A 12-year-old achieved nuclear fusion at home using equipment purchased on eBay.

Jackson Oswalt from Memphis, Tennessee, USA, achieved nuclear fusion just hours before his 13th birthday, all while working in his room. This was reported by the Guinness World Records.

Jackson became the youngest person to accomplish nuclear fusion—a process that involves isolating two or more atomic nuclei before fusing them under immense pressure and heat to form one or more atomic nuclei and neutrons. The end result is the release or absorption of energy, which is why this technology is often associated with power sources.

To understand how to do this, Jackson watched physics videos on YouTube and researched the materials he would need to complete his attempt to create an energy source.

Jackson shopped on eBay and found the materials necessary for the first step of his plan—a "demonstration thermonuclear reactor" that creates plasma but does not achieve thermonuclear fusion.

He brought the device to the school science fair, finishing it the night before, and while he shocked the audience, Jackson knew that more work was needed to achieve his ultimate vision.

His repairs included restoring the vacuum chamber, purchasing a turbo molecular pump on eBay, repairing a melted tantalum inner grid, and sourcing deuterium for fuel.

After these modifications—and about a year of experimentation—Jackson successfully achieved thermonuclear fusion. Since Jackson accomplished this at 1:30 PM, just two hours before his birth at 3:38 PM, he was technically 12 years old, which also earned him a title from the Guinness World Records for his work.

The FBI Came for the Teen

One Saturday, Jackson was awakened by two FBI agents who searched his home with a Geiger counter to ensure there was no radiation from Jackson's experiments.

"Fortunately, I remained a free person," the teenager said.

After Jackson's achievements were mentioned in the news, he began receiving invitations for tours of energy startups across the country, and he even visited a fission power plant to see the technology in action.

Today, he is working on equipment for research laboratories as well as other new projects related to artificial intelligence.

As a reminder, physicists have unraveled the mystery of nuclear fusion.