China was able to light an 'artificial sun' for 403 seconds, almost four times the previous world record

Chinese scientists continue to work on an 'artificial sun'. The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) fusion reactor was able to set a new world record for the duration of high-temperature plasma support.

Here's What We Know

"China's 'artificial sun' was able to run for 403 seconds in yet another test. The previous world record was only 101 seconds.

The new device is not yet ready to reveal the data of its experiments. So far, the experts have kept secret both the reactor's operating mode and the temperature it was able to achieve. The type of plasma is also not specified.

It is believed that scientists were able to heat electrons in the plasma to a temperature of 120 million degrees Celsius. It was this bar that was taken when the reactor held the temperature for 101 seconds. Previously, EAST had held heated to 70 million degrees Celsius and to 160 million degrees Celsius electron plasma for 1,056 and 20 seconds respectively.

The world record for holding ion plasma belongs to the South Korean reactor KSTAR - 100 million degrees Celsius for 30 seconds. It is worth noting that the heating of ions in plasma is a prerequisite for starting a fusion reaction.

For this, the temperature of the ion plasma must exceed 100 million degrees Celsius. As ions are heavier than electrons, it takes almost 100% more energy to heat them up.

Source: scmp