In a race against his birthday, which is this Sunday, 13-year-old Jamie Edwards emerged victorious on Wednesday, successfully testing the nuclear fusion reactor he built from scratch.
"It is quite an achievement. It's magnificent, really," Edwards told the Lancashire Evening Post. "I can't quite believe it — even though all my friends think I am mad."
The scientist hopes to take over American Taylor Wilson's "youngest fusioneer" title, which Wilson grabbed at age 14, in 2008. Edwards' experiment took place at his United Kingdom school, Priory Academy, and it was videotaped so that it can be verified.
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Lest you think everyone was gung-ho about letting young Jamie perform such a potentially dangerous experiment, his faculty adviser Jim Hourigan said that wasn't the case: "I was a bit stunned, and I have to say a little nervous when Jamie suggested this, but he reassured me he wouldn't blow the school up."
Two-for-two, Jamie, not bad.
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