How I built a nuclear reactor at the age of 13 | Jamie Edwards | TEDxCERN
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ต.ค. 2014
- This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. What does it take to build a nuclear reactor? Jamie Edwards started out on his journey at age 13 to beat Taylor Wilson’s record of being the youngest person to achieve nuclear fusion. He tells of the obstacles he faced as a young schoolboy while trying to achieve his dream, such as trying to convince his headmaster to order deuterium on ebay.
At 13 years old, Jamie Edwards attempted to become the youngest person ever to achieve nuclear fusion by colliding the nuclei of hydrogen atoms via inertial electrostatic confinement in his school lab. When Jamie told his headmaster about his plan to build the nuclear reactor and asked for funding, the reply was “Will it blow up the school?” Jamie got the funding, and rest assured, the school still stands. For his next project, Jamie - who wants to be a nuclear engineer or work in theoretical physics - has his sights on building a miniature hadron collider. He’s now 14 years old.
About TEDx, x = independently organized event In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)
"All you need is curiousity, determination, and an open mind."
And 3 thousand dollars.
Slight inconvenience
And a private school headmaster willing to fund your 13 yr old projects
And someone to sell litres of highly explosive gas to a 13 year old.
2600 dollars actually
which is part of the determination step...
and then there's my school that won't pay for toilet paper...
+Ubya lol
+Ubya they never bought soap for the toilet in my school and i have been there for the last 6 years
rotawo soap? what's soap?
WE DO NOT EVEN HAVE A TOILET
School toilets are real? I thought they were an urban legend... There are rumors that the teachers' lounge might have them.
When I was 12, I built my first bicycle. At least that's what my dad said after letting me turn the last bolt.
Fausto Aguilar Haha, my dad would make me build the bike and sit in the back corner watching and making sure I didn’t break the bike.
I don't think you understand the true joke
bosster I understand the joke.
Benjamin Chen Do you?
I'd like to point out I don't get this joke at all.
Meanwhile in the USA. My teacher had to boil water for a physics experiment from behind a plexiglass "blast shield".
LMAO RIGHT?
In my aerospace engineering class, we had to wear safety goggles to fly paper airplanes.
its called sue culture
Luxury! ;-)
Gyro Xaver I use to play with paper airplanes like you until I took a plane to the knee.
No lollygaggin'
School spends $3455.98 AU on a fusion reactor,
my school spends $3455.98 on toilet room repairs and graffiti removal.
My school forces students to pay for required field trips to local parks...
Nitrexx 😂
My schools bus fees are $900, my school doesn’t have air conditioning or heating, and the rooms are ancient.
Nitrexx lol
Nitrexx what a coincedence
Teacher, may i use the restroom?
Teacher: no
Him: teacher can I build a nuclear reactor?
Teacher:Yes
Next vid: How i conquered the universe at 14
Probably
After that: how I died again after trying to double jump at the same time
How i did it was this, i went over to my local rocket scientist, he said "jump onto a spaceship you made out of rubber and pencils" and this was the final product
Lol
@@ideservesubs6581 *again*
This kid on a job interview
Interviewer " what's your greatest accomplishment?"
The kid" I built a nuclear reactor when I was 13"
that produced almost 0 output, and one in which i didn't raise the money for, or even add anything to the decades old design and data. I'm amazing give me this job as a custodian
He still built a nuclear reactor though... And it sounds cool.
What have you done?
mcnet please elaborate on that, did you produce your own components or did you get them off the ol' craigslist?
How much of the software is yours? The OS? A browser? A "hello world" program?
And an AI designed from scratch or a template you downloaded off github?
Or is Cortana on windows 10?
There are a few things about this that should be applauded: firstly, as others have mentioned, his motivation. This is great and his enthusiasm is infectious. That he just decided to "do it" is amazing, and the fact that his school supported it is equally amazing. And let's not ignore the fact that his talk is EXCELLENT! Very relaxed, totally absorbing. I had the good fortune to show him and his family around CERN: very nice kid who will go far. Good luck to him!
David Barney It could have gone wrong. I do not understand why he did it. Was it repeating an earlier experiment or did he made something new?
Rik Delaet Perhaps he did it because he was very interested and it was a challenge. When I was in my teens and early 20's I was fascinated by chemistry and I used to do a lot of interesting experiments at home. Some could have been dangerous but I exercised safety, knowledge, and common sense. I really didn't need to do my own experiments as I would eventually have access to a well equipped lab in college. But it was about the challenge, the ability to experiment and learn on my own.
