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How close are we to powering the world with nuclear fusion? - George Zaidan

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Earth School

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Stars have cores hot and dense enough to force atomic nuclei together, forming larger, heavier nuclei in a process known as fusion. In this process, the mass of the end products is slightly less than the mass of the initial atoms. But that “lost” mass doesn’t disappear — it’s converted to energy ... a lot of energy. So, can we harness this energy to power the world? George Zaidan investigates.

What is the biggest hurdle for achieving commercially viable fusion energy?

Watch the video and finish the Think section to complete the lesson.

About Earth School

We can save the world. Speed and Scale shows us how to unlock a cleaner, healthier and safer future by laying out a roadmap that will get us to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. How’s it going to work? We need to electrify transportation, decarbonize the grid, fix food, protect nature, clean up industry and remove carbon. To learn how we’re going to do all that - and to learn how you can take action now - explore this page.

Meet The Creators

  • Video created by TED-Ed
  • Lesson Plan created by TED Ed

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