A 12-year-old boy achieved nuclear fusion in his room. Then, two FBI agents paid him a visit.

A 12-year-old youngster achieved a feat that required years of scientific experience and knowledge. Jackson Oswalt was one out of the ordinary, as he learned the complex process of nuclear fusion sitting in his room at his home in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. He leveraged resources available online and built equipment from scratch to successfully conduct the process. A rather commendable achievement that earned him attention from not only the Guinness World Records but also the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), per a report by Guinness World Records.

The tween had a critical viewpoint on video games and how futile their mastery is. Calling it a “sudden epiphany,” Oswalt explained what led him to quit video games for good. “I realized that I could be the absolute best at whatever videogame, but in the end, it still wouldn't mean much. In the grand scheme of things, video games had no role to play,” he noted. Therefore, the child prodigy decided to change his ways. “Immediately I switched to the closest thing to video games in real life: science,” he added. A wise choice.

Fun or not, science has helped humans progress to this age of modernity. He dived into the internet searching for physics videos on YouTube, and research papers to build a nuclear fusion reactor at 11. Following in the footsteps of physicist Taylor Wilson, a teenager who had achieved the feat before, Oswalt was finally able to build one himself two years later. He became the youngest person to achieve nuclear fusion in 2018, remarkably, just two hours before his 13th birthday. The boy had left no stone unturned and shopped eBay for materials and even brought his experiment to his school’s science fair. He explained the complex scientific process of building and repairing the reactor in a post shared on his X handle, @JacksonOswalt. 

For those unversed, the process of nuclear fusion involves isolating two or more atomic nuclei and combining them under high pressure and heat to morph into one or more nuclei and neutrons. The result is obtained with the release of absorption of energy, and is far more difficult to achieve than it sounds, for an at-home scientist. Regardless, his experiment was validated by Fusor.net, The Open Source Fusor Research Consortium, and further confirmed by researcher Richard Hull, per the report. Earning a Guinness World Record title at 12 years ought to be one of his greatest achievements, yet.

However, along with the praises came suspicion from FBI agents who reached Oswalt’s doorstep for some inspection one Saturday morning. They swept his house with a Geiger counter to check for any radiation exposure from Jackson’s experiments. “Fortunately I remained a free man,” he quipped. At present, Oswalt works on hardware for research labs like Midjourney, and AI technology. In a different video interview posted to the official channel of Guinness World Records (@guinnessworldrecords), he noted the potential of nuclear fusion in battling the climate crisis that seemed to consume the world today.

The young scientist said, “Hopefully, nuclear fusion will be cost-effective and a great source of energy that helps us stop climate change.” With over 1.7 million views, people shared their reactions to his feat in the comments. “The most impressive thing is how he convinced his parents to fund him,” asked one person (@_Crimon) while another (@colejones2267) joked, “Harvard’s not going to accept him he’s going to accept Harvard.”

You can follow @JacksonOswalt on X for more updates on his scientific endeavors.