Fusion vessels have a Goldilocks problem: The plasma within needs to be hot enough to generate net power, but if it’s too hot, it can damage the vessel’s interior. Researchers at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) are exploring ways to draw away excess heat, including several methods that use liquid metal.
One possibility, say researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy Lab, involves flowing liquid lithium up and down a series of slats in tiles lining the bottom of the vessel. The liquid metal could also help to protect the components that face the plasma against a bombardment of particles known as neutrons.
“The prevailing option for an economical commercial fusion reactor is a compact design,” said PPPL’s Egemen Kolemen, co-author of a 2022 paper on the research and an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment. However, compactness makes handling the heat flux and neutron bombardment a bigger challenge.
The challenges posed by solar and wind generators are real. They are inherently variable, producing electricity only when the sun is shining and the wind is blowing. To ensure reliable energy supplies, grids dominated by renewables need “firming” capacity: back-up technology that can supply electricity on demand.
Some, including the Albanese government, argue gas-fired generators are needed to fill the gap. Others, such as the Coalition, say renewables can’t “keep the lights on” at all and Australia should pursue nuclear energy instead.
But a new way to firm up the world’s electricity grids is fast developing: sodium-ion batteries. This emerging energy storage technology could be a game-changer – enabling our grids to run on 100% renewables.
The challenges posed by solar and wind generators are real. They are inherently variable, producing electricity only when the sun is shining and the wind is blowing. To ensure reliable energy supplies, grids dominated by renewables need “firming” capacity: back-up technology that can supply electricity on demand.
Some, including the Albanese government, argue gas-fired generators are needed to fill the gap. Others, such as the Coalition, say renewables can’t “keep the lights on” at all and Australia should pursue nuclear energy instead.
But a new way to firm up the world’s electricity grids is fast developing: sodium-ion batteries. This emerging energy storage technology could be a game-changer – enabling our grids to run on 100% renewables.
Low-energy nuclear fusion reactions are influenced by the migration of neutrons and protons between fusing nuclei and their isospin compositions. Research conducted using high-performance computational models has shown the importance of isospin dynamics and nuclear shapes, particularly in asymmetric, neutron-rich systems, revealing significant implications for nuclear physics and potential energy applications.
Low-Energy Nuclear Fusion
Low-energy nuclear fusion reactions can potentially provide clean energy. In stars, low-energy fusion reactions during the stages of carbon and oxygen burning are critical to stellar evolution. These reactions also offer valuable insights into the exotic processes occurring in the inner crust of neutron stars as they accumulate matter. However, scientists do not fully understand the underlying dynamics governing these reactions.
To put the forecasted demand into context, consider this: A recent MIT study found that a single data center consumes electricity equivalent to 50,000 homes. Estimates indicate that Microsoft, Amazon, and Google operate about 600 data centers in the U.S. today…
Arguments exist that by 2030, 80% of renewable power sources will fulfill electricity demand. For reference, the U.S. generated roughly 240 billion kilowatt hours of solar and 425 billion kilowatt hours of wind, totaling 665 billion kilowatt hours in 2023. Assuming a 50/50 split between wind and solar, that scenario implies that, to satisfy the U.S. electricity demand that adequately facilitates AI competitiveness, wind and solar will have to generate approximately 3.4 trillion kilowatt hours of electricity each. That is more than a ten-fold increase over the next five years. The EIA highlights that the U.S. planned utility-scale electric-generating capacity addition in 2023 included 29 million kilowatts of solar (54% of the total) and 6 million kilowatts of wind (11% of the total), which pales in comparison to the estimated amount required.
It just doesn’t get much more clear; renewables cannot begin to supply the energy needed for AI data centers. Only fossil fuels and nuclear can get the job done. It’s that simple. AI is not something global elites are going to let slide by. They’ve had a good run with the Big Green Grift but those days are going to gradually (maybe not so gradually) come to an end, as the demand for energy to power AI forces a reconsideration.
