All efforts to replicate in tokamak fusion facilities the fusion energy that powers the sun and stars must cope with a constant problem—transient heat bursts that can halt fusion reactions and damage the doughnut-shaped ...
Plasma Physics
Jun 17, 2020
5
77
A major roadblock to producing safe, clean and abundant fusion energy on Earth is the lack of detailed understanding of how the hot, charged plasma gas that fuels fusion reactions behaves at the edge of fusion facilities ...
Plasma Physics
May 22, 2020
10
185
Researchers have found that injecting pellets of hydrogen ice rather than puffing hydrogen gas improves fusion performance at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility, which General Atomics operates for the U.S. Department of ...
Plasma Physics
Mar 10, 2020
1
104
Electric solid propellants are being explored as a safer option for pyrotechnics, mining, and in-space propulsion because they only ignite with an electric current. But because all of these applications require high heat, ...
Materials Science
Feb 12, 2020
0
14
Billions of years ago, in the center of a galaxy cluster far, far away (15 billion light-years, to be exact), a black hole spewed out jets of plasma. As the plasma rushed out of the black hole, it pushed away material, creating ...
Astronomy
Dec 24, 2019
25
886
A major issue with operating ring-shaped fusion facilities known as tokamaks is keeping the plasma that fuels fusion reactions free of impurities that could reduce the efficiency of the reactions. Now, scientists at the U.S. ...
Plasma Physics
Dec 23, 2019
33
957
Scientists who use magnetic fields to bottle up and control on Earth the fusion reactions that power the sun and stars must correct any errors in the shape of the fields that contain the reactions. Such errors produce deviations ...
Plasma Physics
Aug 6, 2019
26
609
Physicists recently investigated the behavior of particles in a dusty plasma at a temperature below 2 degrees K. The experiment showed that at extremely low temperatures, nanoclusters can form in the plasma, and the synthesis ...
Plasma Physics
Mar 28, 2019
0
10
Rice University physicists have created the world's first laser-cooled neutral plasma, completing a 20-year quest that sets the stage for simulators that re-create exotic states of matter found inside Jupiter and white dwarf ...
Plasma Physics
Jan 3, 2019
2
258
Methane gas released from landfills has long been a topic of interest for alternative energy. One issue, however, is that landfill gases contain numerous contaminants, such as volatile methyl siloxanes, whose silica deposits ...
Plasma Physics
Nov 6, 2018
2
5