I rlly think that with 2000pounds I could get a pc which would last longer and help me much more than repeating a science experiment
Mr. Good AWPer yea, but is a school going to give you 2k to get a PC that doesn't generate any pr?
whats the progress on antimatter
His tongue seems to keep tap dancing after he speaks each time. lol
He's probably just nervous.
Smacking his lips
Jason Lee his lips are smacking
Jason Lee getting ready for later tonight haha ..
Jason Lee not me just a puppet
*builds nuke in school*
Kim Jong Un would like to know your location
Jimby Smith Donald trump would like to know your location
I would like to know your location
We would like to know your location
*soviet anthem starts playing*
That 13 year old kid had a tough crowd, like come on, he is trying, laugh you fools.
welcome to NSA watch list
kenechi alviar 😂😂
Not if you are white. XD
I'm already on there for supplying North Korea with a homemade ICBM. LoL
kenechi alviar ha
Especially if you are white. You could be MKUltra'd into conducting
(hold your breath)
[epic advertisement voice] HORRIBLE ACTS OF DOMESTIC TERROR.
He just followed the instructions and built a small reactor... If it wouldn't be "atomic", the stupid news wouldn't brag about it. He is a hard-working good kid with big motivation, I think motivation is the key here, but theoretical science is another thing. Hope he will be successful in following his dreams though
What is that supposed to mean?
+gu3st8 should have built a thorium reactor. then id actually care
You go build a nuclear reactor then start talking.
gu3st8 for gods sake hes 13 and he made it from scratch I've seen it with my own eyes as his school is local and it looks fine you can tell its not professional but guess what maybe prehaps health and safety wouldn't be overjoyed that a teenager is handling an atomic reactor also one wrong move and 🌋⚡+🏫=👋ALL OF LANCASHIRE
OzyKay his device is not capable of producing an explosion, especially since it's a fusion rather than a fission reactor. If anything breaks or goes wrong, it simply stops.
Jimmy Neutron
Jummmy Nutrooon!
Jimbles notrombo
Jenky Neuron
Jacky nUt
I
At 13 I built a computer for the first time.
Still proud of that, but goddamn is this so much more impressive.
My school can't even afford new paint for the art department.
Next video: "How I colonized the solar system at age 14"
I'm 13 and I can see exactly how this guy made a nuclear reactor. The designs used are ingenious and clearly professional. I understand very well the process of nuclear fusion but I don't think I could come up with these greatly improvised tools and parts, nor find the money for a neutron detector and deuterium gas. For everyone else watching thinking they could never be at all similar to Jamie, you can. He's not much of a prodigy or a genius, he just asked questions and looked for answers. You might think you'll never understand chemistry or physics to such a degree because of how often you hear the advanced vocabulary but all you really have to do is make a few dozen google searches and some take some time to understand and comprehend whatever google tells you.
Then: teenager makes fusion reactor
Now: 20 year olds can't buy teaspoons at tesco without ID
@@kev9108 bruh did you even listen to the video
Lmao
Quite a few jokes about being 13. We get it
Bryan Oberholtzer The first part was funny, but when he continued with them, I really wanted him to change it up a little.
He's 14...
Do you really think he wrote the jokes? TED talk was most likely telling him not to talk off script offstage
noT SuRe wHY
He's probably on the spectrum.
I do physics at uni with Jamie. He's great on a night out.
Thambi nesamava???
Is he still a keen cyclist?
Genuine question, not trying to be funny.
when i was 14 i sat on a banana and of course that changed my life for ever.
I just choked laughing at this ...wtf.
Reading the comments on this video, and it's pretty disappointing. People complaining about his jokes, or stating that what he did is easy and anyone can do it. He was 13 year old kid who had a go and actually built a reactor. You've assumed the point of this video is pointing out how brilliant and amazing this kid is... I think it's to encourage everyone to have passions, and to create and try things.
But it's not the guts of a clock inside of a pencil case, therefore no visit to the white house for you.
haha you where led here the same as me
Honestly neither of these deserve any honor. Making a reactor is extremely simple, as demonstrated in the video. He wasn't even the first to do this, making it less impressive even if he was 13. With thorough enough instructions, you too can custom build a pc at the age of 9! And the clock was autistic. The teacher saw a threat and dealt with it. Don't make your tools look like bombs.
lol pcs are easier than reactors
+lol Your definition of 'make' needs some rethinking.
PC's won't usually end up making you glow in the dark...
...well, apart from the monitor lighting your face up after bedtime, but...
;-)
Little Gru: Look, mom! I made an actual rocket based on the macaroni prototype! 😃
Gru’s Mom: Ehh... 😕
When I was fourteen, my dad got me a diy flashlight kit. I spent a month trying to figure out how to make it work, and a year later I finally learned that the parts I had were faulty.
i searched how to make a nuclear reactor but searched "how to build a nuclear bomb"
then 15 minutes later i see 6 F.B.I agents bust down my door holding fully automatic machine guns with hallow point rounds.
