China's 'artificial sun' machine has set a new world record.
Yes, you read that correctly: the country has a huge device that has been able to generate a plasma temperature of 160 million degrees Celsius for 20 seconds in the past.
Pretty impressive if you ask us.
But now, the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) has managed to achieve a new height of innovation.
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According to Global Times, the EAST performed a 'high power, stable, steady-state long-pulse high confinement mode plasma operation' for a whopping 403 seconds.
This absolutely obliterates the previous record held by the machine, which is located in the city of Hefei in eastern China.
The old record was set in 2017 and the plasma operation only lasted for 101 seconds, according to the South China Morning Post.
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Chinese state news agency Xinhua says this achievement means researchers have a great foundation in making fusion reactors even better.
Song Yuntao, director of the Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said in a statement: "The main significance of this new breakthrough lies in its ‘high-confinement mode’, under which the temperature and density of the plasma increase significantly."
The EAST is one of several ‘artificial sun’ devices being tinkered with as countries try to become the first to produce a reliable nuclear fusion reactor.
Nuclear fusion is what happens on our actual sun and it's what gives off its immense heat.
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What happens in these devices is that hydrogen atoms get heated to more than 100 million degrees Celsius and then they're held there for as long as possible.
During this time, the atoms can develop into heavier atoms, which releases loads of energy.
It's hoped that one day scientists can harness that energy and give it to the masses.
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The Global Times says the raw materials needed to operate these artificial suns 'are almost unlimited on earth', which means we could have endless amounts of energy and move away from fossil fuels.
The EAST has done 120,000 experiments since it was developed in 2006.
When it set the record for burning at 160 million degrees Celsuis back in 2021, it was a hell of a lot hotter than our actual sun.
That celestial body only burns a casual 15 million degrees, so the EAST is one hot beast.
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Song Yuntao says they worked day and night for a week to achieve this latest feat and says it's 'a big step forward for our team in terms of fundamental physics research, fusion engineering, and project operation and maintenance'.
Topics: Technology, China
Stewart Perrie