A Market Created by a Single Paper

For a Nobel Prize winner, making money seemed easy enough once he found the right method.

Most investors had plenty of experience and financial knowledge, but that did not mean they knew much about science. Sensible investors therefore tended either to avoid the field or to consult experts.

And in the eyes of ordinary people, there seemed to be no stronger mark of expertise than a Nobel Prize.

Under those circumstances, even a wildly dubious concept could draw a crowd of investors if a Nobel Prize winner endorsed it... even if they had no idea what they were getting into.

Controlled fusion was far from the only example.

Take blockchain, for instance, with all the hype surrounding it...

Lu Zhou had no idea how many people his paper had prompted, in less than a night, to leap from the small pit of controlled fusion into the much deeper pit of miniaturized controlled fusion. Nor did he know how many quick-thinking people had seized the opportunity and more than doubled their fortunes.

Almost overnight, the concept of controlled-fusion batteries took off across the Pacific Ocean, creating a market worth tens of billions.

Back home, there seemed to be little movement. Controlled fusion was still a sensitive technology, after all. Most private firms and venture capital companies could only watch from the sidelines, unable even to get a foot in the door, much less raise money by selling the concept.

Still, even if there was little fanfare, plenty was happening behind the scenes.

As the various research units began their work, the controlled-fusion battery project got on track.

Unlike the Demonstration Reactor Project, though, miniaturizing controlled fusion was not quite so urgent. Neither the government nor Lu Zhou was in a rush. He had plenty of time to study it at his