This story may sound like the plot of a science-fiction movie.
Next year, a team of top scientists will hunker down inside a classified facility in the Nevada desert so they can experiment with a piece of advanced technology.
The test will focus on a small nuclear reactor and if it works as planned, it could be a huge step toward putting humans on Mars.
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Physicists on the Borexino neutrino experiment at Italian physics laboratory INFN in Gran Sasso announced in Nature that they have detected neutrinos produced deep inside the sun.
Neutrinos, which constantly stream through us, interact very rarely with other matter. When created in nuclear reactions inside the sun, they fly through dense solar matter in seconds and can reach the Earth in eight minutes.
In Brief:
Researchers have proposed an alternative way to generate super-strong magnetic fields that would solve the hindrances keeping us from harnessing the Faraday effect to its full use. More research and experimentation are needed to test the method.
In the quest to harness the powers of the Faraday effect, which would allow better control and management of nuclear fusion as well as astrophysical processes in laboratories, researchers propose a new way to generate stronger magnetic fields.
That’s why researchers are hard at work on ways to make spacecraft power systems more efficient, resilient and long-lasting.
“NASA needs reliable long-term power systems to advance exploration of the solar system,” said Jean-Pierre Fleurial, supervisor for the thermal energy conversion research and advancement group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. “This is particularly important for the outer planets, where the intensity of sunlight is only a few percent as strong as it is in Earth orbit.”
A cutting-edge development in spacecraft power systems is a class of materials with an unfamiliar name: skutterudites (skut-ta-RU-dites). Researchers are studying the use of these advanced materials in a proposed next-generation power system called an eMMRTG, which stands for Enhanced Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator.
China is developing the world’s smallest nuclear power plant which could be installed in one of the islands in the disputed South China Sea to supply power to households and is capable of running for up to decades without refuelling, a media report said on Tuesday.
Modelled on the compact lead-cooled thermal reactor used by the navy of the former Soviet Union in its nuclear submarines in the 1970s, Chinese researchers are carrying out intensive work to develop “portable nuclear battery pack” within five years, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.
Earlier, the official media reports said China will soon start assembling floating maritime nuclear power platforms.
China plans to build more than 60 nuclear power plants over the next 10 years.
The country’s three major nuclear companies — State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC), China National Nuclear Corporation, and China General Nuclear Power Corporation will each build at least two nuclear power plants annually.
SNPTC vice president Zheng Guangming made the announcement at the World Nuclear Association Symposium in London.
One of the world’s deadliest nuclear powered attack submarines, the Yasen-class’s inclusion will add deeper strategic depth to Indian Navy’s Blue Water Naval ambitions.
India is interested in renting the multi-purpose Project 885 Yasen class submarine from Russia. This is being seen as a sign of another forthcoming India-Russia collaborative venture for the construction of six new SSN for Indian Navy.
NEW DLEHI — A high-level Indian delegation will be visiting Russia shortly to finalize an agreement on renting the Yasen class submarine for the Indian Navy.