In 1920 Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington conjectured that “fusion” of light nuclei to form heavier nuclei is the power source of the sun and stars. He also conjectured that one day humans would harness his energy source to power our lives. Fusion is not easy — it requires that the fuel (in the form of a plasma) be heated to temperatures in excess of a hundred million degrees. This talk discusses the physics of fusion and the various methods proposed for obtaining the requisite temperatures. The Joint European Torus experiment in the UK has achieved considerable levels of fusion power — 16 megawatts. Now the world is building ITER — a fusion device that is predicted to reach a self sustained fusion burn.

Professor Steve Cowley, President of Corpus Christi College at the University of Oxford, speaking to students at the 39th Professor Harry Messel International Science School, ISS2017: Future Power — The University of Sydney, Australia, July 2017.

Steve's second talk at ISS2017:    • Fusion Energy (Part II) — Prof. Steve...  
The entire ISS2017 playlist:    • ISS2017: Future Power  

For more about the ISS: http://sydney.edu.au/science/iss
Steve's web page: http://www.ccfe.ac.uk/researcher_deta...