Showcasing 'star factory'

Americans are allowed to visit a powerful laser system capable of producing the same pressure and temperature environment as the stars in the universe.

The largest laser machine in the world is about the size of a football field. Photo: AP .

The National Ignition Facility is on display at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, USA on May 29. Arnold Schwarzenegger, California Governor, is one of several thousand people attending the event. 'We invented the world's largest laser system. Thanks to that we can create stars on Earth , "Schwarzenegger said.

The National Ignition Facility is about the size of a football stadium. It has 192 laser generators. When 192 lasers travel at 300,000 km / s and converge at a point the size of a chopstick, they create super-high temperatures and pressures (100 million degrees Celsius and 100 billion atmospheres). Such terrible temperatures and pressures can only be produced by fusion in the core of stars or supergiant planets.

US officials say the National Ignition Facility's primary task is to track US nuclear arsenals. In addition, it can serve many other types of scientific research, such as developing clean energy and exploring the universe. This system will enable scientists to perform experiments that were once thought impossible. It can produce fusion reactions - one of the most extreme and endless sources of energy.

"Creating ground-based fusion for energy production has been the goal pursued by atomic professionals for more than half a century." The birth of the National Ignition Facility is a historic breakthrough. " Said Edward Moses, director of the National Ignition Facility.

Many international conventions prohibit the conduct of nuclear tests. To study the processes involved in nuclear explosions, scientists must use computer models. The data provided by the National Ignition Facility will make the models more realistic.

Construction of the National Ignition Facility began in 1997. The US Department of Energy funds this project.