With 192 lasers and temperatures more than three times hotter than the center of the sun, scientists hit—at least for a fraction of a second—a key milestone on the long road toward nearly pollution-free fusion energy.
Plasma Physics
Jan 26, 2022
9
2740
In the first millionths of a second after the Big Bang, the universe was a roiling, trillion-degree plasma of quarks and gluons—elementary particles that briefly glommed together in countless combinations before cooling ...
Plasma Physics
Jan 21, 2022
8
3148
To make fusion energy a viable resource for the world's energy grid, researchers need to understand the turbulent motion of plasmas: a mix of ions and electrons swirling around in reactor vessels. The plasma particles, following ...
Plasma Physics
Jan 6, 2022
1
937
In the quest for fusion energy, understanding how radio-frequency (RF) waves travel (or "propagate") in the turbulent interior of a fusion furnace is crucial to maintaining an efficient, continuously operating power plant. ...
Plasma Physics
Nov 11, 2021
0
302
A large international team of researchers has proven that fragments of splitting atomic nuclei begin spinning after scission occurs during nuclear fission. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the group describes ...
On the path to writing his Ph.D. dissertation, Lucio Milanese made a discovery—one that refocused his research, and will now likely dominate his thesis.
Plasma Physics
Jan 13, 2021
0
1195
Two and a half years ago, MIT entered into a research agreement with startup company Commonwealth Fusion Systems to develop a next-generation fusion research experiment, called SPARC, as a precursor to a practical, emissions-free ...
Plasma Physics
Sep 29, 2020
23
3855
Nearly 50 years ago, Brown University physicist Michael Kosterlitz and his colleagues used the mathematics of topology—the study of how objects can be deformed by stretching or twisting but not tearing or breaking—to ...
Plasma Physics
May 14, 2020
12
286
New research from the University of Rochester will enhance the accuracy of computer models used in simulations of laser-driven implosions. The research, published in the journal Nature Physics, addresses one of the challenges ...
Plasma Physics
Dec 2, 2019
2
1041
Kinetic instabilities commonly arise from anisotropic (different properties in different directions) electron velocity distributions within ionospheric, cosmic and terrestrial plasmas. But only a handful of experiments have ...
