China builds world's largest 582-tonne magnet for 'Artificial sun' project
China has pulled off a major science win by building the world's largest fusion reactor magnet, a 582-tonne D-shaped giant designed for its "Artificial Sun" fusion project.
This massive coil, created by the Institute of Plasma Physics in Hefei, will be used in the BEST reactor and help take fusion energy experiments to a new level.
Sixteen magnets will stabilize reactor plasma
This super-magnet is key to holding plasma at over 100 million degrees Celsius (yes, hotter than the Sun's core) inside the reactor.
16 of these magnets will work together to keep things stable so scientists can try to recreate how stars make energy.
The plan? Finish building by 2027 and demonstrate fusion-based electricity generation around 2030.
If it works, it could change how we power our world: clean electricity, without the long-lived radioactive waste associated with conventional nuclear power plants, and just pure science fiction turned real.