MIT's Fusion Reactor Broke a World Record Right Before the Feds Shut It Off

Interior of the Alcator C-Mod fusion reactor at MIT, which was shut off on September 30th. Image: Bob Mumgaard/Plasma Science and Fusion Center/MIT

MIT’s fusion program has fallen on hard times, but that hasn’t stopped it from smashing world records and keeping the dream of limitless, carbon-free energy alive. At an International Atomic Energy Agency summit in Japan this week, researchers involved with MIT’s Alcator C-Mod tokamak reactor announced that their machine had generated the highest plasma pressure ever recorded.

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