Of Interest archive
2013
1 Nov 2013
A horse named Tokamak
Tokamak emerged as a winter carnival hopeful when he made it three wins in a row at Eagle Farm. He swept past the leaders at the…
31 Oct 2013
Mining helium on the Moon
Experts gathered in Sydney last month for Australia's first space mining conference cited the moon as the first and most viable step…
30 Oct 2013
'KSTAR Conference 2013' held to study nuclear fusion
Organized by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and National Fusion Research Institute, the KSTAR Conference 2013 was held…
29 Oct 2013
Potential benefits of inertial fusion energy justify continued R&D
The potential benefits of successful development of an inertial confinement fusion-based energy technology justify investment in fusion…
28 Oct 2013
Analyzing fusion energy
Fusion power is the power generated by nuclear fusion reactions. In this kind of reaction, two light atomic nuclei fuse together to form a…
27 Oct 2013
Future US fusion research should keep options open, report concludes
The United States should embark on a coordinated national research program into inertial confinement fusion—but only after researchers…
26 Oct 2013
A tour of plasma physics in downtown Cambridge
Take a virtual tour through MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center thanks to a blog post on the American Physical Society site…
25 Oct 2013
In downsized EU budget, mixed news for research
The news from last week's E.U. budget summit is decidedly mixed for scientists. On Friday, leaders of the European Union's 27 member states…
24 Oct 2013
Academics grapple with balancing their research with the need to communicate it to the public
BOSTON — Researchers today more than ever focus their work on real-world problems, often times making their research relevant to the public…
23 Oct 2013
Plasma meets nano at PPPL
Scientists at the US Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have launched a new effort to apply expertise…
22 Oct 2013
Nuclear fusion: an answer to China's energy problems?
China could lead the way to a clean and boundless energy supply—if it can ever be made to work. Scientist Steven Cowley talks to online…
21 Oct 2013
Alcator C-Mod remains operational
MIT's tokamak, Alcator C-Mod, was faced with the threat of losing all of its federal funding throughout 2012. The loss of these funds,…
20 Oct 2013
The scorpion's strategy: "catch and subdue"
Adopting what they call "the scorpion's strategy," scientists at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility and colleagues at the Princeton Plasma…
19 Oct 2013
ITER DDG Rem Haange: "No visible roadblock ahead"
Two years ago, Remmelt Haange took up his duties as Deputy Director-General for the ITER Project Department. At ITER, the former …
18 Oct 2013
Steven Chu resigns as US Energy Secretary
American physicist Steven Chu has resigned as US Energy Secretary, effective once President Barack Obama names a successor. "I…
17 Oct 2013
How the visit of astronomer Sir Bernard Lowell to the USSR in 1963 paved the way for ITER
Mystery still surrounds the visit of the astronomer Sir Bernard Lovell to the Soviet Union in 1963. But his collaboration—and that of other…
16 Oct 2013
How a particle tells time
One of the first things you learn about quantum mechanics is that particles have a wavelength, and thus a frequency. If the particle is in…
15 Oct 2013
Frozen bullets tame unruly edge plasmas in fusion experiment
Using a frozen hydrogen machine gun installed on the DIII-D magnetic fusion plasma experiment in San Diego, researchers were able to fire…
14 Oct 2013
Unlocking one of fusion energy mysteries
The research of a multi-institutional team from the U.S., Japan, and France, led by Predrag S. Krstic of the Joint Institute for…
13 Oct 2013
Born at ITER (almost)
Little Janell Césaire, whose parents live in the small village of La Verdière, some 30 kilometres east of the ITER site, was in a hurry to…