With 192 lasers and temperatures more than three times hotter than the center of the sun, scientists hit—at least for a fraction of a second—a key milestone on the long road toward nearly pollution-free fusion energy.
Plasma Physics
Jan 26, 2022
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2740
Scientists have discovered a remarkably simple way to suppress a common instability that can halt fusion reactions and damage the walls of reactors built to create a "star in a jar." The findings, published in June in the ...
Plasma Physics
Aug 18, 2017
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660
Scientists announced Tuesday that they have for the first time produced more energy in a fusion reaction than was used to ignite it—a major breakthrough in the decades-long quest to harness the process that powers the sun.
Plasma Physics
Dec 13, 2022
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972
Nuclear physics usually involves high energies, as illustrated by experiments to master controlled nuclear fusion. One of the problems is how to overcome the strong electrical repulsion between atomic nuclei which requires ...
Plasma Physics
Dec 5, 2019
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237
Researchers in the US have finally fulfilled an objective that was set decades ago: the achievement of "ignition"—getting more energy out than you put in—using nuclear fusion.
General Physics
Dec 15, 2022
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72
A major roadblock to producing safe, clean and abundant fusion energy on Earth is the lack of detailed understanding of how the hot, charged plasma gas that fuels fusion reactions behaves at the edge of fusion facilities ...
Plasma Physics
May 22, 2020
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185
Scientists seeking to bring fusion—the power that drives the sun and stars—down to Earth must first make the state of matter called plasma superhot enough to sustain fusion reactions. That calls for heating the plasma ...
Plasma Physics
Apr 21, 2018
154
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Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have found a way to build powerful magnets smaller than before, aiding the design and construction of machines that could help ...
Superconductivity
Jul 25, 2022
1
703
The march towards fusion energy gain, required for commercial fusion energy, is not always visible. Progress occurs in fits and starts through experiments in national laboratories, universities, and more recently at private ...
Plasma Physics
Nov 8, 2021
3
53
A key challenge for scientists striving to produce on Earth the fusion energy that powers the sun and stars is preventing what are called runaway electrons, particles unleashed in disrupted fusion experiments that can bore ...
Plasma Physics
Aug 5, 2021
10
272
