Taylor Wilson
Taylor Wilson (born May 7, 1994 in Texarkana (Arkansas) ) is an American student. He made headlines in 2008 when, at the age of 14, he was the youngest person to build a working " nuclear fusion reactor ". These are so-called fusor experiments for fusion with electrostatic confinement . Construction of such systems is a popular, albeit challenging, project by hobbyists, and Wilson is the 32nd hobbyist to have succeeded in the construction.
life and career
Wilson began experimenting in physics early on, especially bombing, radioactivity, and nuclear engineering. His parents have no scientific background (his father Kenneth is an entrepreneur, his mother a yoga teacher) and tried in vain to dissuade the very ambitious and impudent student from his dangerous hobby. Showing some talent, he was accepted into the Davidson Academy of Nevada for gifted students, where he came into contact with physicists from the University of Nevada at Reno such as Friedwardt Winterberg . With the support of technicians from the university, he succeeded in building a deer meeks fuser , like several hobbyists had done before. He also had more intensive contact with one of them in Los Alamos and received support from industry in procuring the necessary expensive high-voltage parts.
In his own words, his motive for building the fusor was allegedly the cheaper production of isotopes against cancer. The fusor itself, whose ideas go back to the television engineer Philo T. Farnsworth in the 1960s, is unsuitable for generating energy from fusion, but it can be used as a neutron source, for example. Taylor also demonstrated his fusor to US President Barack Obama at a Science Fair in the White House.
He also developed a neutron detector that does not require expensive helium-3 and could be used to track down radioactive bombs smuggled in freight containers. Wilson submitted a patent for this invention and won the First Place Award in the Physics and Astronomy Category , Best of Category Award , and the $ 50,000 Intel Young Award at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair Scientist Award ". The US Homeland Security Agency also showed interest.
Currently (2012) he is studying at the University of Nevada in Reno and at the Davidson Academy of Nevada .
In March 2012 he presented his previous work at a TED conference , in February 2013 he presented his future projects for TED.
He left college after receiving a $ 100,000 Thiel Fellowship and is a member of a think tank for ambitious technological projects called Helena . Most recently he has been working on a molten salt reactor .
Web links
- Taylor Wilson's homepage , English
- "Until it crashes!" , Biographical report, Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin , issue 13/2012
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Teen nuclear scientist fights terror , CNN .com, September 1, 2011
- ↑ http://www.worldrecordsacademy.org/youngest/youngest_nuclear_scientist_Taylor_Wilson_sets_world_record_112465.html
- ↑ Fusor.net
- ↑ Magazin der SZ, Issue 13, 2012, see web link
- ↑ https://www.ted.com/talks/taylor_wilson_yup_i_built_a_nuclear_fusion_reactor.html
- ↑ http://www.ted.com/talks/taylor_wilson_my_radical_plan_for_small_nuclear_fission_reactors.html
- ↑ Haley Zaremba: Meet the 23-year-old nuclear physicist who is tackling energy's biggest problem , Business Insider / Oil Price.com, November 7, 2017
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wilson, Taylor |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American student |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 7, 1994 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Texarkana, Arkansas |