The idea that Fusion will supply energy to the entire world has lingered around for quite some time but can fusion really supply the entire world with energy one day? It has been said about fusion: "It is the energy of the future, and always will be". How close are we to making the dream a reality? Last year, in Germany, a new fusion experiment just began. What are its prospects?

It has been clear since the 1950's that immense amounts of energy can be released by bringing a gas of hydrogen isotopes, deuterium and tritium, to temperatures of 100-200 million degrees. Although this might seem unrealistic, such temperatures have been reached in various experiments around the world. At these temperatures, the gas has become a plasma - the fourth state of matter. There is not much plasma around on Earth, but most of the visible Universe is actually plasma. The challenge in fusion lies in confining a hot, relatively dense plasma efficiently and stably, so that the plasma heat can be sustained by the power generated from the fusion processes in its interior.

Laboratory plasmas created until now have not yet reached the point where the fusion power exceeds the input heating power. However, great progress has been made in performance, as well as in our understanding of the plasma itself. Last year, a new fusion experiment started operation in Greifswald, Germany, the stellarator Wendelstein 7-X. The first results are very encouraging. Within its first two months of operation, plasma temperatures of 100 million degrees were achieved. In this episode, Thomas Sunn Pedersen will describe the fundamental principles of fusion energy production, how hot plasmas are confined and describe some of the key achievements and goals of fusion in general, and of the Wendelstein 7-X in particular.

Afterwards, cocktails that could cool down the Wendelstein 7-X to zero degrees and another fusion explosion on the stage: the uprising jazz duo stars Dawda Jobarteh and Stefan Pasborg merge African tradition, world-beat percussion and unusual instrumentation to produce innovative and expressively stimulating sounds. These two gentlemen from respectively Gambia and Denmark hit a vein filled with power: a well-composed suite with a fantastic dialogue between the two 'soul brothers'.

Photo: IPP, Matthia Otte