 Nuclear fusion. In nuclear physics, nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei are combined to form one or more different atomic nuclei and subatomic particles, neutrons or protons. The difference in mass between the reactants and products is manifested as either the release or absorption of energy. This difference in mass arises due to the difference in atomic binding energy between the atomic nuclei before and after the reaction. Fusion is the process that powers active for main sequence stars, or other high magnitude stars. A fusion process that produces the nucleus lighter than iron 56 or nickel 62 will generally yield the net energy release. These elements have the smallest mass per nucleon and the largest binding energy per nucleon, respectively. Fusion of light elements toward these releases energy and exothermic process while a fusion producing nuclei heavier than these elements will result in energy retained by the resulting nucleons, and the resulting reaction is endothermic. The opposite is true for the reverse process, nuclear fusion. This means that the lighter elements, such as hydrogen and helium, are in general more fusible, while the heavier elements, such as uranium, thorium and plutonium, are more fissionable. The extreme astrophysical event of a supernova can produce enough energy to fuse nuclei into elements heavier than iron. In 1920, Arthur Heddington suggested hydrogen-helium fusion could be the primary source of stellar energy. Quantum tundling was discovered by Friedrich Hunt in 1929, and shortly afterwards Robert Atkinson and Fritz Hauer Manns used the measured masses of light elements to show that large amounts of energy could be released by fusing small nuclei. Building on the early experiments in nuclear transmutation by Ernest Rutherford, laboratory fusion of hydrogen isotopes was accomplished by Marple Ethan in 1932. In the remainder of that decade, the theory of the main cycle of nuclear fusion in stars were worked out by Hans Bethe. Research in diffusion for military purposes began in the early 1940s as part of the Manhattan Project. Fusion was accomplished in 1951 with the greenhouse-item nuclear test. Nuclear fusion on a large scale in an explosion was first carried out on November 1, 1952, in the I.D. Mike hydrogen bomb test. Research into developing controlled thermonuclear fusion for civil purposes began in Ernest in the 1940s, and it continues to this day.