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In Japan, solar fusion is replicated at 100 million °C in a vast helix.

After the disappointing outcome of the Copenhagen talks last year, finding long-term solutions to the energy crisis became even more urgent. At the Large Helical Device in Toki, 300km south-west of Tokyo, physicists are attempting to replicate solar fusion on Earth.

Intertwined superconducting coils, cooled by liquid helium to -269°C, produce a three-tesla magnetic field. This can hold a plasma of hydrogen nuclei - at 100 million °C, five times hotter than the Sun's core -- in the empty space between the coils.

At such temperatures, hydrogen atoms fuse, releasing energy. Currently the energy required to do this is higher than that generated, but future experiments should produce a surplus. Don't forget to unplug before heading to bed.

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