Particle Research: Why We're Here

Physicists soon will be closer than ever to answering fundamental questions about the origins of the universe by learning more about its tiniest particles.


University of Cincinnati Professor Alexandre Sousa in a new paper outlined the next 10 years of global research into the behavior of neutrinos, particles so tiny that they pass through virtually everything by the trillions every second at nearly the speed of light.


Neutrinos are the most abundant particles with mass in the universe, so scientists want to know more about them.


They are created by nuclear fusion reactions in the sun, radioactive decay in nuclear reactors or the Earth's crust or in particle accelerator labs. As they travel, they can transition between one of three types or "flavors" of neutrinos and back.


But unexpected experimental results made physicists suspect there might be another neutrino flavor, called a sterile neutrino because it appears immune to three of the four known "forces."     READ MORE...

First Artificial Sun

The Huanliu-3, or the HL-3 “Artificial Sun” in China, is thriving in fusion energy research with its new experiments. What is more exciting is the use of a digital twin system, which is a sophisticated virtual technology that offers real-time tracking and could be the holy grail in furthering controlled nuclear fusion.

Understanding solar energy: The contribution of HL-3 in the sustainable energy evolution
The HL-3 is the most sophisticated magnetic containment nuclear fusion research facility in China and throughout the world. It was created and manufactured by the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) on plant engineering level and is intended to reproduce nuclear fusion processes like those found in the sun where inexhaustible amounts of energy is released when hydrogen atoms fuse together.

Although still in the works, HL-3 is also a leap towards developing a sustainable and clean source of energy. The operation of HL-3 is further improved through the integration of digital twin system, which is referred to as ‘super eye’ of critical processes.

This technology provides real time control of the system’s vacuum chamber whilst the latter is in its baking process, a feat that considerably increases safety and management control. Nuclear reactor in vacuum containment is critical to the nuclear fusion process since it provides the required conditions for the formation of plasma, which is a crucial state of matter for fusion enhancement reactions.  READ MORE...

Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough

Two of the key barriers to producing power from nuclear fusion have been overcome, in what scientists say is a major advance towards producing near-limitless clean energy.


A team at US energy firm General Atomics achieved a “sweet spot” for operating the next-generation power source within a donut-shaped tokamak reactor.


Nuclear fusion replicates the same natural processes found within the Sun in order to produce vast amounts of energy, however harnessing the superhot plasma within the reactor in order for it to work in a meaningful way has proved elusive.             READ MORE...

Nuclear Fusion R&D

To those who have kept tabs on nuclear fusion research the past decades beyond the articles and soundbites in news outlets, it’s probably clear just how much progress has been made, and how many challenges still remain. 

Yet since not that many people are into plasma physics, every measure of progress, such as most recently by the South Korean KSTAR (Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research) tokamak, is met generally by dismissive statements about nuclear fusion always being a certain number of decades away. 

Looking beyond this in coverage such as the article by Science Alert about this achievement by KSTAR we can however see quite a few of these remaining challenges being touched upon.

Recently KSTAR managed to generate 100 million degrees C plasma and maintain this for 48 seconds, a significant boost over its previous record from 2021 of 30 seconds, partially due to the new divertors that were installed.  READ MORE...

Rocketstar Creates Nuclear Fusion

RocketStar has announced the first successful demonstration of their nuclear fusion-enhanced pulsed plasma FireStar™ Drive. They have enhanced electric drive space propulsion.

Electric propulsion drives create small amounts of thrust but are significantly more fuel-efficient than conventional chemical rockets. Electric propulsion are ion and hall effect drives. They are like the tortoise to the chemical rocket hare. The electric drives keep thrusting for months or years while the chemical rockets have the fuel for a few minutes.

This type of fuel-to-thrust ratio is particularly important for vehicles that are intended to remain in orbit for long periods of time while also retaining the ability to maneuver when needed. Electric propulsion drives are also ideally suited for missions to the outer reaches of the solar system since they can combine the power collected from the sun with a small amount of propellant to travel vast distances.  READ MORE...

