CHINA’S ARTIFICIAL SUN REACHES FUSION TEMPERATURES THRICE THAT OF THE REAL SUN
Thursday, November 15, 2018 IST
At 100 million °C, the reactor attained the minimum temperature needed for sustained nuclear fusion.
Researchers from China's Hefei Institutes of Physical Sciences announced that China’s ‘artificial sun’ just became the hottest known nuclear fusion experiment on Earth — literally, with the plasma reaching 100 million degrees Celsius.
For some perspective, our solar system’s real Sun is only about 15 million degrees Celsius in comparison.
While that comparison in itself is mind-blowing, the temperature also has another important significance for nuclear energy researchers: 100 million degrees Celsius is thought to be the minimum temperature needed for self-sustaining nuclear fusion on Earth.
The artificial Sun (not to be confused with the 'artificial moons' China intends to send up to space soon), is a popular name given to one of the most promising nuclear fusion experiments to date. Designed to replicate the process our Sun uses to generate energy, researchers set up the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) fusion reactor in 2006.
A ‘Tokamak’ is a reactor design that resembles a donut — a donut that generates powerful magnetic forces to contain unimaginably hot plasma inside the reactor during nuclear fusion. The walls of a tokamak are built to absorb the massive amounts of heat from the continuous splitting of atoms in the reactor’s core.
The process of nuclear fusion, where two hydrogen atoms combine in a reaction that produces an enormous amount of energy, is often called the ‘great white whale’ of global energy. Nuclear reactors like EAST are a means to exactly that: an almost infinite supply of energy that is clean.
One of the few hurdles to unleashing nuclear fusion as an energy source is sustaining the fusion reaction for longer than a handful of minutes. The longest recorded reaction is was at the Tore Supra tokamak in France (also known as WEST), for 6 minutes and 30 seconds in 2003.
Between the records set by EAST and WEST, could the world have an artificial Sun lighting up our homes at night in a few years?
Related Topics
Trending News & Articles
ALMATY: Hour upon hour, day upon day, Omir Bekali and other detainees in far western China's new indoctrination camps had to disavow the...
Recently posted . 223K views . 1 min read
If you have payed attention to the belly buttons of people on the beach or the members of your family, you have probably noticed that they have different shapes and...
Recently posted . 10K views . 2 min read
The Langya henipavirus has a place with a similar group of infections, including Nipah, which is known to kill up to 3/4 of people in extreme cases.
Recently posted . 6K views . 1 min read
Queen's death: The eldest of her four children, Charles, Prince of Wales, who at 73 was the oldest heir apparent in British history, became king immediately...
Recently posted . 6K views . 1 min read
More in Global
This comes just a few months after authorities launched an investigation into J&J's Baby Powder to see if it contains cancer-causing asbestos.
Recently posted. 924 views . 1 min read
A video of the drama shows the descending escalator at Repubblica station suddenly and dramatically pick up speed with dozens of people on it, many screaming as t...
Recently posted. 1K views . 1 min read
Paris: France turned off extremely popular lights of the notable Eiffel Tower on Wednesday as a signal of solidarity with regular citizens in Aleppo where renewed f...
Recently posted. 851 views . 14 min read
Recently posted . 1K views
Recently posted . 1K views
Recently posted . 2K views
Recently posted . 2K views
Recently posted . 4K views . 67 min read
Recently posted . 4K views . 140 min read
Italy was unlucky in being hit hardest first in Europe. Its neighbors, and the U.S., should have learned from its missteps.
&...
Recently posted. 1K views . 1 min read
Harder for some, more straightforward for other people, our satisfaction controls our standpoint towards life. Look at these tips to remember to assist with remaini...
Recently posted. 888 views . 1 min read