China’s “Artificial Sun” Sets Fusion World Record For Longest Time At Plasma Temperature

China’s “artificial sun” fusion tokamak has just broken the world record for the longest period of time achieving a plasma temperature, maintaining an intense 120 million degrees Celsius (216 million degrees Fahrenheit) for 101 seconds, as well as a whopping 160 million degrees Celsius for 20 seconds. Although nuclear fusion reactors are still in their infancy, maintaining these temperatures for increasing lengths of time pushes the field further into its eventual goal of near-unlimited energy. 

The announcement was made by China’s state-affiliated media outlet the Global Times, revealing the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) had broken the fusion record, which was originally held by the…