High school student achieves fusion in basement

Thiago Olson, a seventeen year old boy from Michigan, USA, has been added to the sparse ranks of those that have achieved fusion reactions in their basement. Inspired by a website on amateur fusion, he constructed a fusor apparatus over the course of two years time, using used laboratory equipment and cheaply-acquired parts.

In the article he wrote on his work, entitled "Neutron activation analysis using an inertial electrostatic confinement fusion device," he concludes "My apparatus does not produce more energy then I put in — that's never been done, and if someone can figure it out, they'll be set. My research with the fusor has just started." Read more in the Financial Times here.