‘Artificial sun’ sets record after achieving temperature seven times hotter than sun’s core
- An artificial sun has hit temperatures seven times hotter than the sun’s core
- It did it using nuclear fusion inside a reactor
- Researchers were able to sustain a temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius.
Published on Apr 04, 2024 at 11:38 AM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Apr 04, 2024 at 2:13 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
A nuclear fusion reactor has acted as an artificial sun – and then some – as it created temperatures seven times hotter than the sun’s core.
The experiment was conducted by scientists in South Korea, from the KSTAR Research Center at the Korean Institute of Fusion Energy.
And it proved a new world record as the team of researchers were able to sustain a temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius.
READ MORE! Supercar Blondie launches SBX Cars: the first global auction platform for luxury vehicles
The artificial sun works via nuclear fusion and the tests conducted between December 2023 and February 2024 have eclipsed the previous 2021 record.
The breakthrough is thought to be a huge leap towards new energy technologies.
And nuclear energy is having a moment, with news of this supersonic nuclear-powered plane that would fly from London to New York in 80 minutes.
In case you’re wondering, nuclear fusion is a naturally occurring phenomenon that is essential for making celestial bodies like suns and stars, shine.
It happens when two atoms fuse together, releasing energy – and scientists have been able to replicate it.
It’s thought to be a limitless source of ‘clean’ and non-polluting energy.
The team believes that heating hydrogen is vital for the future of the technology.
It creates plasma, enabling reactions to occur for longer.
China has also been attempting to develop similar technologies.
“[This] has not been easy to demonstrate due to the unstable nature of the high-temperature plasma,” Si-Woo Yoon, director of the KSTAR Research Center at the Korean Institute of Fusion Energy (KFE), said to CNN.
He believes the research will be ‘of great help to advance the commercialization of fusion energy’.
However, Si-Woo Yoon and his team at KFE were finally able to get the nuclear-fusion research device to the record-breaking heat levels they’d been aiming for.
The plasma produced by the artificial sun held a temperature of 100 million degrees for 48 seconds up from 30 seconds in 2021.
It’s believed that tweaking the ‘diverter’ material from carbon to tungsten was key.
Scientists hope to achieve the 300-second mark by 2026.
This, Yoon believes, will be a ‘critical point’ for the tech’s scalability.
He hopes their work will help secure the predicted performance in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) operation by the deadline.
Further afield, Rolls-Royce is developing a nuclear reactor to power rockets and mine the Moon and Mars.
Some of the images in this article were created using AI.
DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie
All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”
