What is Nuclear Fusion?

     What is Nuclear Fusion? Nuclear Fusion is when 2 atoms of an element, hydrogen, crash together and create a larger atom, which creates energy.
     Last night's homework was to read the article "A Star In A Bottle" by Raffi Khatchadourian. After reading the first part of the article, we had to summarize it; in about ten years, the most complex machine ever built, ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), will be turned on. The machine will fuse two carbon isotopes (Deterium and Tritium) to create Helium. The Helium will have an extra neutron, which will be shot out from the element, and be used as energy.
      In class we watched a TED talk video about Nuclear Fusion. In the TED talk, physicist Stephen Crowley talks about the future of energy, fusion. He talks about how fusion is the only way to produce energy without releasing more carbon into the air. Five years from when the talk was presented (which was in 2009) we would be having energy problems, which we are. ITER's carbon-free energy is hoped to help with many of these problems, which is why Crowley says that the sooner ITER is running, the better. ITER is estimated to be up and running in the 2030's.