Tesla Magnet Lowers Nuclear Fusion Costs

A new 20 Tesla Superconducting magnet reduces the cost per watt of a fusion reactor by a factor of almost 40. MIT worked with Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a startup with over $2 billion in funding. The funders of CFS include Temasek Holdings (Singpore), the U.S. Department of Energy, Tiger Global Management, Bill Gates, Google and Breakthrough Energy Ventures.

Commercial nuclear fusion now has a chance of being economical.

In the last few years, a newer material nicknamed REBCO, for rare-earth barium copper oxide, was added to fusion magnets, and allows them to operate at 20 kelvins, a temperature that despite being only 16 kelvins warmer, brings significant advantages in terms of material properties and practical engineering.   READ MORE...

Spark Plug of Nuclear Fusion

Nuclear fusion is what powers stars, the most common source of energy in the universe. And yet, we can’t easily recreate it here on Earth because we cannot compress hydrogen in the same way that gravity does in the core of stars. To bypass that requirement, the inertial fusion approach uses lasers to compress a pellet of fuel so much that it ignites.

The NIF uses an indirect method. Their system has some of the most powerful lasers in the world hitting a container called a hohlraum, getting converted to x-rays. It’s the x-rays that then compress the pellet of fuel and release energy. The method presented in new research from scientists at the University of Rochester approached fusion by directly slamming the pellet of fuel with lasers.  READ MORE...

Unlimited Energy from Nuclear Fusion

We go behind the scenes at the world’s largest nuclear fusion device attempting to harness energy from the same reaction that powers the Sun and stars.

In the heart of Provence, some of the brightest scientific minds on the planet are setting the stage for what is being called the world’s largest and most ambitious science experiment.

"We are building arguably the most complex machine ever designed," confides Laban Coblentz.

The task at hand is to demonstrate the feasibility of harnessing nuclear fusion - the same reaction powering our Sun and stars - at an industrial scale.         

To do this, the world’s largest magnetic confinement chamber, or tokamak, is under construction in the south of France to generate net energy.

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project agreement was formally signed in 2006 by the US, EU, Russia, China, India, and South Korea at the Elysée Palace in Paris.         READ MORE...

The Nuclear Fusion Era Has Arrived

In December of 2022, the National Ignition Facility reached an unprecedented milestone in nuclear fusion research: passing the vaunted "breakeven" point.

Now, for the second time and with even better efficiency, more energy was liberated from a fusion reaction than was used to create the fusion reaction: a repeat, verification, and improvement of the original breakthrough.

The old saying of "fusion is 50 years away, and always will be" is no longer the case. But will we invest enough resources in the right places to bring it to fruition?

Last year, on December 5, 2022, an incredible milestone was achieved: for the first time, a nuclear fusion reaction experienced what’s known as a net energy gain. 

This means, remarkably, that the energy liberated from a nuclear fusion reaction exceeded the (useful) energy that was inputted into the reaction. 

This wasn’t achieved by a magnetic confinement fusion reactor, which is where most of the worldwide fusion funding is centered, nor by any among the hundreds of private laboratories dedicated to bringing commercial fusion to the public, but rather by a largely forgotten source: the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

This year, on July 30, 2023, the National Ignition Facility did it again, and in an even superior fashion: repeating their results and achieving an even higher energy yield than in the December prior.

 All of this was achieved despite a paltry amount of funding being directed toward nuclear fusion research by the U.S. government: an average of just half-a-billion dollars per year across all endeavors, combined. 

With this recent confirmation, the path toward developing widespread nuclear fusion as the anchor to a clean, carbon-neutral energy economy is now clearer than ever. 

But in order to truly achieve it, we not only need to be brave and bold, but also focused, as the distractions and pitfalls could truly divert us from the ultimate goal.  READ MORE...

Limitless Energy is Possible

Editor’s note: “Nuclear Power Breakthrough Makes “Limitless” Energy Possible” was previously published in May 2023. It has since been updated to include the most relevant information available.

