Fusion

The structure that will house one of the largest and most ambitious energy experiments in history is now complete, with engineers working on the ITER Tokamak Building swinging their last pylon into place in readiness for the reactor's assembly stage.

Nuclear fusion could be an essentially unlimited energy source, but large eruptions in the plasma can damage reactors. But now physicists have found a way to prevent those large eruptions, by triggering lots of small ones through the injection of tiny pellets of beryllium.

Tokamak reactors and fusion stellarators are a couple of the experimental devices used in pursuit of nuclear fusion, but scientists at the University of Washington are taking a far less-frequented route known as a Z-pinch, with the early signs pointing to a cheaper and more efficient path forward. ​

Another year is winding up, so it's time to look back at the scientific breakthroughs that excited us this year. From innovative new materials that open the door to more advanced tools and products, to discoveries that continue to push the borders of human knowledge, 2018 didn't fail to deliver.

Scientists working on the cutting edge Wendelstein 7-X nuclear fusion reactor are reporting the experimental device has achieved its highest energy density and the longest plasma discharge times for device of this type, marking another step forward in the quest for clean fusion power. ​​

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.