Helion Energy Delays Power Goal as Physicists Reject Fusion Design

This $15 Billion Nuclear Fusion Machine Can’t Work, Physicists Say — Sabine Hossenfelder

Sabine Hossenfelder

Independent researchers, including the plasma physicist whose work founded the company, conclude that rapid thermal equilibration and weak magnetic coupling make net electricity generation physically impossible for Helion's colliding-plasmoid reactor.

AI-assisted summary of This $15 Billion Nuclear Fusion Machine Can’t Work, Physicists Say — original source. Check the original for full context.

Source published:

Key ideas

  • Private investment in nuclear fusion reached a record $4.48 billion over the past 12 months, pushing cumulative sector funding since 2021 past $14 billion despite recurring project delays. (0:00)
  • Helion Energy's valuation surged threefold to $15 billion, propelled by circular funding loops where corporate investors like Microsoft and Nucor finance the startup while contracting to buy its future electricity. (0:00)
  • Three independent research groups, including foundational plasma physicist John Slough, published findings concluding that Helion's colliding Field-Reversed Configuration machine cannot achieve net energy. (1:49)
  • Independent thermodynamic and electromagnetic analyses revealed that Helion's design suffers from near-instantaneous ion-electron thermalization and an inefficient 1% magnetic field coupling that fails even at 50 Tesla. (1:49)

Detailed notes

## Background Published on YouTube by Sabine Hossenfelder on September 30, 2026, this video examines the widening credibility gap among commercial fusion ventures. According to the page description, while fusion startups continuously delay their target deadlines, Helion Energy has seen its valuation surge to fifteen billion dollars despite three independent research groups—including the physicist whose research formed the basis of its design—concluding that its machine fundamentally cannot work.

## TL;DR Private investment in nuclear fusion has skyrocketed past $14 billion, propelled by circular deals where corporate tech backers invest in startups while simultaneously contracting to purchase their hypothetical future electricity. Amid this hype, Helion Energy's valuation has ballooned to $15 billion, even as serious scientific critiques mount against its pulsed Field-Reversed Configuration (FRC) collider. Three independent studies—from foundational researcher John Slough, the Max Planck Institute, and a French plasma physics group—demonstrate that Helion's design suffers from fatal ion-electron thermalization and drastic magnetic coupling inefficiencies, ruling out net power. While Helion has brushed off these findings and pushed back its deployment timeline, the critique underscores a recurring industry pattern where poorly understood shortcut concepts look rapid and promising only until their physical limits are rigorously established.

## Atmosphere & style The presentation carries Sabine's trademark blend of dry skepticism, analytical rigor, and sharp wit, cutting cleanly through Silicon Valley's venture capital buzzwords. It moves methodically from the financial circularity of corporate clean-energy pledges to the unforgiving thermodynamics of plasma physics, maintaining an objective and grounded perspective throughout. Watching the segment feels like an overdue reality check, contrasting breathless techno-optimism with the slow, unyielding realities of experimental science.

## Bulletin - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwB4hB9QJX8&t=0s) Private investment in nuclear fusion reached a record $4.48 billion over the past 12 months, pushing cumulative sector funding since 2021 past $14 billion despite recurring project delays. - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwB4hB9QJX8&t=0s) Helion Energy's valuation surged threefold to $15 billion, propelled by circular funding loops where corporate investors like Microsoft and Nucor finance the startup while contracting to buy its future electricity. - [01:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwB4hB9QJX8&t=109s) Three independent research groups, including foundational plasma physicist John Slough, published findings concluding that Helion's colliding Field-Reversed Configuration machine cannot achieve net energy. - [01:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwB4hB9QJX8&t=109s) Independent thermodynamic and electromagnetic analyses revealed that Helion's design suffers from near-instantaneous ion-electron thermalization and an inefficient 1% magnetic field coupling that fails even at 50 Tesla.

