Guest blog by Sophia Famular
What’s the first thing you think of when you hear “solar energy”? A solar panel. “Wind power”; a windmill. Both these terms conjure an image in your mind. Correct? What about “fusion energy”? What do you picture? Unless you possess a vast knowledge of plasma physics or work within the fusion industry, not much comes to mind, right?
In fact, fusion is one of the most promising sources of renewable energy that scientists have discovered. It is a source of energy with zero carbon emissions, something we need in a world dealing with climate change. A fusion reactor involves accelerating two particles to the point that they fuse together and become one particle. This produces an enormous amount of power, far above that of solar or wind energy, and it can be produced using abundant natural resources like seawater. The problem is, it has no image associated with it, no immediate visualization in the minds of the general public.
What if you heard the name “Doctor Octopus” or “The Flash”? Sound familiar? These are characters from popular science fiction franchises like Spiderman and The Flash. In science fiction, we are often witness to futuristic sciences like time travel, parallel universes, and advanced alien technology. It turns out that fusion energy was once one of those futuristic sciences featured in popular science fiction.
Take Doctor Octopus, for example, or Doc Ock, as he’s more fondly known by Spiderman fans. In his origin story, where he unwillingly obtained the tentacles that made him Doc Ock, there was a fusion machine. Doctor Otto Octavius was attempting to create a power source like the sun to fuel the world. This type of machine is exactly how a real-life fusion device works; it creates a star. The sun is a star.
Think of our sun, a star. In space, the energy stars produce is so bright that we can see them from down on earth. Try to imagine the massive amount of energy it would take to produce that amount of light. Stars are a phenomenon that, until recently, we had yet to achieve on earth. You might remember learning about the three states of matter in a middle school science class. There is solid, liquid, and gas. However, fusion strives to achieve a fourth state of matter called plasma. Plasma is even hotter than gas and much more powerful. Stars are made of plasma. Fusion makes it possible to create a star on earth, which, as you could imagine, produces an unimaginable mass of energy.
For Flash fans out there, you know that the whole Flash world was a result of the STAR Labs particle accelerator reaction. This is yet another example of a fusion machine. To create a star by fusing two atoms together, those atoms need to be moving pretty fast, thus the need for a “particle accelerator.” One of the characters from Flash, called FIRESTORM, is a living, breathing fused organism. FIRESTORM is the super-powered human produced as a result of fusing two humans together. In Flash, FIRESTORM or “the burning man” can fly and shoot fire. While fusion would never be used to fuse people together in reality, imagining this character allows you to picture fusion.
From this particle accelerator reaction in the Flash world we get to witness the adventures of meta-human powers like superspeed, controlling the weather, or traveling through mirrors. Of course, these powers have yet to reach our earth, but think of the power of the machine that created them. This machine produced the energy to fundamentally alter people and give them superpowers. While superpowers are not the goal of an actual fusion reactor, the energy required to create meta-humans is not far off from the energy a real-life fusion machine can achieve.
So don’t think of these machines or phenomena as new, or unheard of, because you have imagined them. Often we think that these new scientific advancements are so far beyond the scope of reality that they belong in science fiction and graphic novels. We cannot understand them, let alone support them. But we are surrounded by futuristic ideas in the media all the time; think of autonomous vehicles, virtual reality, or CRISPR. So, you are already well-versed in the idea of a sun machine or a particle accelerator. All you have to do is watch a sci-fi show or look at the websites affiliated with ITER or the Fusion Industry Association. All you have to do is imagine the sun or any other star that you see up in the sky at night and you are looking at fusion. The future is already upon us.
Sophia Famular is an Engineering Student at Carnegie Mellon University
Works Cited
Bergan, Brad. “Nuclear Fusion Is No Longer Science Fiction.” IE, Interesting Engineering, 27 Apr. 2021
“Fusion Reactor.” Spider
“Nuclear Fusion Basics.” IAEA, IAEA, 7 Oct. 2010
“Ronnie Raymond.” Arrowverse Wiki