Chinese scientists have set a new record for artificial sun technology – nearly doubling the burn time of extremely hot plasma in near perfect conditions. The team generated and maintained the plasma at a temperature 10 times that of the sun’s core for more than 100 seconds, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) said in a statement. The experiment was conducted at the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak facility in Hefei, Anhui province, where the previous world record – maintaining that temperature for about a minute – was set last year. Similar experiments in other countries have created plasmas that lasted longer but were less stable and difficult to control for the purpose of power generation. “This is a breakthrough” and consolidated China’s position as a world leader in fusion technology research, the Academy said. It would lay the foundation to begin building the country’s first experimental fusion power plant, it added.