This spring, a team in California will attempt to ignite a tiny man-made star inside a laboratory and trigger a thermonuclear reaction. In an experiment that will cost millions, these scientists will try to activate a tiny man made star that will imitate sun by setting off a thermonuclear reaction.

“We are creating the conditions that exist inside the sun,” Ed Moses, director of the the National Ignition Facility (NIF) stated. “It is like tapping into the real solar energy as fusion is the source of all energy in the world. It is really exciting physics, but beyond that there are huge social, economic and global problems that it can help to solve.”

If this experiment is successful, recreating the sun’s power could potentially provide an answer to the world’s impending energy shortage.