## Key takeaways - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwB4hB9QJX8&t=0s) Nuclear fusion startups are persistently delaying delivery dates, sharpening the distinction between credible designs and unviable concepts. - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwB4hB9QJX8&t=0s) The fusion industry is experiencing an unprecedented capital boom, securing over $14 billion since 2021 and $4.48 billion in the last year alone. - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwB4hB9QJX8&t=0s) Circular financing structures closely mirror trends in AI, with corporate giants like Microsoft, Google, and Nucor simultaneously investing in fusion ventures and agreeing to purchase power that may never materialize. - [01:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwB4hB9QJX8&t=109s) Helion Energy attempts to achieve fusion via a Field-Reversed Configuration (FRC), accelerating and colliding two plasma rings to extract electricity directly through inductive magnetic coils rather than steam turbines. - [01:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwB4hB9QJX8&t=109s) John Slough, the plasma physicist whose academic research forms the foundation of Helion's architecture, stated that Helion's dual-ring collision design hits fundamental physics barriers and will never work. - [01:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwB4hB9QJX8&t=109s) A Max Planck Institute study demonstrated that the kinetic energy from Helion's plasma collision rapidly thermalizes between ions and electrons, preventing the claimed temperature disparity necessary for practical net gain. - [01:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwB4hB9QJX8&t=109s) French plasma physicists calculated that only about 1% of input magnetic energy couples into the plasma, rendering net energy impossible under any realistic scenario, even at 50-Tesla magnetic field strengths. - [01:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwB4hB9QJX8&t=109s) Helion dismissed external peer-reviewed critiques by claiming outside physicists modeled an outdated design, while quietly postponing its projected net electricity delivery from 2028 to 2029–2030. - [04:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwB4hB9QJX8&t=288s) Commercial fusion approaches are diverging in viability: pure inertial confinement ventures have stalled, whereas conventional magnetic designs like tokamaks, stellarators, and levitating dipoles continue steady progress. - [04:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwB4hB9QJX8&t=288s) Speculative hybrid systems, such as sheared-flow Z-pinches and pulsed magnetic devices, carry high physics risk because their underlying plasma dynamics are not yet fully understood. - [04:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwB4hB9QJX8&t=288s) Net electricity production from any commercial fusion reactor remains highly unlikely before the end of the decade.

## Detailed walkthrough ### [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwB4hB9QJX8&t=0s) The Fusion Funding Boom and Circular Investment Loops

Nuclear fusion startups have developed a recurring habit of pushing back their promised completion dates, a reality that Sabine notes is hardly unexpected. What is far more revealing, however, is that the divide between which ventures are making credible progress and which are floundering is finally coming into sharp focus. In particular, the outlier approach championed by Helion Energy has run into severe scientific headwinds. Over the past decade, private capital pouring into the sector has reached unprecedented heights: fusion companies pulled in a record $4.48 billion in the preceding 12 months alone, driving the cumulative total invested since 2021 past the $14 billion mark.

Yet beneath these staggering funding figures lies an incestuous, circular dynamic remarkably similar to current patterns in artificial intelligence financing. The very corporations bankrolling these fusion ventures are simultaneously executing power purchase agreements to buy electricity that may never actually materialize: - **Google** invested in Commonwealth Fusion Systems and simultaneously pledged to purchase electricity from them. - **Microsoft** heavily invested in OpenAI, whose CEO Sam Altman serves as a primary backer and board chair of Helion Energy; Microsoft then signed a high-profile agreement to purchase electricity from Helion. - **Nucor**, the American steel manufacturing giant, invested directly in Helion while signing an agreement to procure power from Helion's future machines.

