http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. A researcher at the Universidad politécnica de Madrid (UPM, Spain) has patented a nuclear fusion reactor by inertial confinement that, apart from be used to generate electric power in plants, can be applied to propel ships. http://phys.org/news277387595.html Technology Mon, 14 Jan 2013 12:06:41 EST news277387595 France has been held up, worldwide, as the forerunner in using nuclear fission to produce electricity. However, a third of the nation's nuclear reactors will need replacing in the next decade, and public opinion has shifted toward reducing reliance on nuclear power. In a special issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, published by SAGE four articles explore whether France has the means or desire to unplug from nuclear power. http://phys.org/news276784062.html Technology Mon, 07 Jan 2013 12:28:00 EST news276784062 (Phys.org)—In future it may be easier for chemists, biologists and physicists to obtain the ideal substance with which to clarify numerous research issues. For the first time, a team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart, Jacobs University Bremen and the University of Augsburg have been able to apply a new method to separate hydrogen and its heavier isotope deuterium more efficiently than before. To this effect, they use a metal-organic framework as a quantum sieve to separate the isotopes. Deuterium serves to determine the structure of unknown substances, for example. Chemists also use it to investigate how reactions involving hydrogen proceed and thus create the basis on which to optimise the conversion. Biologists use deuterium to analyse metabolic processes, among other things. http://phys.org/news273951568.html Physics Wed, 05 Dec 2012 17:39:43 EST news273951568 (Phys.org)—New hardware lets engineers maintain the plasma used in fusion reactors in an energy-efficient, stable manner, making the system potentially attractive for use in fusion power plants. http://phys.org/news269189633.html Physics Thu, 11 Oct 2012 15:54:06 EST news269189633 University of Texas at Austin physicists have been awarded a U.S. patent for an invention that could someday be used to turn nuclear waste into fuel, thus removing the most dangerous forms of waste from the fuel cycle. http://phys.org/news266743135.html Technology Thu, 13 Sep 2012 08:19:06 EST news266743135 Power from nuclear fusion reactors has the promise to be safe, sustainable and limitless. But science has not been able to bring fusion energy to the commercial energy market. This is partly because the operating limits of the reactor materials are not known. http://phys.org/news266587360.html Technology Tue, 11 Sep 2012 13:02:57 EST news266587360 Imagine a world without man-made climate change, energy crunches or reliance on foreign oil. It may sound like a dream world, but University of Tennessee, Knoxville, engineers have made a giant step toward making this scenario a reality. http://phys.org/news258371927.html Physics Fri, 08 Jun 2012 10:58:58 EST news258371927 Researchers from the University of Bonn have just shown how a single atom can be split into its two halves, pulled apart and put back together again. While the word "atom" literally means "indivisible," the laws of quantum mechanics allow dividing atoms - similarly to light rays - and reuniting them. The researchers want to build quantum mechanics bridges by letting the atom touch adjacent atoms while it is being pulled apart so that it works like a bridge span between two pillars. The results have just been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://phys.org/news258110942.html Physics Tue, 05 Jun 2012 10:29:15 EST news258110942 American researchers have shown that prospective magnetic fusion power systems would pose a much lower risk of being used for the production of weapon-usable materials than nuclear fission reactors and their associated fuel cycle. http://phys.org/news252213551.html Physics Thu, 29 Mar 2012 04:19:28 EST news252213551 The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima atomic plant Thursday played down fears of an uncontrolled chain reaction at the site, despite the discovery of evidence of recent nuclear fission. http://phys.org/news239548810.html Technology Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:00:01 EST news239548810 (PhysOrg.com) -- More than 100 years since superconductivity was discovered, a comprehensive description for the behavior of a broad class of fundamental physical systems that exhibit the bizarre properties of superconductivity and superfluidity has been developed. Superconductivity and superfluidity are quantum mechanical phenomena in systems composed of a very large number of microscopic particles that can be observed with the "naked eye." Remarkable features of these systems include electrical flow with no resistance, or special fluids that creep up the sides of a container and overflow with no external influence. http://phys.org/news228027176.html Physics Thu, 23 Jun 2011 05:55:41 EST news228027176 Scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU, Germany) have built what is currently the strongest source of ultracold neutrons. Ultracold neutrons (UCNs) were first generated here five years ago. They are much slower than thermal neutrons and are characterized by the fact that they can be stored in special containers. This property makes them important tools for experiments to investigate why matter dominates over antimatter in our universe and how the lightest elements were created directly after the Big Bang. "We have commissioned a new UCN source and improved the overall procedure so that we can now generate and store