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Plasma Physics news
Validating the physics behind the new MIT-designed fusion experiment
Two and a half years ago, MIT entered into a research agreement with startup company Commonwealth Fusion Systems to develop a next-generation fusion research experiment, called SPARC, as a precursor to a practical, emissions-free ...
Plasma Physics
Sep 29, 2020
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Scientists develop forecasting technique that could help advance quest for fusion energy
Bringing the power of the sun to Earth requires sound theory, good engineering, and a little finesse. The process entails trapping charged, ultra-hot gas known as plasma so its particles can fuse and release enormous amounts ...
General Physics
Sep 23, 2020
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Inducing plasma in biomass could make biogas easier to produce
Producing biogas from the bacterial breakdown of biomass presents options for a greener energy future, but the complex composition of biomass comes with a long list of challenges.
Plasma Physics
Sep 22, 2020
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109
Promising computer simulations for stellarator plasmas
The turbulence model called Gyrokinetic Electromagnetic Numerical Experiment (GENE), developed at Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) at Garching, Germany, has proven to be very useful for the theoretical description ...
Plasma Physics
Sep 21, 2020
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1627
A magnetic field with an edge
A team of Indian and Japanese physicists have overturned the six-decade old notion that the giant magnetic field in a high intensity laser produced plasma evolves from the small, nanometre scale in the bulk plasma. They show ...
Plasma Physics
Sep 14, 2020
3
276
Researchers find unexpected electrical current that could stabilize fusion reactions
Electric current is everywhere, from powering homes to controlling the plasma that fuels fusion reactions to possibly giving rise to vast cosmic magnetic fields. Now, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton ...
Plasma Physics
Sep 04, 2020
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6184
Low-temperature plasma device may lead to more efficient engines
Low-temperature plasmas offer promise for applications in medicine, water purification, agriculture, pollutant removal, nanomaterial synthesis and more. Yet making these plasmas by conventional methods takes several thousand ...
Plasma Physics
Sep 04, 2020
2
127
Tungsten isotope helps study how to armor future fusion reactors
The inside of future nuclear fusion energy reactors will be among the harshest environments ever produced on Earth. What's strong enough to protect the inside of a fusion reactor from plasma-produced heat fluxes akin to space ...
General Physics
Aug 28, 2020
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992
Revised code could help improve efficiency of fusion experiments
An international team of researchers led by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) has upgraded a key computer code for calculating forces acting on magnetically confined plasma in ...
Plasma Physics
Aug 26, 2020
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7
World record: Plasma accelerator operates right around the clock
A team of researchers at DESY has reached an important milestone on the road to the particle accelerator of the future. For the first time, a so-called laser plasma accelerator has run for more than a day while continuously ...
Plasma Physics
Aug 19, 2020
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4979
New findings could help scientists tame damaging heat bursts in fusion reactors
Picture strong wind blowing against a tree until it's knocked down. Such action would mimic the process that causes damaging heat bursts called edge localized modes (ELMs) to flare up in fusion facilities called tokamaks, ...
Plasma Physics
Aug 18, 2020
2
350
Scientists propose method for eliminating damaging heat bursts in fusion device
Picture an airplane that can only climb to one or two altitudes after taking off. That limitation would be similar to the plight facing scientists who seek to avoid instabilities that restrict the path to clean, safe and ...
Plasma Physics
Aug 12, 2020
3
119
Scientists propose a novel method for controlling fusion reactions
Scientists have found a novel way to prevent pesky magnetic bubbles in plasma from interfering with fusion reactions—delivering a potential way to improve the performance of fusion energy devices. And it comes from managing ...
Plasma Physics
Aug 04, 2020
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Team proposes new integrated power-exhaust control solution for fusion reactor steady-state operation
The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) team has proposed a new integrated control solution to tackle key problems in divertor power exhaust for the steady state operation of tokamak fusion reactor.
General Physics
Jul 30, 2020
0
12
First results of an upgraded device highlight lithium's value for producing fusion
Lithium, the silvery metal that powers smart phones and helps treat bipolar disorders, could also play a significant role in the worldwide effort to harvest on Earth the safe, clean and virtually limitless fusion energy that ...
Plasma Physics
Jul 29, 2020
3
106
France's global nuclear fusion device a puzzle of huge parts
A hugely ambitious project to replicate the energy of the sun is entering a critical phase, as scientists and technicians in southern France begin assembling giant parts of a nuclear fusion device, an international experiment ...
Plasma Physics
Jul 28, 2020
3
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Quest advances to recreate sun's energy on earth
Fourteen years after receiving the official go-ahead, scientists on Tuesday began assembling a giant machine in southern France designed to demonstrate that nuclear fusion, the process which powers the sun, can be a safe ...
General Physics
Jul 28, 2020
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3208
While birds chirp, plasma shouldn't: New insight could advance fusion energy
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have furthered understanding of a barrier that can prevent doughnut-shaped fusion facilities known as tokamaks from operating ...
Plasma Physics
Jul 22, 2020
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477
Twisting magnetic fields for extreme plasma compression
A new spin on the magnetic compression of plasmas could improve materials science, nuclear fusion research, X-ray generation and laboratory astrophysics, research led by the University of Michigan suggests.
Plasma Physics
Jul 15, 2020
0
131
Mathematical noodling leads to new insights into an old fusion problem
A challenge to creating fusion energy on Earth is trapping the charged gas known as plasma that fuels fusion reactions within a strong magnetic field and keeping the plasma as hot and dense as possible for as long as possible. ...
Plasma Physics
Jun 30, 2020
2
1462
More news
Scientists develop new tool to design better fusion devices
Scientists unravel challenge in improving fusion performance
Topological waves may help in understanding plasma systems
The exceptional origin of EUV light in hot tin plasma
Fossil fuel-free jet propulsion with air plasmas
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How lasers can help with nuclear nonproliferation monitoring
Fast reconnection in turbulent media
New detector breakthrough pushes boundaries of quantum computing
Problems with reproduction in birds
Coral's resilience to warming may depend on iron
Researchers use amino acids to grow high-performance copper thin films
