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Plasma Physics news
New instrument could help scientists tailor plasma to produce more fusion heat
Creating heat from fusion reactions requires carefully manipulating the properties of plasma, the electrically charged fourth state of matter that makes up 99% of the visible universe.
Plasma Physics
Apr 30, 2024
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Physicists overcome two key operating hurdles in fusion reactions
A team of physicists from several institutions across the U.S. working with a colleague from China, at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility, in San Diego, California, has devised a way to overcome two key hurdles standing ...
Record electron temperatures for a small-scale, sheared-flow-stabilized Z-pinch fusion device achieved
In the nine decades since humans first produced fusion reactions, only a few fusion technologies have demonstrated the ability to make a thermal fusion plasma with electron temperatures hotter than 10 million degrees Celsius, ...
Plasma Physics
Apr 23, 2024
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Fusion-energy quest makes big advance with EU-Japan reactor
The inauguration of the world's most powerful fusion machine brings the dream of clean, safe and abundant power closer.
Plasma Physics
Apr 19, 2024
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Creating an island paradise in a fusion reactor
In their ongoing quest to develop a range of methods for managing plasma so it can be used to generate electricity in a process known as fusion, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics ...
Plasma Physics
Apr 16, 2024
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A return to roots: Lab builds its first stellarator in 50 years and opens the door for research into new plasma physics
For the first time, scientists have built a fusion experiment using permanent magnets, a technique that could show a simple way to build future devices for less cost and allow researchers to test new concepts for future fusion ...
Plasma Physics
Apr 2, 2024
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Plasma fusion: Adding just enough fuel to the fire
How much fuel can we add to the fire while still maintaining control? Metaphorically speaking, that's the question one team at the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) has been asking themselves ...
Plasma Physics
Mar 28, 2024
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New design prolongs the lifespan of plasma torches
Thanks to a new design contributed by a research team led by Prof. Zhao Peng from Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS) of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the operation time for plasma torch gas been extended from ...
Plasma Physics
Mar 20, 2024
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New research on tungsten unlocks potential for improving fusion materials
In the pursuit of clean and endless energy, nuclear fusion is a promising frontier. But in fusion reactors, where scientists attempt to make energy by fusing atoms together, mimicking the sun's power generation process, things ...
Condensed Matter
Mar 13, 2024
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Researchers generate super-fast electrons with table-top laser systems
In massive particle accelerators, sub-atomic particles (like electrons) are sped up to super-high speeds comparable to the speed of light towards a target surface. The collision of accelerated sub-atomic particles gives rise ...
Optics & Photonics
Mar 13, 2024
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Study shows inverting fusion plasmas improves performance
To become commercially viable, fusion power plants must create and sustain the plasma conditions necessary for fusion reactions. However, at high temperatures and densities, plasmas often develop gradients in those temperatures ...
Plasma Physics
Mar 12, 2024
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One way to improve a fusion reaction: Use weaknesses as strengths
In the Japanese art of Kintsugi, an artist takes the broken shards of a bowl and fuses them back together with gold to make a final product more beautiful than the original.
Condensed Matter
Mar 5, 2024
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Tests show high-temperature superconducting magnets are ready for fusion
In the predawn hours of Sept. 5, 2021, engineers achieved a major milestone in the labs of MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC), when a new type of magnet, made from high-temperature superconducting material, achieved ...
Superconductivity
Mar 4, 2024
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Plasma oscillations propel breakthroughs in fusion energy
Most people know about solids, liquids, and gases as the main three states of matter, but a fourth state of matter exists as well. Plasma—also known as ionized gas—is the most abundant, observable form of matter in our ...
Plasma Physics
Mar 4, 2024
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Researchers achieve real-time microscopic imaging during plasma treatment
An interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Antwerp (Belgium) successfully conducted in-situ studies with a plasma generated inside a scanning electron microscope (SEM). This marks the first time live SEM ...
Plasma Physics
Feb 28, 2024
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Novel theory-based evaluation gives a clearer picture of fusion in the sun
Most of the energy from the sun and other stars comes from a chain of nuclear fusion reactions. The end of this chain is marked by the fusion of protons with beryllium-7 to form boron-8. This process is key in determining ...
General Physics
Feb 26, 2024
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Scientists explain: What is inertial fusion energy?
Fusion is a natural phenomenon that provides our planet with much of its energy—generated millions of miles away in the center of our sun.
Plasma Physics
Feb 24, 2024
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In a doughnut in Japan, unlocking the power of the Sun
With its tangle of pipes and pumps leading to a metal pot the size of a five-storey building, Japan's JT-60SA machine looks to the untrained eye like a contraption from 1970s sci-fi.
Plasma Physics
Feb 22, 2024
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Engineers use AI to wrangle fusion power for the grid
In the blink of an eye, the unruly, superheated plasma that drives a fusion reaction can lose its stability and escape the strong magnetic fields confining it within the donut-shaped fusion reactor. These getaways frequently ...
Plasma Physics
Feb 21, 2024
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Plasma scientists develop computer programs that could reduce the cost of microchips, stimulate manufacturing
Fashioned from the same element found in sand and covered by intricate patterns, microchips power smartphones, augment appliances and aid the operation of cars and airplanes.
Plasma Physics
Feb 21, 2024
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More news
New design improves water decontamination via plasma jet
Researchers visualize energetic ion flow in fusion devices
Process for the optical analysis of trace gases optimized
Japanese experimental nuclear fusion reactor inaugurated
Compact accelerator technology achieves major energy milestone
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Lab repeats nuclear fusion feat, with higher yield
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AWAKE introduces a stronger wave to accelerate particles
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