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Archive for the ‘nuclear energy’ category

Mar 16, 2024

Laser tech can make commercial nuclear fusion a reality, says firm

Posted by in category: nuclear energy

Tokamak Energy reveals new laser technology which will be installed on its world record-breaking ST40 nuclear fusion reactor.

Mar 12, 2024

Preventing magnet meltdowns before they can start

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, nuclear energy

The particle accelerators that enable high-energy physics and serve many fields of science, such as materials, medical, and fusion research, are driven by superconducting magnets that are, to put it simply, quite finicky.

Mar 10, 2024

Synchrotron nuclear facility saves big with massive solar push

Posted by in categories: nuclear energy, particle physics, solar power, sustainability

The Australian Synchrotron, a crown jewel of Australian scientific infrastructure, is making major strides towards sustainable energy independence. The nuclear research facility recently completed the installation of 3,200 solar panels which now blankets the facility’s rooftops. This move is expected to generate substantial savings and support Synchrotron’s world-class research.

The state-of-the-art particle accelerator has now gone green with a 1.59 MW/ 1,668 kWh rooftop solar system. The facility will save about $2 million in energy costs over the next five years.

Mar 10, 2024

Startup Says Its Coin-Sized Nuclear Battery Could Fly Drones “Continuously”

Posted by in categories: drones, nuclear energy

Imagine never having to change a battery in a device ever again — or, in fact, a battery that could outlive you.

That’s what Betavolt, a Chinese tech company, is claiming with its newly unveiled miniature nuclear battery that it says can keep working for up to 50 years.

The Beijing-based company claims to have entered the “pilot stage” for the battery, which is smaller than a coin and will soon put it into mass production.

Mar 9, 2024

New superconducting magnets ready for fusion reactions, say scientists

Posted by in categories: innovation, nuclear energy

Learn about the breakthrough superconducting magnets for fusion reactors developed by MIT researchers. Step into a future of clean energy.

Mar 9, 2024

Atom-powered cloud: Amazon data center gets 100% nuclear boost

Posted by in categories: computing, nuclear energy, particle physics

AWS to acquire nuclear-powered data center in Pennsylvania. Find out how this move will impact cloud services and energy consumption.

Mar 9, 2024

What is the big rip, and can we stop it?

Posted by in categories: cosmology, nuclear energy, particle physics

If two points were ripped apart faster than light, they would no longer interact through any force of physics. Whereas a constant dark energy would leave behind already-intact objects, like clusters of galaxies, phantom energy could tear them apart. In a finite amount of time, billions of years from now, clusters would tear apart, followed by ever-smaller objects. Even atomic and nuclear bonds would not withstand the onslaught.

Eventually, space itself would dissolve in an event known as the Big Rip. Any two points, no matter how close, would be ripped infinitely far away from each other. The very structure of space-time, the causal foundations that make our universe work, would no longer behave. The universe would just break down.

However, luckily, most physicists do not believe this scenario can actually happen. For one, it’s unclear how this process of ripping interacts with the other laws of physics. For example, quarks cannot be torn apart — when you attempt to do so, you need so much energy that new quarks materialize out of the vacuum. So ripping apart quarks just might lead to other, interesting interactions.

Mar 7, 2024

Plasma oscillations propel breakthroughs in fusion energy

Posted by in categories: nuclear energy, particle physics

Most people know about solids, liquids, and gases as the main three states of matter, but a fourth state of matter exists as well. Plasma—also known as ionized gas—is the most abundant, observable form of matter in our universe, found in the sun and other celestial bodies.

Creating the hot mix of freely moving electrons and ions that compose a often requires extreme pressures or temperatures. In these , researchers continue to uncover the unexpected ways that plasma can move and evolve. By better understanding the motion of plasma, scientists gain valuable insights into solar physics, astrophysics, and fusion.

In a paper published in Physical Review Letters, researchers from the University of Rochester, along with colleagues at the University of California, San Diego, discovered a new class of plasma oscillations—the back-and-forth, wave-like movement of electrons and ions. The findings have implications for improving the performance of miniature particle accelerators and the reactors used to create fusion energy.

Mar 3, 2024

Neural networks made of light: Research team develops AI system in optical fibers

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, nuclear energy, robotics/AI

Artificial intelligence is pivotal in advancing biotechnology and medical procedures, ranging from cancer diagnostics to the creation of new antibiotics. However, the ecological footprint of large-scale AI systems is substantial. For instance, training extensive language models like ChatGPT-3 requires several gigawatt-hours of energy—enough to power an average nuclear power plant at full capacity for several hours.

Prof. Mario Chemnitz and Dr. Bennet Fischer from Leibniz IPHT in Jena, in collaboration with their international team, have devised an innovative method to develop potentially energy-efficient computing systems that forego the need for extensive electronic infrastructure.

They harness the unique interactions of light waves within optical fibers to forge an advanced artificial learning system. Unlike traditional systems that rely on computer chips containing thousands of , their system uses a single optical fiber.

Mar 1, 2024

Is nuclear power the key to space exploration?

Posted by in categories: climatology, nuclear energy, space travel, sustainability

The Voyager 1 was launched in 1977. Almost 50 years later, it’s still going and sending back information, penetrating ever deeper into space. It can do that because it’s powered by nuclear energy.

Long a controversial energy source, nuclear has been experiencing renewed interest on Earth to power our fight against climate change. But behind the scenes, nuclear has also been facing a renaissance in space.

In July, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) jointly announced that they plan to launch a nuclear-propelled spacecraft by 2025 or 2026. The European Space Agency (ESA) in turn is funding a range of studies on the use of nuclear engines for space exploration. And last year, NASA awarded a contract to Westinghouse to develop a concept for a nuclear reactor to power a future moon base.

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