If you thought working for Gucci was the most impressive facet of web developer Mark Suppes' resume, think again.
The 32-year-old New Yorker has just become the 38th "amateur physicist" to create nuclear fusion -- a concept that "has eluded some of the finest scientific minds on the planet," BBC News reports.
Nuclear Fusion, otherwise known as the "holy grail of energy production," occurs when atoms release energy after being forced together. The catch: every nuclear fusion reactor created has taken in more energy than it's given off. Suppes plans to change that, as he attempts to construct the first "break-even" reactor.
According to the Daily News,
Suppes began constructing his device two years ago, using $35,000 worth of parts he purchased on eBay. He bought an additional $4,000 worth of parts with money he raised on a Web site that connects investors to inventors.
"I was inspired because I believed I was looking at a technology that could actually work to solve our energy problems, and I believed it was something that I could at least begin to build," he said.
But Suppes' Brooklyn neighbors need not be worried. Writes the BBC,
Scientists say devices like Mr. Suppes' pose no real threat to neighbouring communities or the environment because they contain no nuclear materials, such as uranium or plutonium.
Click here to see a BBC video about Suppes and his creation.