On August 8, 2021, researchers at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in Livermore, California succeeded in initiating nuclear ignition in a small capsule of heavy hydrogen isotopes, proving that the fusion process could be started by using powerful lasers; now, hot on the heels of last year’s breakthrough, researchers at the sameread more
Researchers with the US Army Aberdeen Proving Ground Research Laboratory have stumbled upon an aluminum alloy that, when structured into a nanomaterial powder, efficiently reacts with ordinary water to produce hydrogen gas, that can in turn be burned to produce energy. "The hydrogen that is given off can be used as a fuel in a fuel cell," explains materials engineer and team leader, Scott Grendahl. "What we discovered is a mechanism for a rapid and spontaneous hydrolysis of water."
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In science’s quest to develop less polluting sources of energy, hydrogen gas has often been used as an example as a potential replacement for fossil fuels: aside from being the most abundant substance in the universe, it is also the most combustible natural substance known, and only produces pure water when burned with oxygen. Unfortunately, the chemical instability of its gaseous form means that storing it is inherently hazardous, and the extraction of the gas from hydrogen’s more stable forms, such as water or petroleum products, can be highly energy inefficient, or produce a disproportionate amount of waste pollutants.
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A new experimental fusion reactor built by the Max Planck Institute of Plasma Physics in Germany received a brief test run on February 3, bringing the promise of clean and sustainable fusion-generated power one step closer to reality.
This new reactor, called the Wendelstein 7-X, is a doughnut-shaped, 425-ton device, made up of a series of winding magnetic segments. The reactor was test-fired using helium last December, since helium is easier to convert to plasma than hydrogen (the intended fuel for a fusion reaction), and helium plasma can clean the interior of the plasma chamber of any dust left over from the unit’s construction.
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