I wonder why?
lmao
XDD
when someone builds a simple single pot backyard liquid flouride thorium reactor and gets energy out i'll start clapping!!!!!!!!!
same
you need some uranium to kickstart it though
and buying 5% enriched uranium GOOD LUCK!!
lol.. original comment specifically says THORIUM reactor and y'all are arguing he needs enriched uranium and plutonium.. really?
Zreknarf but don’t you need some extra though?
jonh johnson to my knowledge thorium is the only radioactive material used in a thorium reactor. If I'm wrong please correct me
*kim jon un wants to know your location*
I admire this person. Already his presentation is super!
Nobody:
*TH-cam at 3am on a school night:*
When I was twelve I watched TV like a normal person :)
And you're still twelve judging by your profile picture
*builds a nuclear reactor at age 13*
Asian parents: Congratulations, you've done the tutorial
Im 30 and I don't understand a thing he says but I'm very much glad he got the gratification he deserves for his passion!
Now this is amazing, I'm also 13, and obsessed with science, space, maths, everything to do with that, people like these really motivate and inspire me more, and make me feel happy I'm a part of society, luckily there ARE people that care!
No clue if that comment made sense, I'm still learning English :3
You cant do anything with just determination, hard work and an open mind. I wanted to build an orbital rocket a few years ago but I was told to stop doing such nuisances by my parents and to focus on my studies even though my father is a professor of chemistry in the biggest institutes of India he did not support me, its a real shame today that we value bookish knowledge more than actual creativity and intrigue.
Interviewer: What is your greatest accomplishment you've ever done?
Me: I managed to have a friend at 13 for only 5 minutes
Where there is a will, there is a way! Hats off to this boy (and his teachers also) ...
This entepreneur is my hero. Im currently doing my Bachelor in Physics so that I can later proceed with Nuclear Physics. Its nice to see people, especially this young people who follow their passion despite the fearmongering media. Go man!
I failed my life at the age of just 10. Here's how you can do it too.
i came here to get back my motivation that school has brutally killed
PROUD OF YOU, BRILLIANT MIND
this is the best presentation I have ever seen in my life.
And I was trying to find out the best duplication glitch in Minecraft...
Moist LMAOO
Minecraft redstone is no joke tho
Just go to creative mode
Ah yeah... I remeber the teen days... Puberty, crushes, nuclear reactors.... Good old days!!!
Awesome job!
Congratulação!!!
At 13 I built a computer. He built a Nuclear reactor. My goodness
I don't see any innovation in building something what someone else has already done. I do respect him for the dedication though.
so what ? just google how to build it, get the money and you are done :)
you can power your home with cheap electricity...yeah...no big deal
LOL wut
i dont see any innovation in a keyboard warrior who does not even know the first think about building a fusion reactor complaining about a kid whos probably half his age doing exactly that and understanding the science involved in doing so
I wonder what kind of innovations you have made so far. Life is about copying about other information. Doctors and far learned people "copy the knowledge" and use it after to build something . When you see new innovation on market. Electrical or what ever you like . Information of that object is mostly hidden behind plastic. Innovation about what someone else has already done. huh.... Most things in life has already been done. To get change to innovate you already has to copy some other people information in some way. I hope they could wipe your memory and leave you alone in island. Then ask you build nuclear reactor.
this video has encouraged and helped me (a 13 year old!!!!!) so much with my own scientific experiments!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!
I think a lot of people are mistaking him to be doing something crazy complicated. It’s really just finding instructions and doing it. All he’s doing is making the helium nuclei move really fast with instruments he bought from the internet. The motivation is impressive though.
When I asked my teacher she said "Do you want to do a bake sale?"
When I was 12, I made a nuclear reactor too.
But in paper 😂
This is probably the most badass science fair project ever
Great job buddy! Don't stop what you are doing. You are our future.😊
The title is extremely misleading nuclear reactor implies radioactive matterials being used to genorate the energy, fusion reactors are much less complex and dangerous, this is still a major accomplishment but wrongly stated
Did he say LITHUANIA? I love you
I see a bright future in this one. Hope to hear more of his stories in another 10 years time.
Excellent!
how much energy does this generates?
