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Fusion breakthrough as China's "artificial sun" reaches 100 million degrees

David Szondy November 14, 2018

The day of clean, limitless energy from nuclear fusion has taken another step closer after China's Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) reached a core plasma temperature of over 100 million degrees Celsius (180 million degrees Fahrenheit).

China's Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) achieved an electron temperature of over 100 million degrees Celsius ...

Energy

Wendelstein 7-X sets new record in its quest for practical fusion power

James Holloway June 28, 2018

The latest tidings from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, creators of the Wendelstein 7-X, are that a new record has been set for the fusion product – another significant step along the path to practical fusion power.

Another significant step along the path to practical fusion power

Energy

Milestone claimed as experimental nuclear reactor reaches temperature of the Sun

Nick Lavars June 7, 2018

A relatively new player on the nuclear fusion scene, a UK company called Tokamak Energy, is claiming a new milestone in the area after heating its ST40 device to 15 million degrees Celsius, similar to temperatures found at the center of the Sun.

Tokamak Energy hopes to hit temperatures of 100 million degrees Celsius inside its experimental nuclear reactor

Physics

Nanowire-zapping lasers unlock micro-scale nuclear fusion efficiency record

Michael Irving March 14, 2018

Researchers have broken the efficiency record for nuclear fusion on the micro-scale. Using an ultra-fast, high-powered laser, the results were about 500 times more efficient than previous experiments. The researchers blasted arrays of nanowires to create incredibly hot, dense plasmas.

The target chamber can be seen in the front of this image of the lab at ...

Physics

Monster x-ray machine blasts apart black hole theory

Michael Franco August 30, 2017

Using the most powerful X-ray-generating machine on the planet, researchers have reproduced what happens to matter just before it is devoured by a black hole. Their findings show that a long-standing theory regarding the giant gravitational sinkholes may be completely wrong.

Energy

Google's machine learning algorithm gets human help in quest for fusion power

Rich Haridy July 25, 2017

Google and Tri Alpha Energy, the world’s largest private fusion company, have joined forces to use machine learning algorithms in an attempt to bring us closer to achieving the dream of clean, unlimited fusion power.

Google has been using its machine learning algorithms to help speed up progress in research that ...

Physics

Putting the brakes on runaway electrons brings fusion power a step closer

Rich Haridy June 21, 2017

The challenges scientists face in getting nuclear fusion to work here on Earth are undeniably difficult, but not insurmountable, and two young physicists have recently solved one of the major problems engineers have been grappling with for almost half a century.

Runaway electrons can melt the solid metal walls of nuclear fusion reactors but a pair of ...

Science Feature

Gravitational waves, lab-grown bones and bullet-shredding foam: The year in science

Michael Franco December 27, 2016

Before 2016 gets rolled over by the tide of time, join us as we toast the most mind-boggling, world-changing, amazing advancements scientists made around the globe this year.

Artist's impression of the ripples in spacetime called gravitational waves, which were created in the final ...

Energy

Sandia Labs turns to tritium in quest for fusion power

David Szondy November 10, 2016

Sandia National Laboratories is raising the stakes in its quest to develop fusion power by introducing tritium into its experiments with its Z machine. Tritium, the heaviest of the three hydrogen isotopes promises to boost energy output by a factor of 500.

Two fast neutron radiation-effects cassettes aim toward the center of the containment system for tritium within ...

Automotive

Bojix F-150 headlines a fleet of spiffed-up Fords for SEMA

Scott Collie October 17, 2016

Ford is going all out for SEMA 2016, showing a fleet of modified cars at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Along with a set of tweaked Mustangs, the Fusion Sport and F-150 have both been comprehensively overhauled to look meaner, go faster and handle more off the beaten track.

Bojix Design has gone all-out on this F-150 4x4 Supercrew