For a moment, imagine a world of limitless energy – one where energy is so abundant that everyone can power their homes and businesses for mere pennies.

These days, it’s tough to imagine a world like that. Last winter, the average U.S. heating bill was $1,000.

But thanks to a potential world-changing scientific breakthrough, the ostensibly utopian world of limitless energy could soon become a reality.

Prescient investors who place the right bets on the right stocks in this industry could mint fortunes over the next few years.

That’s why both Microsoft (MSFT) – the world’s second-most valuable company – and ChatGPT’s creator Sam Altman are both betting big on this very limitless energy breakthrough right now.

Just last week, Microsoft announced a huge deal to start buying a ton of this limitless energy as soon as 2028.

Interested? You should be…

We’re talking about arguably the biggest scientific breakthrough of our lifetimes. And it could be the biggest investment opportunity of our lifetimes, too.

And it all has to do with nuclear power.
The Power of the Sun

Nuclear power has a bad reputation – and I get it. It has been used to create bombs that have decimated cities and destroyed lives. And when the world tried to capture that power in nuclear power plants, it often ended in catastrophe. And not once, not twice, but time and time again.

Nuclear power deserves its bad rep.

However, not all nuclear power is created equal.

Specifically, there are two types: nuclear fusion and nuclear fission.

To date, everything achieved with nuclear power has revolved around nuclear fission. That involves splitting apart atoms to capture and use the energy produced from the division.

And it’s a very risky and dangerous science for two big reasons.

First, splitting atoms creates chain reactions that must be controlled very carefully. Otherwise, they could cause meltdowns and explosions. Second, fission produces radioactive waste, which needs to be stored correctly to avoid contaminating the surrounding environment.

Nuclear fission is dangerous stuff.

But nuclear fusion is not.

TO READ MORE, CLICK HERE...

Nuclear Fusion Basics

Nuclear energy can also be released by fusion of two light elements (elements with low atomic numbers). The power that fuels the sun and the stars is nuclear fusion.

Nuclear Fission

In a hydrogen bomb, two isotopes of hydrogen, deuterium and tritium are fused to form a nucleus of helium and a neutron. This fusion releases 17.6 MeV of energy. Unlike nuclear fission, there is no limit on the amount of the fusion that can occur.


A fission bomb, called the primary, produces a flood of radiation including a large number of neutrons. This radiation impinges on the thermonuclear portion of the bomb, known as the secondary. The secondary consists largely of lithium deuteride. The neutrons react with the lithium in this chemical compound, producing tritium and helium.The production of tritium from lithium deuteride

This reaction produces the tritium on the spot, so there is no need to include tritium in the bomb itself. In the extreme heat which exists in the bomb, the tritium fuses with the deuterium in the lithium deuteride.


The question facing designers was "How do you build a bomb that will maintain the high temperatures required for thermonuclear reactions to occur?" The shock waves produced by the primary (A-bomb) would propagate too slowly to permit assembly of the thermonuclear stage (the secondary) before the bomb blew itself apart. This problem was solved by Edward Teller and Stanislaw Ulam.

Gamma Radiation

To do this, they introduced a high energy gamma ray absorbing material (styrofoam) to capture the energy of the radiation. As high energy gamma radiation from the primary is absorbed, radial compression forces are exerted along the entire cylinder at almost the same instant. This produces the compression of the lithium deuteride. Additional neutrons are also produced by various components and reflected towards the lithium deuteride. With the compressed lithium deuteride core now bombarded with neutrons, tritium is formed and the fusion process begins.  READ MORE...

Self Sustaining Nuclear Fusion

Scientists have confirmed that last year, for the first time in the lab, they achieved a fusion reaction that self-perpetuates (instead of fizzling out) – bringing us closer to replicating the chemical reaction that powers the Sun.

However, they aren't exactly sure how to recreate the experiment.

Nuclear fusion occurs when two atoms combine to create a heavier atom, releasing a huge burst of energy in the process.

It's a process often found in nature, but it's very difficult to replicate in the lab because it needs a high-energy environment to keep the reaction going.