None, fusion is actually easy to achieve, anyone can do it at home, the trick is that is takes a lot of energy to achieve. In fact until just recently it always takes more energy to do fusion than you get out. We're just starting the break even in some huge scale experiments.
normally this type of fusors generate 1 watt of energy for every 100 watts you supply to them
fusion is possibly the easiest thing ever, its just getting a return from it is the hard part where scientists are working on
Cooper Hart so in lame mans terms when It produces more it Will become a run away reaction......after that we neef to learn how to control IT...... Problem is we Will be dead by then .....
Not really El. Fusion doesn't run the same risk as fission. You have to feed a fusion reactor to keep it running, where as a fission reactor you have to keep the mass of your fuel subcritical and keep it's temperature under criticality as well. In fission, your fuel can spontaneously explode if you have enough mass in a given volume, that's called critical mass. In fusion, you use a gas inside of a toroidal magnetic field. In order to keep the plasma hot enough for fusion to occur you have to constantly feed it more gas thus sustaining the reaction and in turn generating a bit of usable energy on the side.
Step 1:
Find a guide online
Step 2:
Follow the guide
Step 3:
Make a clone army of jokes. (or in other words, write down the same joke repeatedly in a talk)
Step 4:
DON'T go on a Ted Talk, and keep your dignity vs going on a Ted Talk and looking like a, well, this guy.
... Don't be this guy.
Excellent
"Aren't you a little young to be building a fusion reactor?"
Phineas and Ferb😍😍😍
lmao "ok boomer"
Fission*
@@kev9108 Did you even watch the video?
@@SuperGarryGamer I don't get why he whoud try to active fusion instead of fission. Yeah fission is radioactive but not if you manage it correctly. Fusion is also unnecessary to do because you get no effect out of it. Even the best fusion reactors doesn't sustain fusion.
When I was 13 I set a desk in school on fire and got expelled and now I’m suddenly into figuring out how we can harness gravity without compressing a lot of mass into one area to master time displacement/distortion fr interstellar travel
Wut
You didn't set a desk in fire when you were 13 and the only reason you thought about interstellar travel is because you heard about it from the TV show " Big Bang Theory".
Well done, young man. I'm 68 and still working on trying to touch my nose with the tip of my tongue.
What was it used for? I’m trying to work out the point of this fusion reactor. I mean, at 13 I built myself a PC... but I could actually use it!
This kid needs to chill......twenty years later that will still be his best work.....
Its also ironic how since he glorified following instructions, anything he does from his own power will be dwarfed by this reactor.
If I did that, there would be so much suspicion, just because I come from the middle east.
you can’t even grow a beard lmfao
@@jesusmarquez1550 I actually can't, good guess.
Well said
This story was awesome well done kid
A basic Hirsch-Meeks(or Farnsworth-Hirsch) fusor.
A cheeky art project anyone with a few hundred dollars(don't mind the 2k pound price) can build in their garage.
You input a few hundred watts(total) of energy, get... maaaaybe one or two thousands(!) of a percent(!) in return via deuterium fusion, and that fusion, at these voltages and temperatures, happens pretty much by chance.
I like when kids do science, I like when they follow interesting paths. This, however, I absolutely cannot stand.
He was helped by his teachers, and in the end he built a half-assed art project that anyone with their hands growing out of shoulders can.
I really, really hate posers like these. They do it, and then lob attention in.
Please don't praise him for something he contributed literally nothing to.
+Spirit I agree
+Spirit but with that passion what do you think he may build when he grows up?
***** Not much. There's no passion involved, it's attention whoring.
***** agreed
+Spirit I'm a teenager planning on building a fusion reactor, but I plan on making it a lot more powerful and with very little help. But, I will not be using it for attention. I do agree, it is bothersome when people pull a lot of attention for some project that they contributed very little to.
ok well ima try and build a particle acelerator at the age of 14 and Make it fail and shoot dark matter at me while i hit myself with electricity from a big tesla coil while im running
Just to try and become the flash WISH MEH LUCK :D
3 months later edit: why i said a telsa coil instead of lightning is bc i didint know how to make a thunder storm
The Almighty INTP I think by now u r dead still commenting to check if u r alive
akash yadav i dont understand.....
Good luck, Post vids
therealleftie Thanks
How can You make that accelator Fail, so it would shoot dark matter? Its only in space, its The force that can almost infenintly expand.
This has the same energy as "I became a proffesional scientist at age 18"and that is amazing
This kid is a legend and a genius, he will go far
Nice. It reminds me of a similar story when a brown kid built a digital clock in the USA...
except the clock took more thinking and engineering than this overfunded, dressed up art project.
Agreed - it's just a PR project.
