nuclear fusion

13 Stories

'Artificial Sun' Breaks Record at 180M Degrees

Scientists are moving toward 'critical point' in fusion energy researchers

(Newser) - Nuclear fusion researchers in South Korea call it an "artificial sun"—but it burns much hotter than the real one. Scientists say the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research reactor—the KSTAR—recently broke a record it set in 2021: It sustained plasma at 180 million degrees Fahrenheit, or...

Lab Says It Replicated Fusion Breakthrough at Least 3 Times
'Holy Grail' of
Clean Energy
Was No Fluke
in case you missed it
Dec 24, 2023 4:15 PM CST

'Holy Grail' of Clean Energy Was No Fluke

Lab says it's replicated fusion milestone at least 3 times

(Newser) - A year ago, researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California said they had achieved a net energy gain in a fusion reaction—a breakthrough seen as the "holy grail" of clean energy. The lab has now demonstrated that the achievement, known as ignition, was no fluke, Nature...

Scientists May Have Achieved 'Holy Grail' of Clean Power
US Scientists Confirm
a Fusion Milestone
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Dec 17, 2022 5:30 AM CST

US Scientists Confirm a Fusion Milestone

Livermore team achieves a net energy gain for the time ever

(Newser) - They did it: Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California have made history in the quest to harness fusion, reports the AP . Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm announced Tuesday that researchers achieved a net energy gain in a fusion reaction for the first time in history. It's a huge...

Nuclear Fusion Feat Moves Us One 'Huge Step' Forward

Scientists manage to generate the biggest amount of energy ever from fusion

(Newser) - We are now "a huge step closer to conquering one of the biggest scientific and engineering challenges of them all," according to the CEO of the UK Atomic Energy Authority: developing "practical" nuclear fusion, as the BBC puts it. Nuclear fusion is the energy process that powers...

Dream of Achieving Fusion Hits 2 Milestones

One team in France and another at MIT have super-powerful magnets

(Newser) - 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, per the AP .
  • In France: On Thursday, scientists at the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor in southern France took
...

Lockheed Claims Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough

Says first compact reactors could be ready for use in 10 years; some are skeptical

(Newser) - Lockheed Martin announced yesterday that it has made what Reuters calls a "technological breakthrough" in the area of compact nuclear fusion. The upshot is that reactors "small enough to fit on the back of a truck" could be here within 10 years. As Forbes explains, nuclear fusion combines...

Energy Source Could Power Earth 'for 30M Years'

But ITER, a thermonuclear plant, faces all sorts of challenges

(Newser) - Hoping scientists will find a brilliant alternative to oil and coal? How about a thermonuclear reactor that will hit temperatures ten times hotter than the sun and "could solve the world's energy problems for the next thirty million years," writes Raffi Khatchadourian in the New Yorker . The...

Big Step Toward Fusion: Lab's Laser Creates Mini-Star

In first, scientists get more energy out than put in

(Newser) - After years of frustration, scientists have finally made a breakthrough in the quest to harness the same fusion energy that powers the sun. Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory say that by pointing the world's most powerful laser at a peppercorn-sized target, they unleashed a huge amount of...

Scientists Building 'Star' on Earth

Project could solve planet's energy problems

(Newser) - A series of key experiments over the past few weeks have brought scientists closer to the holy grail of energy production—a working fusion reactor, or, in layman’s terms “a miniature star on Earth.” The National Ignition Facility in Livermore, Calif., thinks it can deliver on that...

Brooklyn Man Builds Nuclear Reactor

Amateur physicist creates fusion with parts bought on eBay

(Newser) - After a hard day at the office, Brooklyn man Mark Suppes likes to unwind by tinkering with his pet project: a homemade nuclear reactor. Suppes built the fusion reactor after spending $40,000 on eBay buying parts. The machine—which joins atoms instead of splitting them—produces energy, although like...

North Korea Claims to Have Created 'Artificial Sun'

Scientists highly skeptical

(Newser) - North Korea says it has discovered the secrets of nuclear fusion, allowing it to create an “artificial sun” able to produce untold amounts of energy—which would be quite a feat for a country that currently lacks the power to keep the lights on at night. Nuclear fusion, the...

Scientists Creating Star to Solve Energy Woes

Giant laser will zap mini-sun into existence

(Newser) - Scientists are planning to use the world's largest laser to zap a tiny star into existence on Earth. The project at California's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory aims to create nuclear fusion by firing the giant laser at hydrogen isotopes. This would, theoretically, cause a miniature sun capable of filling all...

Amateur 'Fusioneers' Explore Energy Future

Small basement reactors aren't power source, yet

(Newser) - Frank Sanns has an unusual hobby: He’s trying to prove nuclear fusion is a viable energy source. At the center of his search is a working, homemade nuclear reactor. “I’m a dreamer,” the Pittsburgh native tells the Wall Street Journal. Sanns is part of an exclusive...

13 Stories