Lifeboat Foundation

TAE Technologies hopes to have a net energy producing fusion reactor operating on the UK grid by the 2030s.

Its demonstration nuclear power plant is expected to be ready by 2035.

The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), popularly known as China’s “artificial sun”, set a new record on Wednesday by running for 403 seconds in a steady-state high-confinement long plasma operation, Chinese news outlet CGTN

Moving closer to nuclear fusion energy.

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“TeraWulf generates domestically produced Bitcoin powered by 91% nuclear, hydro, and solar energy with a goal of utilizing 100% zero-carbon energy.”

EASTON, Md.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—TeraWulf Inc. (Nasdaq: WULF) (“TeraWulf” or the “Company”), which owns and operates vertically integrated, domestic Bitcoin mining facilities powered by more than 91% zero-carbon energy, today announced that the Company is deploying solely BITMAIN Technologies Ltd. (“BITMAIN”) manufactured mining equipment to fill its 50 MW of capacity at the nuclear-powered Nautilus bitcoin mining facility.

“BITMAIN’s carbon neutral strategy and best-in-class mining equipment make BITMAIN an ideal partner to scale our zero-carbon digital infrastructure at Nautilus” Tweet this

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A magnetic cage keeps the more than 100 million degree Celsius hot plasmas in nuclear fusion devices at a distance from the vessel wall so that they do not melt. Now researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) have found a way to significantly reduce this distance. This could make it possible to build smaller and cheaper fusion reactors for energy production. The work was published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

How has fusion inspired the imaginations of science fiction writers? In The Expanse blockbuster book and TV series, fusion energy has changed the course of civilisation in extraordinary ways – for better and worse. Ty Franck, one half of the James S.A Corey writing duo behind The Expanse, and Canadian futurist and science fiction writer Karl Schroeder join Erica Vowles to weigh in on the fantasy and future of fusion.

Lead author Yurii Victorovich Kovtun, despite being forced to evacuate the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology amid the current Russia-Ukraine war, has continued to work with Kyoto University to create stable plasmas using microwaves.

Getting plasma just right is one of the hurdles to harnessing the massive amounts of energy promised by nuclear fusion.

Plasmas — soups of ions and electrons — must be held at the right density, temperature, and duration for atomic nuclei to fuse together to achieve the desired release of energy.

In 1942 The Manhattan Project was established by the United States as part of a top-secret research and development (R&D) program to produce the first nuclear weapons. The project involved thousands of scientists, engineers, and other personnel who worked on different aspects of the project, including the development of nuclear reactors, the enrichment of uranium, and the design and construction of the bomb. The goal: to develop an atomic bomb before Germany did.

The Manhattan Project set a precedent for large-scale government-funded R&D programs. It also marked the beginning of the nuclear age and ushered in a new era of technological and military competition between the world’s superpowers.

Today we’re entering the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI)—an era arguably just as important, if not more important, than the age of nuclear war. While the last few months might have been the first you’ve heard about it, many in the field would argue we’ve been headed in this direction for at least the last decade, if not longer. For those new to the topic: welcome to the future, you’re late.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 had a profound deep impact on the economy, inflating the prices of energy and food, with detrimental consequences for both individuals and companies worldwide. As a result, many governments, particularly in Europe, have been discussing the possibility of reducing their dependence on Russian energy.

Most of these ongoing discussions specifically focus on fossil fuel energy, leading to the gradual introduction of sanctions for purchasing Russian coal, oil, and gas. However, Russia is also a key global provider of nuclear power, particularly via a state-owned nuclear energy corporation called Rosatom.

Researchers at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) have recently carried out a study investigating the activity and global portfolio of Rosatom and its subsidiaries. Their findings, published in Nature Energy, highlight the high degree of European dependency on nuclear energy produced by this company, raising important questions about the need to find alternative energy suppliers.

Superconductors make highly efficient electronics, but the ultralow temperatures and ultrahigh pressures required to make them work are costly and difficult to implement. Room-temperature superconductors promise to change that.

The recent announcement by researchers at the University of Rochester of a new material that is a superconductor at room temperature, albeit at high pressure, is an exciting development – if proved. If the material or one like it works reliably and can be economically mass-produced, it could revolutionize electronics.

Continue reading “Room-temperature superconductors could revolutionize electronics — an electrical engineer explains the materials’ potential” »