Magneto-inertial fusion experiment nears completion
The Plasma Liner Experiment will soon test the potential for a novel plasma fusion concept, while offering insights into the physics of colliding plasma jets.
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A star is born: Using lasers to study how star stuff is made
On a typical day at the world's biggest laser you can find scientists casually making star-like conditions using 192 high-powered lasers. Stars in the universe are formed through a process called nucleosynthesis, which fuses lighter atoms to create new heavier atomic nuclei. Natural elements found here on Earth, such as helium and aluminum, were formed through this process inside of a star not unlike our own sun.
Read moreNew insights could help tame speedy ions in fusion plasmas
To create a practical fusion energy reactor, researchers need to control particles known as fast ions. These speedy ions, which are electrically charged hydrogen atoms, provide much of the self-heating ability of the reactor as they collide with other ions. But they can also quickly escape the powerful magnetic fields used to confine them and overheat the walls of the containment vessel, causing damage.
Read moreWorld record acceleration: Zero to 7.8 billion electron volts in 8 inches
To understand the fundamental nature of our universe, scientists would like to build particle colliders that accelerate electrons and their antimatter counterparts (positrons) to extreme energies (up to tera electron volts, or TeV). With conventional technology, however, this requires a machine that is enormously big and expensive (think 20 miles long). To shrink the size and cost of these machines, the acceleration of the particles — how much energy they gain in a given distance — must be increased.
Read moreTaking new angle to enable more efficient, compact fusion power plants
Researchers have demonstrated a new approach for injecting microwaves into a fusion plasma that doubles the efficiency of a critical technique that could have major implications for future fusion reactors. The results show that launching the microwaves into the plasma via a novel geometry delivers substantial improvements in the plasma current drive.
Read moreTaking a new tangent to control pesky waves in fusion plasmas
Fusion combines light elements in the form of plasma — the hot, charged state of matter composed of free electrons and atomic nuclei — to generate massive amounts of energy. One of the ways that scientists help heat the plasma is by injecting beams of energetic particles into tokamaks to provide enough energy for plasma particles to overcome mutual repulsion and fuse together.
Read moreFusion: Fuel injection helps reduce magnetic island instabilities
Fusion is a non-carbon-based process for energy production, where lighter atoms fuse into heavier ones. Fusion reactors operate by confining a 'soup' of charged particles, known as a plasma, within powerful magnetic fields. But these magnetic fields must contain the plasma long enough that it can be heated to extreme temperatures — hotter than the sun — where fusion reactions can occur.
Read moreRemarkable story of shock wave physics in post-World War II America
Physicists predicted the Hubble Space Telescope would see a rising vapor plume as the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet crashed into the far side of Jupiter in 1994. And sure enough, the plume produced by the impact matched their computational analysis.
Read moreMaking connections: Bringing astrophysical processes down to Earth
Magnetic reconnection, a process in which magnetic field lines tear and come back together, releasing large amounts of kinetic energy, occurs throughout the universe. The process gives rise to auroras, solar flares and geomagnetic storms that can disrupt cell phone service and electric grids on Earth. A major challenge in the study of magnetic reconnection, however, is bridging the gap between these large-scale astrophysical scenarios and small-scale experiments that can be done in a lab.
Read moreVolcanic ash sparks a new discovery
Imagine you're getting ready to fly to your favorite vacation destination when suddenly a volcano erupts, sending massive amounts of volcanic ash into the atmosphere, and forcing the cancellation of your flight. That's exactly what happened in April 2010 when Eyjafjallajokull, a volcano in Iceland, erupted and disrupted air travel in Europe for 6 days. Scientists are now using plasma physics to predict the characteristics of these hazardous ash plumes.
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