Nuclear fusion: Record-breaking experiment suggests we really could build artificial suns

The Joint European Torus has sustained a super-hot plasma for 5 seconds, producing 59 megajoules of energy and suggesting that larger experiments could produce more power than is put in Technology 9 February 2022 By Adam Vaughan A white hot river of heat winds around the bottom of a doughnut-shaped machine before the searing light … Read more

Fusion Power Experiment in The UK Smashes Its Old Record in Major Step Forward

Late last century, the Joint European Torus (JET) near Oxford, UK, churned out 22 megajoules of energy in what was, at the time, a record in fusion power. Now, experimental upgrades have brought the facility into line with the technology anticipated for a major international project, resulting in the production of nearly three times that … Read more

100 Years Ago, a Quantum Experiment Explained Why We Don’t Fall through Our Chairs

The moment I meet Horst Schmidt-Böcking outside the Bockenheimer Warte subway stop just north of the downtown area of Frankfurt, Germany, I know I have come to the right place. After my “Hi, thank you for meeting me,” his very first words are “I love Otto Stern.” My trip on this prepandemic morning in November … Read more

100 Years Ago, a Quantum Experiment Explained Why We Don’t Fall through Chairs

The moment I meet Horst Schmidt-Böcking outside the Bockenheimer Warte subway stop just north of the downtown area of Frankfurt, Germany, I know I have come to the right place. After my “Hi, thank you for meeting me,” his very first words are “I love Otto Stern.” My trip on this prepandemic morning in November … Read more

It Has Been 100 Years since a Quantum Experiment Showed Why We Don’t Fall through Our Chair

The moment I meet Horst Schmidt-Böcking outside the Bockenheimer Warte subway stop just north of the downtown area of Frankfurt, Germany, I know I have come to the right place. After my “Hi, thank you for meeting me,” his very first words are “I love Otto Stern.” My trip on this prepandemic morning in November … Read more

It Has Been 100 Years Since a Quantum Experiment Showed Why We Don’t Fall Through Our Chairs

The moment I meet Horst Schmidt-Böcking outside the Bockenheimer Warte subway stop just north of the downtown area of Frankfurt, Germany, I know I have come to the right place. After my “Hi, thank you for meeting me,” his very first words are “I love Otto Stern.” My trip on this prepandemic morning in November … Read more

World-First Experiment That Infected People With Coronavirus Shares Early Results

Scientists deliberately infected young, healthy volunteers with SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 – and now, they’ve shared their first results from that experiment.      The new study, published Tuesday (Feb. 1) in Springer Nature’s preprint database, In Review, has not yet been peer-reviewed, but it could provide insight into how mild COVID-19 unfolds, from the moment … Read more

Record-Breaking Nuclear Fusion Experiment Achieves Historic Plasma Milestone

The secret behind a record-breaking nuclear fusion experiment that spit out 10 quadrillion watts of power in a split second has been revealed: a “self-heating” – or “burning” – plasma of neutron-heavy hydrogen inside the fuel capsule used in the experiment, according to researchers.   Last year, scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in … Read more

Landmark Poverty Experiment Shows Extra Money Changes Babies’ Brains

Putting cash in the hands of mothers can help shape the brains of their babies, according to a rigorous randomized study in the United States. Family income has been linked to child development numerous times in the past in observational studies, but this is the first time researchers have found direct experimental evidence of how … Read more

Pig Kidneys Transplanted to Human in Milestone Experiment

It’s an exciting time to be an organ transplant physician. Just two weeks ago, doctors in Baltimore reported completing the first successful transfer of a pig heart into a living human patient. Now pig kidneys might be just around the corner. In late September 2021 a team of researchers transplanted a gene-edited pig’s two kidneys … Read more