Stars are born from clouds of gas and dust that collapse under their own gravitational attraction. As the cloud collapses, a dense, hot core forms and begins gathering dust and gas, creating an object called a "protostar."
Astronomy
Nov 18, 2021
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A team of researchers from Tri Alpha Energy Inc. and Google has developed an algorithm that can be used to speed up experiments conducted with plasma. In their paper published in the journal Scientific Reports, the group ...
This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image captures a portion of the reflection nebula IC 2631 that contains a protostar, the hot, dense core of a forming star that is accumulating gas and dust. Eventually the protostar may gravitationally ...
Astronomy
Nov 15, 2021
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In controlled nuclear fusion, heavy isotopes of hydrogen fuse into helium, releasing a huge amount of energy in the process. A large portion of the energy released by a laboratory fusion reaction goes into hot helium ash ...
Plasma Physics
Nov 08, 2021
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U.S. Naval Research Laboratory experts race toward sustainable clean energy with advances in fusion energy. Steve Obenschain, Ph.D., a research physicist at NRL, said nuclear fusion would be a valuable addition to clean energy ...
Plasma Physics
Oct 26, 2021
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A new permanent magnet design of quasi-axisymmetric stellarator was made by researchers led by Prof. Xu Guosheng from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
General Physics
Oct 08, 2021
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Sometimes in research, just as in other areas of life, answers to fundamental questions can be sitting in plain sight. Researchers from Japan have discovered a key piece of the puzzle of plant evolution previously overlooked ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 29, 2021
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Teams working on two continents have marked similar milestones in their respective efforts to tap an energy source key to the fight against climate change: They've each produced very impressive magnets.
General Physics
Sep 09, 2021
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Astronomers have found dramatic evidence that a black hole or neutron star spiraled its way into the core of a companion star and caused that companion to explode as a supernova. The astronomers were tipped off by data from ...
Astronomy
Sep 02, 2021
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Nuclear fusion is regarded as the energy of the future. It does not emit CO2, it is safe and it provides a lot of energy that can easily supply large cities with electricity. Nuclear fusion is very interesting in theory, ...
Plasma Physics
Sep 02, 2021
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In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fusion is the process by which multiple like-charged atomic nuclei join together to form a heavier nucleus. It is accompanied by the release or absorption of energy, which allows matter to enter a plasma state.
The fusion of two nuclei with lower mass than iron (which, along with nickel, has the largest binding energy per nucleon) generally releases energy while the fusion of nuclei heavier than iron absorbs energy; vice-versa for the reverse process, nuclear fission. In the simplest case of hydrogen fusion, two protons have to be brought close enough for their mutual electric repulsion to be overcome by the nuclear force and the subsequent release of energy.
Nuclear fusion occurs naturally in stars. Artificial fusion in human enterprises has also been achieved, although has not yet been completely controlled. Building upon the nuclear transmutation experiments of Ernest Rutherford done a few years earlier, fusion of light nuclei (hydrogen isotopes) was first observed by Mark Oliphant in 1932; the steps of the main cycle of nuclear fusion in stars were subsequently worked out by Hans Bethe throughout the remainder of that decade. Research into fusion for military purposes began in the early 1940s as part of the Manhattan Project, but was not successful until 1952. Research into controlled fusion for civilian purposes began in the 1950s, and continues to this day.
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