When German scientists announced that their new stellarator device had achieved a breakthrough in plasma confinement, some described it as building a “cage to tame the sun” in the laboratory. This device, named Stellaris, uses a mesh of magnetic fields woven from high-temperature superconducting materials to firmly lock in plasma at a temperature of 150 million degrees Celsius – this breakthrough not only means that humanity is one step closer to ultimate energy, but also signals that the energy revolution has shifted from a glimmer in the laboratory to a visible dawn.
Germany’s artificial sun: a milestone in the commercialization of nuclear fusion
The breakthrough in high-temperature superconducting magnets has completely changed the game for stellarators. Traditional devices require the entire power output of a nuclear power plant to maintain the magnetic field, while the new ytterbium-barium-copper-oxide superconducting material exhibits perfect diamagnetism at liquid nitrogen temperatures, reducing energy consumption by 90%. Even more astonishingly, engineers used deep reinforcement learning algorithms to find the optimal magnetic field configuration in just 47 iterations – equivalent to compressing a design cycle that originally took 20 years into 3 months. The AI system’s ability to quickly locate optimal solutions in a sea of parameters is like installing a navigation system for nuclear fusion research, making the once perplexing “magnetic cage weaving technique” that troubled scientists for half a century traceable.
Facing the goal of achieving net energy output by 2031, the “three-pronged approach” adopted by the German government is profound. Government laboratories are responsible for basic research, companies like Siemens Energy lead engineering conversion, and the startup Proxima Fusion focuses on superconducting material innovation. This layered collaboration mechanism not only ensures the robustness of the technological path but also preserves space for disruptive innovation. The latest simulations show that when the device is scaled up to a demonstration power plant level, the Q-value (energy gain coefficient) can reach 12.7, meaning that for every 1 kWh of electricity input, nearly 13 kWh of fusion energy can be obtained. However, challenges remain: further breakthroughs in materials science are still needed to maintain the structural stability of the tungsten divertor under continuous neutron bombardment.
The ripples of this energy revolution are reshaping the world’s landscape. With Saudi Arabia announcing the suspension of an oil and gas field expansion to invest in the Mediterranean Fusion Research Alliance, cracks have emerged in the traditional energy system. Calculations by the German Environment Ministry indicate that if fusion power generation is commercialized by 2035, the EU’s carbon neutrality goals could be achieved seven years ahead of schedule. The more profound impact lies in the reconstruction of the energy geopolitical landscape – countries that master fusion technology will break free from their dependence on fossil energy pathways, which may explain why Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan recently urgently increased its investment in the stellarator project.
Superconducting Computer
On the other side of the globe, the EAST device in Hefei, China, has formed a fascinating technological resonance with the German stellarator. Recent progress made by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in the field of superconducting quantum computing has unexpectedly provided a new tool for fusion research: a 128-qubit computer that simulates plasma turbulence with an efficiency 600 times greater than that of traditional supercomputers. This collaborative innovation reveals a deep-seated pattern – when humanity reaches a certain critical point in basic scientific fields, technological breakthroughs often exhibit “chain reaction” characteristics. Just as the Wright brothers’ airplane inspired the development of aerodynamics, fusion research is now driving accelerated evolution in fields such as superconducting materials and artificial intelligence.
Standing before the dazzling plasma halo in the laboratory, we see not only the dance of microscopic particles but also the collective will of a civilization striving to break free from the shackles of energy. When German engineers fine-tune the precision of magnetic field coils to one ten-thousandth of a human hair, and when Chinese scientists weave digital twins of plasma between quantum bits, these seemingly isolated technological breakthroughs are, in fact, the steps humanity is collectively building towards the creation of an “artificial sun.” Perhaps it won’t be long before the cities are lit up at night no longer by burning fossil fuels, but by the fire of stars tamed by magnetic fields.