considerably more ultracold neutrons than before and more than anybody else," says Professor Werner Heil of the Institute of Physics at Mainz University. Having so far managed to achieve a density of ten UCN per cubic centimeter, the Mainz research team of chemists and physicists has become one of the global leaders in this research field. http://phys.org/news226838206.html Physics Thu, 09 Jun 2011 11:40:15 EST news226838206 University of Washington physicists are detecting radioactivity from Japanese nuclear reactors that have been in crisis since a mammoth March 11 earthquake, but the levels are far below what would pose a threat to human health. http://phys.org/news220708676.html Physics Wed, 30 Mar 2011 12:58:17 EST news220708676 (AP) -- Minuscule amounts of radiation from Japan's stricken nuclear plant have reached the west coast but federal and state officials say it poses no health risk. http://phys.org/news219927143.html Medicine & Health Mon, 21 Mar 2011 11:53:11 EST news219927143 A radiation monitor in California detected a "minuscule" amount of an isotope from Japan's crippled nuclear power plant, officials said Friday, but insisted it was of no concern. http://phys.org/news219692311.html Space & Earth Fri, 18 Mar 2011 18:38:53 EST news219692311 (PhysOrg.com) -- When working properly, nuclear reactors produce large amounts of heat via nuclear fission reactions. The heat converts the surrounding water into steam, which turns turbines and generates electricity. But if you remove the water, you also remove the most important cooling element in a nuclear reactor and open up the possibility for nuclear meltdown. http://phys.org/news219575973.html Technology Thu, 17 Mar 2011 10:19:52 EST news219575973 (PhysOrg.com) -- Currently, commercial nuclear power plants generate electricity using nuclear fission, in which an atom’s nucleus is split into lighter nuclei. But scientists are also researching the reverse reaction, nuclear fusion, in which two light atomic nuclei fuse to form a single heavier nucleus. Compared with fission, fusion has the potential to produce less radioactive waste while still generating large amounts of energy. http://phys.org/news219387538.html Physics Tue, 15 Mar 2011 06:50:01 EST news219387538 Materials scientists and engineers from six UK universities are joining forces to forecast the life expectancy of nuclear power reactors. http://phys.org/news217158329.html Technology Thu, 17 Feb 2011 10:00:07 EST news217158329 An international collaboration led by the University of Leuven, Belgium, exploiting ISOLDE’s radioactive beams, has recently discovered an unexpected new type of asymmetric nuclear fission, which challenges current theories. The surprising result opens the way for new nuclear structure models and further theories to elucidate the question. http://phys.org/news214489281.html Physics Mon, 17 Jan 2011 12:21:32 EST news214489281 (PhysOrg.com) -- Nuclear fission, or the splitting of a heavy nucleus, usually results in symmetrical fragments of the same mass. Physicists attribute the few known examples of fission that is asymmetric to the formation in the resultant fragments of "magic" nuclei, which are extremely stable nuclei with all energy levels filled. Now, experiments at the European particle physics laboratory at the Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) near Geneva in Switzerland have found the isotope mercury-180 splits asymmetrically into ruthenium-100 and krypton-80 rather than the expected zirconium-90. http://phys.org/news210832834.html Physics Mon, 06 Dec 2010 06:40:02 EST news210832834 Speak to enough scientists, and you hear the words 'Monte Carlo' a lot. "We ran the Monte Carlos," a researcher will say. What does that mean? http://phys.org/news193301202.html Other Sciences Mon, 17 May 2010 09:00:03 EST news193301202 (AP) -- Radioactive water that leaked from the nation's oldest nuclear power plant has now reached a major underground aquifer that supplies drinking water to much of southern New Jersey, the state's environmental chief said Friday. http://phys.org/news192527592.html Space & Earth Sat, 08 May 2010 09:20:01 EST news192527592 Medical equipment used for diagnosis of patients with heart disease and cancer could be a key weapon in stopping nuclear waste seeping into the environment, according to new research. http://phys.org/news183987638.html Space & Earth Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:41:22 EST news183987638 Ever wanted to see a nuclear reactor core in action? A new computer algorithm developed by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory allows scientists to view nuclear fission in much finer detail than ever before. http://phys.org/news183389151.html Physics Fri, 22 Jan 2010 13:26:43 EST news183389151 (PhysOrg.com) -- As the world's oil supply continues to dry out every day, the question of what will replace oil and other fossil fuels is becoming more and more urgent. According to the World Coal Institute, at the present rate of consumption, coal will run out in 130 years, natural gas in 60 years, and oil in 42 years. Around the world, researchers are investigating alternative energy technologies with encouraging progress - but the question still remains: which source(s) will prove to be most efficient and sustainable in 30, 50, or 100 years from now? http://phys.org/news170326193.html Technology Mon, 24 Aug 2009 09:50:47 EST news170326193 Physicists at The University of Texas at Austin have designed a new system that, when fully developed, would use fusion to eliminate most of the transuranic waste produced by nuclear power plants. http://phys.org/news152284917.html Physics Tue, 27 Jan 2009 13:22:37 EST news152284917