What were you doing when you were 12? Probably playing video games, watching Disney Channel, or just being a kid. But Jackson Oswalt from Memphis, Tennessee? Yeah, he had a slightly different experience.
One day, Jackson had what he called a ‘sudden epiphany.’
Instead of getting into movies or comic books like a lot of other kids, Jackson threw himself into something way bigger. He found what he described as ‘the closest thing to video games in real life: science.’
A video game obsession led to an unexpected realization
According to the Guinness World Records website, he explained: “I realized that I could be the absolute best at whatever video game, but in the end it still wouldn’t mean much. In the grand scheme of things, video games had no role to play. So, I changed my ways.”
Science became his new passion
While most kids his age were obsessing over superhero movies, Jackson had a different idea. He wanted something that felt real, something exciting. To him, science was the closest thing to that.
He learned nuclear fusion by watching YouTube videos
Once he was hooked, he went all in. He spent hours watching YouTube videos about nuclear fusion, researching materials, and figuring out if he could actually pull it off himself.
The science behind nuclear fusion is fascinating
If you weren’t exactly a science prodigy at 12, here’s a quick rundown: Nuclear fusion is when atomic nuclei smash together under extreme heat and pressure, creating new nuclei and neutrons.
This process releases (or sometimes absorbs) a whole lot of energy.
Building a demo fusor was his first major step
Jackson shared his progress on X, explaining: “The first step was to build a ‘demo fusor’, or a device that creates plasma but doesn’t achieve fusion. This required a vacuum chamber, vacuum pump, and a neon sign transformer with a homemade AC-DC converter.”
“I ended up bringing this version to my school’s science fair. I only got it working the night before. In hindsight, it’s amazing they let me walk in the door with it.”
Years of testing finally led to success
He spent more than a year testing his experiment, buying materials, and figuring things out. Then, in 2018 — just one day before his 13th birthday — Jackson officially became the youngest person to achieve nuclear fusion.
His work was verified by Fusor.net, The Open Source Fusor Research Consortium.
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The FBI knocked on his door one morning
As if building a nuclear reactor at 12 wasn’t wild enough, things took another crazy turn when two FBI agents showed up at his house one Saturday morning.
Word had gotten out about what Jackson had pulled off, and the FBI wanted to make sure he hadn’t accidentally turned his house into a radiation zone. They brought a Geiger counter and checked his home for radiation risks.
His journey continued into AI research
Luckily, that was the end of the FBI drama. “Fortunately I remained a free man,” Jackson joked.
Fast-forward seven years, and Jackson is still working in science. These days, he’s involved in AI research and hardware development at Midjourney, proving that his childhood experiment was just the beginning.
