Years ago, hydrogen fusion was promised as the answer to all our energy problems. There is a famous joke among scientists: The practical use of the fusion of hydrogen atoms to produce energy is only 20 or 30 years in the future — and always will be. The magnets are needed to generate and contain the extreme temperatures necessary to fuse atomic nuclei and to produce energy without the harmful environmental effects of today’s technologies. A smaller fusion experiment, called Sparc, is being designed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It will rely on smaller, stronger magnets, which in theory will reduce the amount of energy needed to produce short but powerful bursts of heat.

Source: New York Times January 11, 2019 22:41 UTC