See also stories tagged with Nuclear fusion
For decades, astronomers lumped brown dwarfs into a single category defined by mass alone—too big to be classified as planets but too small to become stars. However, this definition ignores the two very different mechanisms ...
A popular myth about black holes is that they act like giant cosmic vacuum cleaners, sucking in everything around them. But Wladimir Lyra's research found a new mechanism around supermassive black holes that is more like ...
More than 70% of massive stars are born in close binary systems, where gravitational tugs and mass transfer between companions dramatically alter their evolution. Yet once the interaction ends—whether through mass transfer, ...
Fusion systems need inner walls that can withstand extreme heat. One promising solution uses liquid lithium to protect the walls, held like water in a sponge made of the exceptionally strong metal tungsten. An advanced manufacturing ...
Jupiter's moon Io is the most volcanically active planetary body in the solar system, boasting hundreds of active volcanoes that spew molten lava into space. This activity results from a process called tidal heating, in which ...
"Dead stars" known as white dwarfs have already shown the potential to help us better understand how planetary systems, including our own solar system, take shape and evolve. Now, research from the University of Michigan ...
Fusion at high temperatures powers the sun and, if harnessed, could provide a potential source of energy here on Earth. But controlling fusion reactions has other benefits. The process also generates subatomic particles called ...
A new study led by astronomers at The University of Texas at Austin proposes a theory that could solve two astronomical riddles at once: the nature of Little Red Dots and the origin of globular clusters. Rather than representing ...
Imagine trying to trap a miniature star inside a machine without letting it touch the walls or burn itself out. This is the central, high-stakes challenge of high-temperature plasma engineering.
If you're looking for hydrogen on the elemental chart, it won't take you long to find it. It is right there at the beginning, the lightest possible material. One electron, one proton—that's it. Simple, minimalistic, the Marie ...