While these arrangements are entirely legal, they have helped inflate Helion's valuation to a massive $15 billion—a threefold increase since January of the prior year—even as technical skepticism against the company's core mechanism mounts.

```mermaid flowchart LR accTitle: Circular Investment Structure in Nuclear Fusion Startups accDescr: Diagram illustrating how corporate investors fund fusion startups and contract to buy power back from them.

subgraph Investors["Corporate Backers"] MSFT["Microsoft / Sam Altman"] GOOG["Google"] NUC["Nucor Steel"] end

subgraph Startups["Fusion Ventures"] HEL["Helion Energy\n($15B Valuation)"] CFS["Commonwealth Fusion"] end

MSFT -->|"Capital Investment"| HEL HEL -.->|"Future Power Delivery"| MSFT

GOOG -->|"Capital Investment"| CFS CFS -.->|"Future Power Delivery"| GOOG

NUC -->|"Capital Investment"| HEL HEL -.->|"Future Power Delivery"| NUC ```

---

[01:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwB4hB9QJX8&t=109s) How Helion Works and Why Physicists Say It Won't

Helion Energy relies on a non-traditional concept known as a Field-Reversed Configuration (FRC). Instead of confining plasma continuously, Helion uses pulsed magnetic fields to accelerate two distinct plasmoids or fuel "blobs" toward each other from opposite ends of a chamber. These rings collide and are violently compressed in the center, jacking up temperature and pressure to ignite nuclear fusion. Because the internal magnetic field of the rings opposes the external field, it creates a self-confining FRC geometry. A signature selling point of Helion's architecture is direct inductive energy conversion: rather than letting fusion heat boil water into steam to spin conventional turbines, the expanding plasma pushes back against the magnetic field coils, recovering electricity directly. When Sabine first evaluated the concept, she felt skeptical, viewing it as essentially an ad-hoc particle collider that seemed far less likely to break even than established magnetic confinement systems like stellarators.

```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: Helion Energy Field-Reversed Configuration Collision Process accDescr: Steps of Helion's pulsed plasma collision and direct energy recovery concept.

subgraph Collision["1. Acceleration & Compression"] A1["Form FRC Plasma Ring A"] --> C["High-Velocity Collision\nin Center Chamber"] A2["Form FRC Plasma Ring B"] --> C C --> D["Magnetic Compression to\nFusion Conditions"] end

subgraph Extraction["2. Direct Energy Recovery"] D --> E["Plasma Expansion\nAgainst Magnetic Coils"] E --> F["Direct Electric Current\nInduced in Circuitry"] end ```

Recently, three independent research groups have published damning critiques arguing that Helion’s machine is fundamentally incapable of achieving net power: - **John Slough**, the pioneering plasma physicist whose academic research at the University of Washington laid the groundwork for Helion's device, stated bluntly in an interview with *Scientific American* that Helion's machine would never work. Slough remarked that the company has "run up against a fundamental aspect" and that "he can't see anything in the physics" that allows it to succeed. Slough has since pursued his own concept involving a single plasma ring squeezed gradually rather than colliding two rings. - **Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics researchers** analyzed Helion's thermodynamic collision mechanics. Helion claims net gain is attainable because the collision deposits the bulk of the kinetic energy directly into heavy fuel nuclei rather than lightweight electrons, keeping energy where fusion needs it. The Max Planck team demonstrated that while this disparity may exist for an instant post-impact, energy redistributes between ions and electrons almost instantaneously, choking off any path to nuclear ignition. They concluded that "only for very small values of gain which are of no practical interest for power production with the initial temperature differences result in the improvement predicted by Helion." - **A French plasma physics team** calculated that magnetic field coupling is drastically inefficient: only roughly 1% of the input magnetic field energy actually couples into the plasma, representing an overwhelming loss. Their paper concluded that for any realistic scenario, "net energy is never achieved even at a magnetic field strength of 50 Tesla."

Helion brushed aside these peer-reviewed objections by asserting that outside physicists were merely evaluating an obsolete machine design and claiming they already know how to resolve the issues without disclosing the solution. In the meantime, Helion quietly pushed its projected milestone for delivering net electricity back from 2028 to 2029 or 2030.

