The most powerful magnet ever made on earth

A team of MIT researchers successfully tested a high-temperature superconducting magnet, breaking the world record for the most powerful magnetic field strength ever produced. Reaching 20 Tesla, this magnet could prove to be the key to unlocking nuclear fusion, and providing clean, Carbon-free energy to the world.

Nuclear fusion only occurs at immensely high temperatures – the plasma must reach temperatures that would melt or destroy any material that humans could think to build a reactor out of. The solution, proposed, is to contain the plasma without letting it touch anything. A strong magnetic field can do just that, creating an artificial ‘bottle’ in which nuclear fusion can occur.

The most common shape for one of these magnetic bottles is a donut-like object known as a tokamak. MIT scientists hope to arrange their powerful new magnets into a tokamak reactor, and in doing so produce net-positive nuclear fusion (fusion that produces more energy than it uses) by 2025.

The team, surpassed their competitors by applying a new superconducting material to the magnets: a high-temperature superconductor. This material is applied as a ribbon-like tape, allows them to create a much stronger magnetic field in a much smaller space.

The ultimate goal is to decarbonize the power grid, slowing down climate change and reducing the output of greenhouse gases. If they succeed at that, it will have been worth it.