Nuclear Fusion

While it's estimated that millions worldwide suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome, a test for the condition still doesn't exist. That could be set to change with the release of a new study that finds the condition's fingerprint in the gut microbiome.

The dream of the ancient alchemists may come true as Marathon Fusion announces that its tokamak fusion reactor technology can turn common mercury into gold as a byproduct of fusion operations in quantities that would make Auric Goldfinger blush.

The insides of nuclear fusion reactors are violent and chaotic places. A new cold-spray coating can take the heat and also trap some rogue hydrogen particles at the same time, potentially making for smaller, better plasma chambers.

As the question of how to make a laser fusion reactor practical rises, scientists at the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) have come up with a way for fusion lasers to essentially manufacture their own fuel pellets.

It seems China's Chang'E-5 robotic Moon mission has discovered more than water on the lunar surface. Scientists have confirmed the discovery of a new mineral, a transparent crystal named Changesite-(Y), as well as a promising potential fusion fuel.

The US NRL is developing an Argon Fluoride laser that may one day make fusion power a practical by delivering the incredible temperatures required for a self-sustaining fusion reaction, with enough efficiency to make the process worthwhile.

The UK government is looking for a site on which to build the world's first prototype commercial fusion power plant, which it hopes to have operational by 2040. If you think sounds ambitious, you're right.

Borexino, a huge underground particle detector in Italy, has picked up a never-before-seen type of neutrino coming from the Sun. These neutrinos confirm a 90-year-old hypothesis and complete our picture of the fusion cycle of the Sun and other stars.

Another year is winding up, so it's time to look back at the scientific breakthroughs that excited us this year. From innovative new materials that open the door to more advanced tools and products, to discoveries that continue to push the borders of human knowledge, 2018 didn't fail to deliver.

Researchers have broken the efficiency record for nuclear fusion on the micro-scale. Using an ultra-fast, high-powered laser, the results were about 500 times more efficient than previous experiments. The researchers blasted arrays of nanowires to create incredibly hot, dense plasmas.

Using the most powerful X-ray-generating machine on the planet, researchers have reproduced what happens to matter just before it is devoured by a black hole. Their findings show that a long-standing theory regarding the giant gravitational sinkholes may be completely wrong.

The challenges scientists face in getting nuclear fusion to work here on Earth are undeniably difficult, but not insurmountable, and two young physicists have recently solved one of the major problems engineers have been grappling with for almost half a century.