---

[04:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwB4hB9QJX8&t=288s) The Broader Fusion Landscape and Outskill Sponsorship

Looking across the broader commercial fusion landscape, Sabine notes that alternative approaches are experiencing sharply divergent fates. Pure inertial confinement concepts—exemplified by First Light Fusion—appear to have stalled after early fanfare. Conversely, the more conventional approaches continue to deliver steady, incremental progress: tokamaks, stellarators, and magnetic dipole concepts such as OpenStar Technologies' levitating dipole experiment. In between sit speculative hybrid approaches, such as Zap Energy's sheared-flow-stabilized Z-pinch or Pacific Fusion's pulsed magnetic system. While these hybrids are far riskier because their underlying plasma physics is less mature, their simplicity could theoretically yield faster progress if their core hypotheses hold. Even so, Sabine argues that seeing anyone achieve net electricity production before the close of the decade remains exceedingly improbable, summarizing the dilemma: "understood physics is slow, poorly understood physics is fast, right up until you understand it."

The episode wraps up with a sponsored segment for Outskill, an educational platform offering a 3-hour hands-on crash course on OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra. As an official OpenAI partner, Outskill claims early testing access to help users build practical workflows—such as automated job searches matched to individual skill sets or real-time portfolio stock alerts. Attendees receive the "Astra Power Playbook" containing plug-and-play prompts and templates, accessible via an on-screen QR code or video description link.

## Notable quotes > [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwB4hB9QJX8&t=0s) This $15 Billion Nuclear Fusion Machine Can’t Work, Physicists Say — Sabine Hossenfelder

> [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwB4hB9QJX8&t=0s) Fusion startups keep postponing their dates, but it's becoming clear who is doing well and who isn't. — Sabine Hossenfelder

> [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwB4hB9QJX8&t=0s) Helion is valued at fifteen billion dollars, and three groups have now said their machine cannot work, one of them the researcher whose work it is based on. — Sabine Hossenfelder

> [01:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwB4hB9QJX8&t=109s) run up against a fundamental aspect — John Slough

> [01:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwB4hB9QJX8&t=109s) he can't see anything in the physics — John Slough

> [01:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwB4hB9QJX8&t=109s) only for very small values of gain which are of no practical interest for power production with the initial temperature differences result in the improvement predicted by Helion. — Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics researchers

> [01:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwB4hB9QJX8&t=109s) net energy is never achieved even at a magnetic field strength of 50 Tesla. — French plasma physics team

> [04:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwB4hB9QJX8&t=288s) understood physics is slow, poorly understood physics is fast, right up until you understand it. — Sabine Hossenfelder

## Mentioned Sabine Hossenfelder, Helion Energy, Sam Altman, Google, Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Microsoft, OpenAI, Nucor, John Slough, University of Washington, Scientific American, Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, First Light Fusion, OpenStar Technologies, Zap Energy, Pacific Fusion, Outskill, GPT-6 Astra, Astra Power Playbook, Field-Reversed Configuration

## Video description 👉 Grab your free seat to the GPT 6 Astra Crash Course: https://links.outskill.com/SAHOOCT1 🔐 100% Discount for the first 1000 people 💥 Master GPT 6 Astra, Build Powerful AI Agent Workflows & Unlock the Astra Power Playbook — All for Free! 🎁 Bonuses worth $5100+ if you join and attend

Fusion startups keep postponing their dates, but it's becoming clear who is doing well and who isn't. Helion is valued at fifteen billion dollars, and three groups have now said their machine cannot work, one of them the researcher whose work it is based on. Let's take a look.

