New 'snapshots' aid quest for fusion energy

User rating: 4.7 / 5 after 50 vote(s)

This schematic drawing shows the system MIT physicists are using to study tiny implosions of hydrogen fuel. On the left protons streaming away from the far-left implosion travel through magnetic and electric fields generated by the other implosion. O ...
This schematic drawing shows the system MIT physicists are using to study tiny implosions of hydrogen fuel. On the left, protons streaming away from the far-left implosion travel through magnetic and electric fields generated by the other implosion. On the right is the resulting image of the fields, with the compressed hydrogen pellet in the center. Image courtesy / Richard Petrasso

Physicists at MIT and the University of Rochester have devised a new way to take "snapshots" of the high-energy, high-temperature reactions seen as key to achieving the long-held dream of controlled nuclear fusion.


Full story »

All News summaries from Physics news
All News summaries for February 28, 2008

Einstein was right: Unique stellar system provides 'laboratory' for testing relativity

Jul 03, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
Researchers at McGill University's Department of Physics – along with colleagues from several countries – have confirmed a long-held prediction of Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity, via observations ...

Qubits and Branes Share Surprising Features

Jul 03, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
What do black holes and entangled particles have in common? Until about a year ago, physicists thought that the two entities existed in completely separate worlds. Then, in 2007, physicist Michael Duff from ...

Some fundamental interactions of matter found to be fundamentally different than thought

Jul 02, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
Collisions have consequences. Everyone knows that. Whether it's between trains, planes, automobiles or atoms, there are always repercussions. But while macroscale collisions may have the most obvious effects - mangled steel, ...

Atomic Tug of War

Jul 02, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
A new form of energy-transfer, reported today in Nature (3 July 2008) may have implications for the study of reactions going on in the atmosphere, and even for those occurring in the body.

A front-row seat at this summer's physics extravaganza

Jul 02, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
Nearly 20 years in the making, the largest particle accelerator in the world will start running in Switzerland this summer, offering scientists a glimpse of particles that have never been seen before.