Michigan teen creates nuclear fusion in basement
Caroline McCarthy Former Staff writer, CNET News
Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer, is a downtown Manhattanite happily addicted to social-media tools and restaurant blogs. Her pre-CNET resume includes interning at an IT security firm and brewing cappuccinos.
It reads like a movie plot: a suburban 17-year-old builds an intricate physics lab in his parents' basement, then creates small-scale nuclear fusion using a machine he spent two years constructing. If this movie had been made circa 2001, he probably would've been played by Jake Gyllenhaal.
But, no, this isn't fiction; it actually happened. The Detroit Free Press reported that Thiago Olsen of Oakland Township, Michigan, a member of the cross country and track teams at Stoney Creek High School, has successfully achieved the creation of nuclear fusion. He's the 18th person in the world to do so.
Just think of what this kid might be doing in ten years.