Paper: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10894-026-00554-2 Paper 2: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10894-026-00565-z

#sciencenews #physics #nuclearfusion #energy #technology

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[Source](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwB4hB9QJX8)

中文简报

物理学家否定其聚变设计，Helion Energy推迟发电目标 包括奠定该公司创立基础的等离子体物理学家在内的独立研究人员得出结论，快速热平衡和微弱的磁耦合使得Helion的碰撞等离子体团反应堆在物理上无法实现净发电。 在循环交易的推动下，私营领域对核聚变的投资已突破140亿美元大关；在这些交易中，科技企业支持者在向初创公司注资的同时，还签署合同购买其假想的未来电力。在这一热潮之中，尽管针对Helion Energy脉冲场反转构型（FRC）对撞机的严肃科学批评与日俱增，该公司的估值仍激增至150亿美元。来自奠基研究人员John Slough、马克斯·普朗克研究所（Max Planck Institute）以及一个法国等离子体物理团队的三项独立研究表明，Helion的设计存在致命的离子-电子热化问题和极低的磁耦合效率，从而排除了实现净电力的可能。尽管Helion对这些研究结果不以为意并推迟了其部署时间表，但这些批评凸显了该行业反复出现的模式：理解尚浅的“捷径”概念往往看似快速且前景光明，直到其物理极限被严格证实为止。 过去12个月内，核聚变领域的民间投资达到创纪录的44.8亿美元，尽管项目屡遭推迟，自2021年以来该领域的累计融资额仍超过140亿美元。 (0:00) Helion Energy的估值增至三倍达到150亿美元，这主要受到循环融资模式的推动；在此模式下，微软（Microsoft）和纽柯钢铁（Nucor）等企业投资者在向该初创公司注资的同时，还签约购买其未来的电力。 (0:00) 包括奠基等离子体物理学家John Slough在内的三个独立研究小组发表结论称，Helion的碰撞场反转构型（FRC）装置无法实现净能量产出。 (1:49) 独立的热力学和电磁学分析表明，Helion的设计存在近乎瞬时的离子-电子热化问题，以及仅为1%的低效磁场耦合，即使在50特斯拉的强磁场下也无法奏效。 (1:49)

Reading summary

Nuclear fusion startup Helion Energy has achieved a $15 billion valuation fueled by circular corporate investments, but independent physicists argue its core plasma collision design is fundamentally incapable of generating net electricity. Circular Corporate Financing and Soaring Valuations (0:00) Private investment in nuclear fusion has expanded rapidly, with companies securing a record $4.48 billion over the past 12 months and pushing cumulative sector funding since 2021 past $14 billion. This surge has tripled Helion Energy's valuation to $15 billion since January of the previous year. However, Sabine Hossenfelder observes that this boom relies on circular financing arrangements reminiscent of artificial intelligence investments, where the primary backers of fusion ventures also sign power purchase agreements to buy electricity from those same companies. Key examples include Google investing in Commonwealth Fusion Systems while pledging to buy its electricity, and Nucor Steel investing in Helion alongside a future power procurement agreement. Similarly, Microsoft heavily funded OpenAI—whose CEO Sam Altman is Helion's board chair and primary backer—and subsequently contracted to purchase future power from Helion. These deals commit major corporations to procure energy that may not materialize under current technical timelines. Helion's Mechanism and Independent Scientific Critiques (1:49) Helion relies on a Field-Reversed Configuration (FRC) design, using pulsed magnetic fields to fire two plasma rings into a high-speed collision at the center of a chamber. The resulting compression is meant to trigger fusion, after which the expanding plasma pushes back against magnetic coils to produce electricity directly via inductive recovery instead of traditional steam turbines. Sabine notes this approach functions essentially as an ad-hoc particle collider that faces steep thermodynamic challenges. Three independent research groups have published findings disputing Helion's viability. John Slough, the plasma physicist whose University of Washington research laid the foundation for Helion's machine, stated to Scientific American that he sees nothing in the physics allowing it to succeed and that the company has hit a fundamental barrier. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics determined that kinetic energy deposited into heavy fuel nuclei during collision redistributes almost instantly to lightweight electrons, negating the temperature separation Helion relies on for practical net gain. Additionally, a French plasma physics team calculated that only roughly 1% of the input magnetic field energy couples into the plasma, concluding that net energy is unattainable even with 50-Tesla magnetic fields. Startup Counterclaims and the Wider Sector (4:48) Helion dismissed these outside peer-reviewed assessments by arguing that critics examined an outdated machine design, claiming it already knows how to resolve the issues without publicly sharing the solutions. Concurrently, Helion quietly delayed its projected milestone for delivering net electricity from 2028 to 2029 or 2030. Across the wider fusion industry, development paths are diverging sharply. Pure inertial confinement efforts, such as First Light Fusion, have largely stalled, while mature approaches like tokamaks, stellarators, and OpenStar Technologies' levitating dipole experiment continue incremental advances. Speculative hybrid architectures like Zap Energy's sheared-flow Z-pinch and Pacific Fusion's pulsed magnetic system offer potential mechanical simplicity but carry elevated physics risks. Sabine concludes that achieving commercial net electricity before the end of the decade is exceedingly improbable across the entire fusion landscape. As she summarizes, understood physics progresses slowly, while poorly understood physics appears to advance rapidly only until the underlying physical constraints are finally identified and understood.

