Latest News

  • Home
  • Global
  • CHINA’S ARTIFICIAL SUN REACHES FUSION TEMPERATURES THRICE THAT OF THE REAL SUN
CHINA’S ARTIFICIAL SUN REACHES FUSION TEMPERATURES THRICE THAT OF THE REAL SUN
15 November 2018 IST
CHINA’S ARTIFICIAL SUN REACHES FUSION TEMPERATURES THRICE THAT OF THE REAL SUN

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

 Article
'Worse than prison': A rare look inside China's detention camps to 'brainwash' Muslims

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 . 178K views . 1 min read
 

 Article
What The Shape Of Your Belly Button Says About Your Health

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 . 6K views . 2 min read
 

 Article
Top 10 Best Gym Equipment Brands in India 2018

Body fitness is one thing that everyone wants to maintain irrespective of age. Going to the gym and doing some great exercise always helps to maintain your body fit...

Recently posted . 3K views . 2 min read
 

 Article
Top 10 Horrifying Acts of Chemical Warfare and Gas Attacks

In this age of terror, there might be nothing more terrifying than the thought of an attack carried out with chemical weapons. We’ve all heard the horrific ...

Recently posted . 3K views . 4 min read
 

 
 

More in Global

 Article
Frozen Feline: A Cat Who Was Found Frozen In The Snow Recovers As Ice Thaws

A cat called Fluffy in Monatana, who had almost froze to death after she was stuck in a gutter while it snowed, made a recovery as the ice thawed off her after she ...

Recently posted. 731 views . 1 min read
 

 Article
Who is Abdelaziz Bouteflika?

The rise and fall of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika who had a tight grip on the country with support from the military and the intelligence establishment f...

Recently posted. 593 views . 1 min read
 

 Article
Swachh Bharat Reaches London As Indians Clean Up The Mess Left Behind By Pakistani Protesters

The Indian community in the UK has sent a strong message of perseverance and standing by the cause of the nation in the face of turmoil as they joined hands in clea...

Recently posted. 690 views . 2 min read
 

 Photo
7 Largest And Deepest Holes On Earth



Recently posted . 1K views
 

 Reviews
The Best 5 Hiking Backpacks in India – Reviews & Buying Guide



Recently posted . 838 views . 140 min read
 

 Article
Frenchman Dies While Having Sex On Office Trip, Court Says "Workplace Accident"

The man, identified as M Xavier, was travelling for his employer when he suffered a heart attack while having sex with a "complete stranger" and died....

Recently posted. 494 views . 1 min read
 

 Article
Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin’s son arrested by NIA in terror funding case

The National Investigating Agency on Tuesday arrested Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin’s son Syed Shahid Yusuf in connection with a terror funding in J...

Recently posted. 521 views . 6 min read
 

 
 
 

   Prashnavali

  Thought of the Day

Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all is a form of planning.
Gloria Steinem

Be the first one to comment on this story

Close
Post Comment
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST


ads
Back To Top