Taylor Wilson
Taylor Wilson
Taylor Wilsonis an American nuclear physicist and science advocate. In 2008, at age 14, he became the youngest person to produce nuclear fusion, using a fusor...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionScientist
Date of Birth7 May 1994
CityTexarkana, AR
CountryUnited States of America
astronaut designing excited exciting nuclear obsessed science
As a kid, I was obsessed with space. Well, I was obsessed with nuclear science too, to a point, but before that, I was obsessed with space, and I was really excited about, you know, being an astronaut and designing rockets, which was something that was always exciting to me.
hit nuclear science whatever
When I was 10 years old, that nuclear spark hit me. Whatever it may be, I really don't know what it was about nuclear science, but whatever it was that triggered that interest, it stuck. I went after that one with a passion.
accepts dedicated eight expect kid lives people perception point required scientific spent
These days, the scientific community accepts me. But getting to that point was tremendously hard, and I think it required a big perception shift. When people have dedicated their lives to something - and spent eight years in college - they just expect that a kid wouldn't be up to doing it.
built cheap developed extremely focused medical nuclear patients produce system
I've been focused on detecting nuclear terrorism at ports, in cargo containers, and I developed and built detectors that are extremely cheap and also very sensitive. My other big development is a system to produce medical isotopes that are injected into patients and used to diagnose and treat cancer.
There's nothing that's impossible to me. You can ask my parents.
scientists
If you look at the scientists who really make a difference, they think boldly. They're not afraid to question what they see.
developed device
I developed a counterterrorism device that's revolutionizing the way we detect nuclear materials.
design everybody knew passive
Everybody after Fukushima had to reassess the safety of nuclear. When I set out to design a reactor, I knew it had to be passive and intrinsically safe.
ended jar star united
I started out with a dream to make a star in a jar in my garage, and I ended up meeting the President of the United States!
fuels fusion grail holy nuclear
My holy grail is fusion energy. Nuclear fusion has little to no radioactive waste. It's clean. It's very abundant. The fuels are everywhere. There are problems with fusion.
fusion giant nuclear poetic power propel using
I think there's something really poetic about using nuclear power to propel us to the stars, because the stars are giant fusion reactors. They're giant nuclear cauldrons in the sky.
bring convinced energy fusion future incredible laboratory nuclear plant power
I really have become convinced that nuclear fusion is our energy future. It's so powerful. I mean, it is the power of the stars. If we could bring that down to the laboratory and to the power plant on Earth, that would be an incredible thing.
When I hold something that's radioactive, it's kind of an indescribable feeling. It's kind of like when I'm with my girlfriend.
bent boldness lose mean offend scientists
I don't mean to offend anybody, but I think that we get a lot of scientists now who are bent into a system, and we lose some of their boldness by that. Obviously, you have to learn the ropes, but I think it's important to do that without hammering out the radicalness that makes innovation happen.