Can you recall what you were doing at 12 years old?
As for me, I was eagerly awaiting the release of Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie and spent most nights playing on the Wii. But Jackson Oswalt, from Memphis, Tennessee, has quite a different story from his time as a 12-year-old.
You see, one day, when Jackson was just a tween, he had a sudden epiphany.
Jackson had an ‘epiphany’ about video games when he was a child (X/@JacksonOswalt)
According to the Guinness World Records website, he shared: “I realized that being the best at any video game wouldn’t hold much significance in the long run. In the broader picture, video games didn’t contribute meaningfully. So, I decided to shift my focus.”
Instead of diving into comic books or movies like many kids might, Jackson chose what he called “the real-life equivalent of video games: science.”
The pre-teen immersed himself in the world of science, devouring YouTube videos on nuclear fusion and studying materials that could help him replicate the process on his own.
For those who weren’t science-obsessed 12-year-olds like Jackson, nuclear fusion involves merging atomic nuclei under extreme pressure and heat, forming new nuclei and neutrons. This process then results in the release or absorption of energy.
Jackson achieved his Guinness World Record at 12 years old (YouTube/Guinness World Records)
Jackson recounted his journey to achieving nuclear fusion in a Twitter thread last year, writing: “The first step was to build a ‘demo fusor,’ a device that creates plasma but doesn’t actually achieve fusion. I needed a vacuum chamber, a 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 surprising they let me walk in with it.”
After gathering the materials and spending over a year testing his experiment, Jackson officially became the youngest person to achieve nuclear fusion in 2018, with his achievement — verified by Fusor.net, The Open Source Fusor Research Consortium — taking place just a day before his 13th birthday.
Impressive, right?
But if that wasn’t thrilling enough for a 12-year-old, things took an even stranger turn when Jackson was greeted one Saturday morning by two FBI agents.
After hearing about Jackson’s remarkable achievement, two agents visited his home and conducted a sweep with a geiger counter to ensure his experiments hadn’t caused any radiation issues.
Fortunately, the agency’s involvement didn’t extend much further.
“Luckily, I remained a free man,” Jackson joked.
Seven years later, the young scientist is now contributing to research labs like Midjourney, where he’s focusing on hardware development and AI research
