China fusion breakthrough: Artificial sun burns for record 17 minutes

Xiang Gao, Yao Yang, Tao Zhang, Haiqing Liu, Guoqiang Li, Tingfeng Ming, Zixi Liu, Yumin Wang, Long Zeng, Xiang Han et al., CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A tiny star burned in China for nearly 18 minutes. Scientists at the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) reactor in Hefei have sustained a fusion reaction for 1,066 seconds — more than doubling their previous record of 403 seconds.

The achievement brings humanity closer to harnessing the same power that fuels our sun. Unlike current nuclear power plants that split atoms, fusion merges hydrogen atoms at temperatures reaching 150 million degrees Celsius — hotter than the sun's core. Just one gram of fusion fuel contains the energy equivalent of 11 tons of coal, with virtually no radioactive waste.