The concept of traveling beyond the speed of light has been given theoretical grounding through the Alcubierre warp drive. Proposed by physicist Miguel Alcubierre in the 1990s, this warp drive involves creating a space-time bubble around a spacecraft. By contracting space in front of the spacecraft and expanding it behind, the ship can ride a wave of space-time, seemingly achieving faster-than-light travel without breaking the cosmic speed limit. In essence, it’s the space around the ship that moves, not the ship itself, allowing for rapid traversal of vast distances.
The theoretical feasibility of the Alcubierre warp drive hinges on generating an immense amount of energy, currently beyond our technological capabilities. The ship’s warp core, similar to a nuclear reactor, would utilize matter and antimatter collisions to produce the necessary energy for warping space. While this concept was initially fictional, Alcubierre proposed a solution to Einstein’s Field Equation that aligned with the principles of the Star Trek Warp Drive.
Tech companies, including Amazon Web Services, are striking deals with U.S. nuclear power plants to secure electricity for their data centers, driven by the skyrocketing demands of artificial intelligence. This move promises 24/7 carbon-free power but stirs controversy, as it could divert existing energy supplies, raise prices, and increase reliance on natural gas. These nuclear-powered data centers might accelerate the AI race, but they also spark debates over economic development, grid reliability, and climate goals. Could this be the future of tech or a risky gamble with unforeseen consequences?
As reported by WSJ, tech businesses searching the country for electrical supplies have focused on one important target: America’s nuclear power facilities.
The owners of about one-third of the United States’ nuclear power reactors are in negotiations with technology companies about providing electricity to new data centers needed to satisfy the needs of an artificial intelligence boom.
#aliens #robots Welcome to an extraordinary exploration of artificial intelligence and its cosmic counterpart, the astro-chicken! Join me in this mind-blowing video where we delve into the captivating concept of interstellar colonization. You can find my book Gravity: From Falling Apples to Supermassive Black Holes here on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gravity-Fall… The Cosmic Mystery Tour here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cosmic-Myste… Artificial intelligences offers the only way to explore the stars. Humans are very delicate and not at all suited to interstellar travel. After all, it is a long long way to the stars. The nearest star is 40 trillion kilometres away. The distance between the stars is too great for it to be feasible to travel so far within human lifespans. The limitations of our biology will prevent us from exploring deep space in person. Although we might like to fantasize about traveling from star system to star system with Captain Kirk, it is almost inconceivable that any humans will ever reach the stars. But maybe there is another way to colonize the galaxy. The British theoretical physicist Freeman Dyson certainly thought so. In the 1960s Dyson, who was one of the architects of quantum electrodynamics — our best theory of electromagnetism — speculated that any sufficiently advanced civilisation would explore the galaxy by launching fleets of autonomous self-replicating robots. There are, of course, many advantages to sending robots rather than humanoids. Robots are more robust than organic lifeforms, they never get bored, and they require far less in the way of maintenance and life support systems. They can survive in harsh environments, and they are adaptable — they can be upgraded. Robots equipped with artificial intelligence could operate autonomously and perform tasks that are impossible for humans, and they could survive indefinitely. Robots could also be miniaturized so they would require far less propulsion to send them on their way. Dyson’s robots would take a blueprint or template that would enable them to create more self-replicating robots. On arrival at a suitable asteroid or planet they would establish a base and set up a means of generating and storing energy. They would then extract and refine minerals and eventually build factories with assembly lines for creating more autonomous robots, each with its own copy of the blueprint, and a propulsion system for the colonization of other star systems. Dyson called these robots astro-chickens. They would travel between the stars as cosmic eggs, hatch on arrival at a suitable destination, then create and disperse the next generation of cosmic eggs. There is no reason, in principle, why super-advanced civilizations could not create such robot explorers. They could attain high speeds as cosmic eggs using some sort of nuclear fusion engine, perhaps. The diameter of our galaxy is about 100,000 light years. Traveling between stars at a significant fraction of the speed of light, the astro-chickens could colonize the entire galaxy in under one million years, which is not long by astronomical or evolutionary time-scales. So where are the astro-chickens? No artefact of an alien civilization has ever been discovered. But, if alien civilizations exist, it might be easier to find their robot descendants than the original aliens. Maybe they are closer than we think. In fact, I have already created my own design for an autonomous, self-replicating robot, which you can witness here on my laptop. Prepare to be enthralled!
