Scientists have managed to create a hydrogen gas that is three times hotter than the sun.
The artificial solar energy could eventually be used as an inexhaustible source of power, ending reliance on fossil fuels and solving the world energy crisis.
Chinese boffins created the gas in a huge magnetic fusion reactor at the Institute of Physical Science in Hefei.
Invented by Soviet scientists in the 1950s, the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) features a massive metallic doughtnut-shaped chamber twisted into a figure of eight.
Researchers were able to use the reactor to produce temperatures of 50 million Kelvins (49.999 million°C) and maintain them for 102 seconds.
The core of the sun is believed to around 15 million Kelvins.
Although a previous experiment by German scientists claims to have produced temperatures hotter than this, it was unable to sustain them for as long.
While the news is an important breakthrough, it could still take decades to perfect the process so that it can be used as a constant power source.
Image credit: Chinese Academy of Sciences