China’s 'artificial sun' sets new world record

BEIJING: China claims to have set a new world record when scientists managed to keep their 'artificial sun' running for more than 100 seconds at a very high temperature.

In its most recent experiment, China's Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) generated a plasma temperature of 126 million Fahrenheit (120 million C) for 101 seconds.

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The scientists did not just stop there. They were also able to get the apparatus, the device to achieve 160 million degrees Celsius for 20 seconds.

The previous record for maintaining plasma temperature for 100 seconds was 180 million degrees Fahrenheit (100 million degrees Celsius).

According the sources, the device which is based at the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, reportedly smashed the previous record for maintaining a plasma temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius for 100 seconds.

The EAST is one of many 'artificial sun' devices in development at the moment. Experiments are underway to produce unlimited clean energy via controlled nuclear fusion.

"The breakthrough is tremendous development," said Li Miao, director of the physics department at Shenzhen's Southern University of Science and Technology, "and the ultimate goal should be sustaining the temperature at a stable level for a long time."

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The EAST project is now a part of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, which is one of the world's largest scientific collaborations ever.

Up to 35 countries are now cooperating on a project to harness nuclear fission and achieved plasma temperatures of more than 100 million Celsius.

China isn't the only country with a high plasma temperature.

The KSTAR reactor in Korea achieved a record in 2020 by maintaining a plasma temperature of over 100 million Celsius for 20 seconds.

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