Source quotes

[0:00] Sabine Hossenfelder: This $15 Billion Nuclear Fusion Machine Can’t Work, Physicists Say [0:00] Sabine Hossenfelder: Fusion startups keep postponing their dates, but it's becoming clear who is doing well and who isn't. [0:00] Sabine Hossenfelder: Helion is valued at fifteen billion dollars, and three groups have now said their machine cannot work, one of them the researcher whose work it is based on. [1:49] John Slough: run up against a fundamental aspect [1:49] John Slough: he can't see anything in the physics [1:49] Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics researchers: only for very small values of gain which are of no practical interest for power production with the initial temperature differences result in the improvement predicted by Helion. [1:49] French plasma physics team: net energy is never achieved even at a magnetic field strength of 50 Tesla. [4:48] Sabine Hossenfelder: understood physics is slow, poorly understood physics is fast, right up until you understand it.

Original transcript

[0:00] Nuclear fusion startups are postponing and  postponing their completion dates. This [0:06] unfortunately isn't surprising. More interesting  is that it's becoming increasingly clear who's [0:11] doing well and who isn't. In particular, the  outlier approach helium fusion has encountered [0:18] some problems recently. Today, I want to look  at what happened with Helon, but also give you [0:24] an assessment of how I think it's going with  the different approaches. Make sure you stick [0:29] around till the end. I've got a great offer from  today's sponsor, Outskill. In the past decade, [0:36] private investment in nuclear fusion technology  has exploded. Fusion companies raised an record [0:42] $4.48 billion in the past 12 months. The total  investment since 2021 now sum up to more than [0:51] $14 billion. These investments show some of the  same circularity that we're seeing for AI. The [1:00] companies giving money to nuclear fusion startups  are also signing contracts to buy the electricity [1:06] that may or may not one day come in. Google, for  example, has invested into Commonwealth Fusion and [1:13] also said they'd buy back from them. Microsoft  has invested into openai and openmeai CEO Sam [1:19] Alman has invested into Helium's fusion machine  which Microsoft said they want to buy from. The [1:26] American steel manufacturer new car invested  into Helion and also said they'll buy back [1:31] electricity if that electricity ever comes into  being. There's nothing legally wrong with this, [1:37] but it's certainly part of the reason why Helium  was recently valued at a staggering 15 billion, [1:44] three times as much as January last year.  That's despite the harsh criticism they've [1:49] received earlier this year. As a reminder, Helon  Energy works at a particularly innovative approach [1:56] to nuclear fusion called a field reversed  configuration. They want to accelerate two [2:02] blobs of fuel particles with magnets. The fuel  forms rings which then collide and get compressed [2:09] in the middle. The compression increases pressure  and temperature and fuses the nuclei. The magnetic [2:15] field inside the few rings is reversed, hence  the name. One of the appeals of Helen's approach [2:21] is that they want to extract electric energy  directly rather than using the fusion to create [2:27] heat and then extract energy from that. Now, when  I first heard about this, I thought it's basically [2:33] a particle collider. There's no way this thing  will break even faster than a celerator. But okay, [2:39] not my research area. What's happened now though  is that three groups independently have come [2:44] forward and said this isn't going to work.  First, there is one of the researchers whose [2:50] work led directly to the helion machine, John  Slow. He said in an interview with Scientific [2:57] American that helon's machine would never work.  