Hold a 150,000,000 °C gas in a magnetic donut. Try not to drop it.
Fusion is the process of combining two or more light atomic nuclei to form a single heavier nucleus, which releases a massive amount of energy. It powers the Sun and every star.
Since the 1950s, scientists have been trying to recreate it on Earth as a source of clean, carbon-free energy. For decades it was a running joke: “always 30 years away”. Now it’s a fast-moving industrial race.