Oceans, covering a substantial portion of Earth's surface and hosting a diverse range of life, also contain a dispersed population of uranium ions. Extracting these ions from seawater could provide a sustainable fuel source for nuclear power generation.Scientists, as reported in ACS Central Science, have developed a material for electrochemical extraction that efficiently attracts...
A Stellar Achievement: Unveiling the Magnificence of the KSTAR (Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research) Device. Credit: Korea Institute of Fusion Energy (KFE)The Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR), situated in Daejeon, South Korea, continues to push the boundaries of nuclear fusion research. Recently, significant upgrades have been introduced to enhance its capabilities, enabling the...
Japan marked a significant milestone on December 1 with the inauguration of JT-60SA, currently the world's largest operational superconducting tokamak. Shaped like a donut, a tokamak is a nuclear fusion reactor, and this new facility, developed in collaboration with the European Union (EU), serves as a precursor to the under-construction International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor...
In the particles examined, the shape of the cluster depends on how strongly the orientation of the particles influences their propulsion speed. Credit: Physical Review Letters (2023). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.168203Physicists have demonstrated that the reliance of active particles' propulsion speed on their orientation leads to the formation of clusters in various shapes within multi-particle systems. This discovery...
NIF Target Area operators inspect a final optics assembly (FOA) during a routine maintenance period. Each FOA contains four integrated optics modules that incorporate beam conditioning, frequency conversion, focusing, diagnostic sampling, and debris shielding capabilities into a single compact assembly. Credit: Jason Laurea / LLNLScientists have produced a fusion reaction that led to a...
Fig. 1: Schematic view of the 3He+ ion’s external and internal magnetic interactions. Background: microwave radiation. Credit: MPIIn joint experimental-theoretical research published in Nature, physicists at the Heidelberg Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics (MPIK), together with collaborators from RIKEN, Japan, investigated the magnetic properties of the isotope helium-3. For the first time, the electronic and...
Nuclear fusion. Credit: The Conversation.The reinforcement learning algorithm, which controls the scorching plasma within a tokamak nuclear fusion reactor, was developed by an AI company backed by Google.The interior of a tokamak– the doughnut-shaped vessel created to include a nuclear fusion reaction– presents a unique type of chaos. Hydrogen atoms are shattered together at...
Researchers have developed self-assembled, protein-based circuits that can do simple logic functions in proof-of-concept research. The work demonstrates that it is possible to develop stable digital circuits that benefit from an electron's properties at quantum scales.Molecular circuitsOne of the stumbling blocks in developing molecular circuits is that the circuits become unreliable as the circuit...
Scientists have been upgrading the Large Hadron Collider (pictured) for the past few years. On April 22, they successfully directed protons through the upgraded accelerator. Credit: Scientific American.After a three-year recess, protons have begun circulating once more in the particle acceleratorAfter a respite of over three years, the Large Hadron Collider is back.The Large...
Fusion could create more energy than any other process that could be produced on Earth. Credit: ShutterstockThere has been significant excitement about recent results from the Joint European Torus (JET) facility in the UK, suggesting that the dream of nuclear fusion power is inching closer to reality. We know that fusion works-- it is the...
