At 12 years old, most kids are busy anticipating their favorite TV shows, mastering video games, or perfecting their skills on a Wii. But Jackson Oswalt from Memphis, Tennessee, had a different kind of experience, one that involved nuclear fusion rather than late-night gaming marathons.
For Jackson, everything changed when he had what he describes as a “sudden epiphany.”
According to the Guinness World Records, Jackson reflected on his time playing video games and came to a striking conclusion: “I realized that I could be the absolute best at whatever video game, but in the end, it still wouldn’t mean much. In the grand scheme of things, video games had no role to play. So, I changed my ways.”
Rather than shifting his interests to something more conventional, like comic books or sports, Jackson took an unexpected route. He turned to science, which he saw as “the closest thing to video games in real life.”
Determined to learn, Jackson dove into YouTube videos on nuclear fusion and researched materials that could help him build his fusion device. Nuclear fusion, in simple terms, is the process where atomic nuclei combine under extreme heat and pressure, releasing enormous amounts of energy.
Jackson’s journey began with constructing a “demo fusor,” a device that generates plasma but doesn’t achieve actual fusion. Recalling his experience, he shared:
“The first step was to build a ‘demo fusor,’ or a device that creates plasma but doesn’t achieve fusion. This required a vacuum chamber, vacuum pump, and a neon sign transformer with a homemade AC-DC converter.”
Despite only getting it to function the night before, Jackson brought his demo fusor to his school’s science fair. Looking back, he found it remarkable that he was even allowed to walk into the event with it.
After more than a year of research, testing, and purchasing the necessary materials, Jackson successfully achieved nuclear fusion in 2018—just one day before his 13th birthday. His achievement was later verified by Fusor.net, The Open Source Fusor Research Consortium, making him the youngest person ever to achieve fusion.
But Jackson’s journey didn’t stop at breaking records.
One Saturday morning, Jackson was greeted by an unexpected knock on his door. Two FBI agents had arrived, concerned about the possible radiation levels in his home laboratory. With a Geiger counter in hand, they conducted a sweep of his house to ensure everything was safe.
Fortunately, the situation remained lighthearted.
“Fortunately, I remained a free man,” Jackson joked.
Fast-forward seven years, and Jackson has continued on his scientific path. He now works for leading research labs, including Midjourney, where he focuses on AI hardware and research.
Not a bad career trajectory for someone who started their journey with a childhood epiphany.
