© 2025 All Rights reserved WUSF
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Our daily newsletter, delivered first thing weekdays, keeps you connected to your community with news, culture, national NPR headlines, and more.

What Does It Take To Produce Nuclear Fusion — In Your Garage?

Part 2 of the TED Radio Hour episode Amateur Hour.

About Taylor Wilson's TED Talk

Taylor Wilson is a self-taught nuclear physicist who sees every obstacle as a challenge. He describes how — at age 14 — he built a working nuclear fusion reactor in his garage.

About Taylor Wilson

Taylor Wilson astounded the science world when, at age 14, he became the youngest person in history to produce fusion. Wilson went on to develop a simple and cheap homemade radiation detector that detects dirty bombs coming into U.S. ports.

In 2012, Wilson's dreams received a boost when he became a recipient of the $100,000 Thiel Prize. He intends to use nuclear technology to revolutionize the way we produce energy, fight cancer and combat terrorism.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Tags
NPR/TED STAFF
You Count on Us, We Count on You: Donate to WUSF to support free, accessible journalism for yourself and the community.