What's happening?

The Sun is a huge nuclear reactor. Under extreme pressure and heat, it makes energy by fusingJoining together into one thing. together a gas called hydrogen. This is called nuclear fusion.

Scientists are trying to copy this reaction. They think if we could create our own small version of the sun here on Earth, we could have endless energy to power the world.

Last week, scientists in China made a big step forward in the race to make a fake sun.

People around the world are excited. If it works, one day we could power the world without having to burn fossil fuelsFuels made from decomposing plants and animals, including coal, natural gas and oil. These fuels release carbon dioxide, causing global warming. and release greenhouse gasesGreenhouse gases, which increase the atmosphere's capacity to hold heat, are vital to life on Earth: without them the planet would be freezing. But human activity is disturbing the delicate balance that created the conditions for life as we know it. Carbon dioxide is responsible for 60% of the manmade greenhouse effect, but we also produce smaller quantities of methane, ozone and nitrous oxide, which are even more damaging., which cause global warmingThe Earth is getting hotter due to climate change..

There would be other benefitsThe upsides of something., too. With endless power, countries would not go to war over fuel and no one would live without energy because they could not afford it.

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And most say that nuclear fusion is much safer than another form of nuclear power, nuclear fission, which is used today to make energy.

But scientists point out that nuclear fusion is very difficult. It needs temperatures ten times hotter than the Sun and powerful lasers and magnets to control it. All of this is very expensiveCosts a lot of money. .

Some fear it may never be possible to have a "fake sun" that makes the world's energy.

Yes! Fusion will be the hardest thing we have ever done. But the amazing benefits mean scientists will work to make it a reality.

No! Fusion is a dream, not a reality. It is better to focus on clean energy options that already exist, such as wind and solarTo do with the sun. power.