Most kids and teens will play video games or with action figures when they want to relax in their room.
But 12-year-old Jackson Oswalt, from Memphis, Tennessee, USA, had something else in mind:
“One day I had a sudden epiphany,” he said. “I realized that I could be the absolute best at whatever videogame, but in the end it still wouldn't mean much. In the grand scheme of things, videogames had no role to play.
“So, I changed my ways. Immediately I switched to the closest thing to videogames in real life: science.”
Do you agree with Jackson? 👀
Jackson’s hard work paid off in 2018, when at just 12 years old, he became the youngest person to achieve nuclear fusion. 😮
But what he never expected was… a visit from the FBI!
🔎 But what is nuclear fusion?
It is what happens when tiny atoms (usually hydrogen) smash together under extreme heat and pressure, releasing a huge amount of energy – just like how the sun makes its power!
Inspired by the story of Taylor Wilson, who built a nuclear fusion reactor as a teenager, Jackson believed in himself and that he could too accomplish such a task at his young age.
So, he started watching physics videos on YouTube and researching the materials he would need to complete his attempt at the power source – at only 11 years old!
Believing in yourself is SO important. 💪
Jackson shopped on eBay and found the materials he needed for the first step of his plan, a ‘demo fuser,’ which creates plasma but doesn’t achieve fusion.
He then brought the device to his school’s science fair after finishing it the night before, and even though it delightfully shocked (and confused) the room, Jackson knew he needed to work harder to achieve his goal…
So after many modifications – and about a full YEAR of testing – Jackson successfully achieved fusion!
And because he did it at 1:30 p.m., just 2 hours before his birth time of 3:38 p.m., he was technically 12 years old, so he also broke a world record. 😎
So what about the FBI?
Well, one day Jackson was woken up by 2 FBI agents, who made a sweep of his house with a special gadget that made sure there was no radiation detected from Jackson’s experiments. 👮
“Fortunately I remained a free man,” he said.
What a cool story. 😂
