Researchers dig deeper into stability challenges of nuclear fusion—with mayonnaise
Mayonnaise continues to help researchers better understand the physics behind nuclear fusion.
Mayonnaise continues to help researchers better understand the physics behind nuclear fusion.
General Physics
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One of NASA's key priorities is understanding the potential for life elsewhere in the universe. NASA has not found any credible evidence of extraterrestrial life—but NASA is exploring the solar system and beyond to help ...
Astrobiology
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When it comes to promising forms of energy, nuclear fusion checks all the boxes: it's clean, abundant, continuous and safe. It's produced when the lightweight nuclei of two atoms fuse together to form a heavier nucleus, releasing ...
Plasma Physics
Jul 17, 2024
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The fusion of two nuclei is a complex process influenced by many factors. These factors include not only the relative energy and angular momentum of the two nuclei, but also how their structures evolve as they collide. The ...
General Physics
Jul 15, 2024
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Nuclear fusion—when two nuclei combine to form a new nucleus, thereby releasing energy—may be the clean, reliable, limitless power source of the future. But first, scientists must learn how to control its production.
Plasma Physics
Jun 25, 2024
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16
A team of solar physicists at NYU Abu Dhabi's Center for Astrophysics and Space Science (CASS), led by Research Scientist Chris S. Hanson, Ph.D., has revealed the interior structure of the sun's supergranules, a flow structure ...
Astronomy
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108
Observing gravitational waves from neutron stars as they glitch could help us understand these exotic stellar remnants.
Astronomy
Jun 17, 2024
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Low-energy nuclear fusion reactions can potentially provide clean energy. In stars, low-energy fusion reactions during the stages of carbon and oxygen burning are critical to stellar evolution. These reactions also offer ...
General Physics
Jun 10, 2024
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Elements are the building blocks of every chemical in the universe, but how and where the different elements formed is not entirely understood. A new paper in The Astrophysical Journal by University of Wisconsin–Madison ...
Astronomy
Jun 10, 2024
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Fusion energy is released when two light nuclei combine to form a single heavier one (nuclear fusion reaction). Fusion energy-based power generation (fusion power plant) uses the energy generated when deuterium and tritium ...
Plasma Physics
Jun 10, 2024
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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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