, overheated plasma reached 126 million degrees Fahrenheit. It is about five times warmer than the sun, which radiates a scorching 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit at the surface and about 27 million degrees Fahrenheit at its core.
Artificial sun
Coal and natural gas are the primary energy sources currently used around the world, but these materials come in limited supply. Nuclear fusion can be the cleanest energy source available because it repeats the sun’s physics by fusing atomic nuclei to generate large amounts of energy in electricity. The process requires no fossil fuels, leaves no radioactive waste behind, and is a safer alternative to nuclear fission.
China’s experimental advanced superconducting Tokamak (EAST) is designed to possibly be used as an almost unlimited supply of clean energy on earth.
However, keeping plasma at such intense temperatures without leakage has proven to be extremely challenging. Scientists have been working for more than 70 years to harness energy from nuclear fusion. Furthermore, an experimental tokamak reactor that produces more energy than it uses has never been created, but China’s success with EAST suggests that researchers are approaching to use cosmic power sustainably.
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