What does it take to create fusion power and how will the world look once achieved?
The process that powers our sun was still a mystery about 100 years ago. Bit by bit, scientists have worked out that the fusion of hydrogen at a star’s core can generate enough power to keep it shining for billions of years.
Now, armed with this knowledge, researchers around the world are trying to figure out if we can recreate that fusion process here on Earth. (And yes, trying to kickstart fusion—and then contain superheated plasmas that reach temperatures up to 100 million degrees Celsius—is just as hard as it sounds.)
If scientists can pull it off, the payoff could be huge: A deep understanding of stellar physics could one day lead to a virtually unlimited supply of clean energy. To discover just how, Dr. Alok Patel hears from an astrophysicist and a fusion scientist.
Complete podcast is available at NOVA PBS Official
NOVA Now Universe Revealed is a production of GBH and PRX. It’s produced by: Terence Bernardo Jennie Cataldo Ari Daniel Caitlin Faulds Jocelyn Gonzales
Julia Cort and Chris Schmidt are the co-Executive Producers of NOVA Sukee Bennett is Senior Digital Editor Christina Monnen is Associate Researcher Robin Kazmier is Science Editor Robert Boyd is Digital Associate Producer Shyla Duff is Digital Video Intern And Devin Maverick Robins is Managing Producer of Podcasts at GBH
Thanks to our guests Hakeem Oluseyi, author of A Quantum Life, and Dennis Whyte, director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center. © WGBH Educational Foundation 202