They have quote run up against a fundamental [3:03] aspect and that he can't see anything in the  physics. Slow has proposed a different approach [3:09] in which there's only one plasma ring that gets  gradually squeezed until fusion sets in. Second, [3:15] a group from the Max Plunk Institute for Plasma  Physics have looked at Helon's proposed mechanism [3:22] and they say that it just doesn't work. You see,  Helon says that they have a good chance to produce [3:27] net energy because when the two pulses collide,  most of the kinetic energy goes into the heavy [3:33] particles that are the nuclei, not the electrons.  So, you have the energy where you want it. But [3:40] the Maxplank group says that while this might  be the case immediately after the collision, [3:46] the energy gets redistributed extremely quickly,  meaning helium will never get anywhere close to [3:51] nuclear ignition. They write, quote, only  for very small values of gain which are of [3:56] no practical interest for power production with  the initial temperature differences result in the [4:02] improvement predicted by helium. [clears throat]  Then third, we have a paper from a group in France [4:07] which has found that only a small fraction of the  magnetic field energy in the range of 1% actually [4:14] goes into the plasma which is a huge energy  loss. They conclude for the realistic case [4:20] net energy is never achieved even at a magnetic  field strength of 50 Tesla. Helon has basically [4:28] addressed this criticism by saying yes, yes,  but the critics are looking at an old design [4:34] plan. We now know how to fix the problem, but we  won't tell you how. Meanwhile, they have silently [4:41] moved their plan for net power from 2028 to maybe  2029 or 2030. As you probably guessed, personally, [4:48] I wouldn't invest into helium. We've also seen  in the past year that inertial confinement fusion [4:54] like it was pursued by first light fusion hasn't  been going very well. Basically their progress [5:00] stored. The approaches that have made steady if  incremental progress are the more traditional [5:06] ones. Tokma accelerators and I'll count open  stars levitating dipole among those. There are [5:12] also a few hybrid approaches still out there such  as the Zet pinch from Z Energy or Pacific Fusion, [5:19] but the pulsed version of magnetic confinement.  The physics of the hybrid approaches is generally [5:24] not as well understood. So, the risk that they  fail is much higher. On the other hand, if it [5:29] works, they might get the job done faster. Either  way, though, at this point, it seems very unlikely [5:35] we'll see anyone producing net power from nuclear  fusion before the end of the decade. In summary, [5:42] understood physics is slow, poorly understood  physics is fast, right up until you understand [5:48] it. Artificial intelligence is developing rapidly  and open eyes GPT6 Astra's closer to AGI than ever. [5:56] Are you keeping up? Are you sure? Today's sponsor,  Outskill will bring you up to speed. Outskill is [6:03] offering a GPT6 Astra crash course. It's 3 hours  long and it'll teach you how to build your own [6:10] Astra workflow hands on. Outskill is an official  OpenAI partner, so their team has exclusive access [6:17] before anyone else. They've tested it upside  down and had time to figure out how to get the [6:23] most out of it. In the workshop, you'll learn, for  example, how you can use Astra to find jobs that [6:28] are tailored to your skills or how to alert you  of information concerning your stocks. When you [6:34] sign up, you'll also get the Astra Power Playbook  with prompt formulas and workflows ready for you [6:40] to plug and play. The link to sign ups in the  description, or you can scan the QR code on [6:47] screen. I've signed up for it because it's an easy  way to stay up to date. So, go ahead, sign up for [6:53] this and learn what less than 1% on this planet  know. Thanks for watching. See you tomorrow.