Brown 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂help plz im ded aHhahahahahahahah
I remember that...and he got arrested cuz police thought it was a bomb even after he tried to explain to them how it works
Anonymous Secret The clock did NOT take more thinking and engineering. The kid didn't even build a clock, he simply took the guts out of an old clock and put them in a new box. For poorly repackaging an old clock he meets dozens of wealthy, famous, and powerful people.
I farted the abc’s
Cool
abc's what?
Great!! U want a medal 4 dat?
Same
very useful
With 12 i tryed to make an uncontrolled nuclear fission with white glowing iron and 250 gr AN/AL (72/28).
I took a 70cm long pipe (2x/Diameter 25mm), and put 2 ,,Bullets", also glowing, made out of iron, in it.
Between th two pipes was a bigger pipe and 4 gas burner.
The torch brought the iron to glow.
Behind the two ,,Bullets" were 125gr of the explosive.
Like two cannons, which are pointed on each other.
I tryed to ignite the AL/AN simultaneously, but it didnt workt well.
The two igniter/Initial didnt explode at the same moment, and the glowing iron would not make a nuclear fission.
But it gave a big explosion and much sparks flewing around...
This is about 30 years out and i never touched these thing again...
I'm a grown man and still haven't accomplished anything.
"So how did you make it?"
"Yes"
Excellent 👌
Bravo young man
“Tut”
In India if I have said it i would have been told not to dream with open eyes 🙄🤐
Well done
I too wanted to build an atomic pile reactor near that age yet didn't know enough to truly understand. I've spent my entire life listening to others and failing to please everyone. I know you are going to change the world so do it right and better than what we attempted.
This is the number of times he says "so"
👇🏽
This kid just followed some directions off of wikihow and said he did it himself. This has been done many, many times before so he really wasn't answering any scientific questions or trailblazing or anything. It doesn't seem like he really understands the theory behind it, just thought the buzzword "nuclear reactor" sounded cool. If he had followed the scientific method to answer a question, or actually made some useful power, I might be impressed.
He's got a good attitude towards it but yeah
Why does he keep saying fusion ? Does he mean fission ? I know about reactor and I feel I am missing something here.
There was one kid who made a working fission pile from collected radium from old clock faces.
You're right. It's a fission reactor and not a fusion reactor because otherwise his school would have literally been melted down.
Hmm, I am not really sure what he did tbh, as if he was doing fusion, he would not need deuterium, as that is made in the process of the proton proton chain, what the sun does. He made something that...kinda does half of the process, which unless he yields helium, isnt fusion, but I dont think you can do fission with deuterium, at least I havent heard of anyone doing it with said element.
the music at the beginning got me vibin
Bravo to that guy and his teachers!
How can a kid achieve plasma in his backyard with 2000 $ while others cant do it with 400 million dollars ?
Simple, the people spending millions are doing it on a much larger scale. Means you need way more material for it's construction, more energy to jump start the reaction and of course more staff to maintain and make sure it does not cause the deaths of everyone in the local area.
I have a strong hunch you're Arabic.
his machine is a huge waste of money. the amount of energy produced is far less than the amount used, making any practical use of it impossible. scientists want to make reactors with a return
Plasma is nothing special. You can create it with a bowl, grape, and a microwave if you know how. It's a fusion reaction he created that's significant. I don't understand the process but it is very dangerous if you don't understand it and get something wrong. Otherwise it's a wonderful (and very complex for his age) scientific curiosity that may one day be a viable source of energy.
fusion is actually pretty easy to do, the hard part is getting a return from it.
Keep an eye on this one boys, he looks like trouble.
I used to sit next to Jamie in science at Priory, he used to always tell everyone about his uranium collection and obviously no one believed him until he brought some into show and tell
reminds me of when me and the boys whipped up a pressurized air cannon that shot candy with Trinium inside. A radioactive candy shotgun at school
That High Voltage power supply from the USA probably didn't work because it is rated for 110V not 220V.
Ikr if he couldn't knew that I wonder how did he build the reactor
its like some major break-though. but not, because other kids have made similar things.
Grapez that's exactly what I meant. Did you read my comment?
Grapez it's all good
No,it's not like a major break-through, it's a kid who have made something very impressive. It's not something to help the world, but it definitely was a very educational project for this kid.
hey sstealthH, I just wanted to let your know that NO ONE has a fusion reactor. It does not exist. A fission reactor which is what you are referring to is not something that you can just make even if you know what you are doing, And for this kid, it's impossible. He stated nuclear fusion, which is not possible. I would also like to note that if he was so smart, he would know that power changes depending where you are, and his power supply blew a fuse. This is a sham.
Jens Pettersen Not impressive, just expensive
My school doesn’t even have glue sticks or they don’t even bother to buy them
keep doing it bro
*The FBI wants to know your location*