The Final Obstacle to (Nearly) Infinite Energy

The Final Obstacle to (Nearly) Infinite Energy

From PBS Space Time by PBS

June 12, 2026 · 26 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the advancements in fusion energy technology and the remaining challenges in achieving nearly infinite energy.

Thanks to Radiacode for sponsoring this video. Use the promo code "PBS" to get an exclusive 10% discount at: https://103.radiacode.com/PBS They say fusion is 50 years away, no matter when you ask. Then why are billions suddenly being pumped into fusion startups? Yes to train LLMs, but there's a reason the technobrats are bullish on fusion in particular. The fact is, the technological challenges have been chipped away and in many cases solved over the past decades, and there's really no one deal-breaker difficulty remaining. One of the final challenges is deciding on the physical vessel to contain our mini artificial stars--and we have some pretty sci-fi options that are nearly ready to go. PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to:http://to.pbs.org/DonateSPACE Sign Up on Patreon to get access to the Space Time Discord! https://www.patreon.com/pbsspacetime Check out the Space Time Merch Store https://www.pbsspacetime.com/shop Sign up for the mailing list to get episode notifications and hear special announcements! https://mailchi.mp/1a6eb8f2717d/spacetime Search the Entire Space Time Library Here: https://search.pbsspacetime.com/ Hosted by…

People in this episode

Host: Matt O'Dowd

Topics covered

  • fusion energy
  • technological challenges
  • energy solutions
  • artificial stars
  • startup investments

Keywords

  • fusion
  • energy
  • technology
  • startups
  • challenges
  • artificial stars
  • PBS

Sponsors

Radiacode

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: PBS

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