Modelling HIV fusion
An interdisciplinary team of researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has used robust computer simulations to understand how HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, fuses with the host cell membrane. Published in the Journal of Chemical Informa.....»»
Shaping up nicely: Adjusting the plasma edge can improve the performance of a star on Earth
While trying out a new device that injects powder to clean up the walls of the world's largest stellarator, a twisty fusion device known as Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) in Greifswald, Germany, scientists were pleased to find that the bits of atoms confined.....»»
Intense correlationship proved between irradiation damage and performances of tritium breeding materials
Severe irradiation environment would bring damage to the microstructure of the materials and affect the stable operation and tritium recovery of fusion reactor. Therefore, the efficient tritium production from tritium breeding materials is the guaran.....»»
Could Fusion Energy Provide a Safer Alternative to Nuclear Power?
"One way to help eliminate carbon emissions and thereby fight global warming may be to exploit fusion, the energy source of the sun and stars..." argues a new article in Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (shared by Slashdot reader DanDrollette). Th.....»»
Machine learning IDs mammal species with the potential to spread SARS-CoV-2
Back and forth transmission of SARS-CoV-2 between people and other mammals increases the risk of new variants and threatens efforts to control COVID-19. A new study, published today in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, used a novel modelling approa.....»»
Finally, a Practical Use for Nuclear Fusion
Researchers used the roiling temperatures of an experimental fusion reactor for a surprising purpose—testing heat shield materials for spacecraft......»»
Calling all "fusioneers"! New US fusion energy website launches
The U.S. Fusion Outreach Team, a grassroots organization in the fusion community focused on reducing barriers to outreach efforts, has launched a new centralized website to engage an expanding workforce, media, educators, and the public in the journe.....»»
Visualizing the microscopic world of fast ions in fusion devices
The U.S. scientific community is currently conceptualizing the first nuclear fusion power plants, which will revolutionize energy production. Like the sun and stars, a fusion power plant will produce energy by fusing light elements, like hydrogen, in.....»»
Integrating hot cores and cool edges in fusion reactors
Future fusion reactors have a conundrum: maintain a plasma core that is hotter than the surface of the sun without melting the walls that contain the plasma. Fusion scientists refer to this challenge as "core-edge integration." Researchers working at.....»»
Unveiling the steady progress toward fusion energy gain
The march towards fusion energy gain, required for commercial fusion energy, is not always visible. Progress occurs in fits and starts through experiments in national laboratories, universities, and more recently at private companies. Sam Wurzel, a T.....»»
Harnessing hot helium ash to drive rotation in fusion reactors
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 (an impurity in the plasma th.....»»
Feeling the heat: Fusion reactors used to test spacecraft heat shields
Spacecraft have long used heat shields for protection during entry into planetary atmospheres. Future missions to the outer solar system will need more sophisticated materials than currently exist. The extreme heating conditions needed to study new s.....»»
Researchers at the brink of fusion ignition at National Ignition Facility
After decades of inertial confinement fusion research, a record yield of more than 1.3 megajoules (MJ) from fusion reactions was achieved in the laboratory for the first time during an experiment at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LLNL) Nat.....»»
Neutral particles a drag on disruptive plasma blobs
For decades, scientists have been working to harness clean, renewable fusion energy, which occurs naturally in stars like our sun. Using strong magnetic fields to confine hot plasmas within a donut-shaped device called a tokamak, researchers can gene.....»»
Upgraded code reveals a source of damaging fusion disruptions
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and Los Alamos National Laboratory have uncovered a key process behind a major challenge called thermal quenches, the rapid heat loss in hot plasmas that can oc.....»»
Passive-aggressive: New coil stands ready to tame runaway electrons
In the race toward practical fusion energy, tokamaks (donut-shaped plasma devices) are the leading concept—they have achieved better confinement and higher plasma temperatures than any other configuration. Two major magnetic fields are used to cont.....»»
Jet from giant galaxy M87: Computer modelling explains black hole observations
The galaxy Messier 87 (M87) is located 55 million light years away from Earth in the Virgo constellation. It is a giant galaxy with 12,000 globular clusters, making the Milky Way's 200 globular clusters appear modest in comparison. A black hole of si.....»»
Organoids: The future of disease modelling?
Organoid technologies have become a powerful emerging tool to model liver diseases, for drug screening, and for personalized treatments. Assoc. Prof. Tamer Önder of Koç University and his team generated and characterized the hepatic organoid cultur.....»»
New research looks at process of magnetic flux generation in ICF implosions
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers now have a better understanding on how strong the magnetic fields are in an inertial confinement fusion (ICF) implosion at the National Ignition Facility (NIF), the world's most energetic lase.....»»
New computer modelling could boost drug discovery
Scientists from Queen's University Belfast have developed a computer-aided data tool that could improve treatment for a range of illnesses......»»
Researchers report argon fluoride laser fusion research findings
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 sources because it can.....»»