TEEN GOES NUCLEAR: He creates fusion in his Oakland Township home

This seems to be legit, although I was unable to verify that he was a runner up in the Siemens competition. You can read about Philo Taylor Farnsworth on time.com and the wiki article on him includes info on his fusor which injects "high temperature" ions directly into a reaction chamber.? "On November 9, 2006, Robert W. Bussard gave a speech at Google with more details on his team's results."? As far as I know, no one has created a fusion reaction yet which produces more energy than it takes to sustain. That's the holy grail of alternative energy.

In fact, on www.fusor.net, the Stoney Creek [Thiago Olson] senior is ranked as the 18th amateur in the world to create nuclear fusion. So, how does he do it? Pointing to the steel chamber where all the magic happens, Thiago said on Friday that this piece of the puzzle serves as a vacuum. The air is sucked out and into a filter.Then, deuterium gas -- a form of hydrogen -- is injected into the vacuum. About 40,000 volts of electricity are charged into the chamber from a piece of equipment taken from an old mammogram machine. As the machine runs, the atoms in the chamber are attracted to the center and soon -- ta da -- nuclear fusion. Thiago said when that happens, a small intense ball of energy forms. He first achieved fusion in September and has been perfecting the machine he built in his parents' garage ever since.

This year, Thiago was a semifinalist for the Siemens Foundation's National Research Competition. He plans to enter the Science and Engineering Fair of Metropolitan Detroit, which is in March, in hopes of qualifying to be in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in New Mexico in May.

... Thiago's mom, Natalice Olson, initially was leery of the project, even though the only real danger from the fusion machine is the high voltage and small amount of X-rays emitted through a glass window in the vacuum chamber -- through which Olson videotapes the fusion in action.. But, she wasn't really surprised, since he was always coming up with lofty ideas.

"Originally, he wanted to build a hyperbaric chamber," she said, adding that she promptly said no. But, when he came asking about the nuclear fusion machine, she relented. "I think it was pretty brave that he could think that he was capable to do something so amazing," she said.

Thiago's dad, Mark Olson, helped with some of the construction and electrical work. To get all of the necessary parts, Thiago scoured the Internet, buying items on eBay and using his age to persuade manufacturers to give him discounts. The design of the model came from his own ideas and some suggestions from other science-lovers he met online.

Someday, he hopes to work for the federal government -- just like his grandfather, Clarence Olson, who designed tanks for the Department of Defense after World War II. Thiago, who is modest and humble about his accomplishment, said he knew from an early age what he would do for a living. " - freep