In fusion reactor designs, superconductors (which suffer no resistive power loss) are used to generate the magnetic fields that confine the 100 million degree C plasma. While increasing magnetic field strength offers potential ...
Plasma Physics
Nov 10, 2015
1
94
(Phys.org)—It was a big week for physics—a research team at MIT created a superfluid in a record-high magnetic field—a Bose-Einstein condensate—for a tenth of a second. And another team at MIT announced a new design ...
It's an old joke that many fusion scientists have grown tired of hearing: Practical nuclear fusion power plants are just 30 years away—and always will be.
Plasma Physics
Aug 10, 2015
174
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A two-year, $3.8 million award has been received by Sandia National Laboratories and the University of Rochester's Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) to hasten the day of low-cost, high-yield fusion reactions for energy ...
General Physics
Jun 29, 2015
2
79
Magnetic reconnection could be the Universe's favorite way to make things explode.
Space Exploration
Mar 11, 2015
14
130
Stars like the Sun begin their lives as cold, dense cores of dust and gas that gradually collapse under the influence of gravity until nuclear fusion is ignited. Exactly how the critical collapse process occurs in these embryos, ...
Astronomy
Feb 16, 2015
0
82
The first ever landing of a man-made probe onto a comet has been named Physics World Breakthrough of the Year for 2014.
General Physics
Dec 12, 2014
2
0
Fusion energy almost sounds too good to be true – zero greenhouse gas emissions, no long-lived radioactive waste, a nearly unlimited fuel supply.
General Physics
Oct 8, 2014
515
0
(Phys.org) —Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories' Z machine have produced a significant output of fusion neutrons, using a method fully functioning for only little more than a year.
Plasma Physics
Sep 22, 2014
61
0
Space is not empty. A wind of charged particles blows outwards from the Sun, carrying a magnetic field with it. Sometimes this solar wind can break through the Earth's magnetic field. Researchers at the Swedish Institute ...
Space Exploration
Jun 10, 2014
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