The Sun generates energy using nuclear fusion – by smashing hydrogen atoms together to create helium.

Supernovae – exploding suns – also leverage nuclear fusion for their cosmic firework displays. The power of these reactions is what creates heavier molecules like iron.

In artificial settings here on Earth, however, heat and energy tend to escape through cooling mechanisms such as x-ray radiation and heat conduction.

To make nuclear fusion a viable energy source for humans, scientists first have to achieve something called 'ignition', where the self-heating mechanisms overpower all the energy loss.

Once ignition is achieved, the fusion reaction powers itself.

In 1955, physicist John Lawson created the set of criteria, now known as the 'Lawson-like ignition criteria', to help recognize when this ignition took place.  READ MORE...

China Converts Nuclear Fusion into Energy

China’s new announcements indicate that it has taken one step further in that direction.

Nuclear fusion is based on the idea that energy can be released by forcing atomic nuclei together rather than separating them, as in the fission reactions that powers the existing nuclear power plants.

In what could be a significant breakthrough, a Chinese research team claims to have created the world’s first power plant capable of converting fusion energy into electricity without disrupting the power system, South China Morning Post reported.

This development comes a few months after China’s experimental advanced superconducting Tokamak (EAST), HL-2M fusion energy reactor had run for 1,056 seconds at 70 million degrees Celsius.

According to Xiang Kui, chief engineer of thermal systems at the China Energy Engineering Group Guangdong Electric Power Design Institute in Guangzhou, converting the heat into electricity is challenging because the reactor must take a 20-minute break every two hours.

Xiang and his colleagues stated in a report published in the domestic peer-reviewed journal ‘Southern Energy Construction’ that this frequent interruption can create pulse energy that “will cause huge damage to the power grid.”

The entire world is chasing nuclear fusion technology, with a facility in France called International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), where experiments take place with the assistance of a world consortium with the EU, the US, Russia, and even China being members.

They hope to make a breakthrough by the second half of this century.  READ MORE...

Fusion Energy Unchained

Illustration of cloud-like ionized plasma in the ITER fusion reactor tokamak. Credit: ITER

Physicists at EPFL, within a large European collaboration, have revised one of the fundamental laws that has been foundational to plasma and fusion research for over three decades, even governing the design of megaprojects like ITER. The update demonstrates that we can actually safely utilize more hydrogen fuel in fusion reactors, and therefore obtain more energy than previously thought.

Fusion is one of the most promising future energy sources . It involves two atomic nuclei merging into one, thereby releasing enormous amounts of energy. In fact, we experience fusion every day: the Sun’s warmth comes from hydrogen nuclei fusing into heavier helium atoms.

There is currently an international fusion research megaproject called ITER that seeks to replicate the fusion processes of the Sun to create energy on the Earth. Its goal is to generate high-temperature plasma that provides the right environment for fusion to occur, producing energy.

Plasmas — an ionized state of matter similar to a gas – are made up of positively charged nuclei and negatively charged electrons, and are almost a million times less dense than the air we breathe. Plasmas are created by subjecting “the fusion fuel” – hydrogen atoms – to extremely high temperatures (10 times that of the core of the Sun), forcing electrons to separate from their atomic nuclei. In a fusion reactor, the process takes place inside a donut-shaped (“toroidal”) structure called a “tokamak.”  READ MORE...

Unleashing Limitless Energy

Since its launch in 2020, a pioneering energy company called Quaise has attracted some serious attention for its audacious goal of diving further into Earth's crust than anybody has dug before.

Following the closure of first round venture capital funding, the MIT spin-off has now raised a total of US$63 million: a respectable start that could potentially make geothermal power accessible to more populations around the world.

The company's vision for getting closer to the center of the Earth is to combine conventional drilling methods with a megawatt-power flashlight inspired by the kind of technology that could one day make nuclear fusion energy possible.

Geothermal energy has become the forgotten renewable. With solar and wind increasingly dominating the market of green energy, efforts to tap the vast reservoir of heat deep beneath our feet remain stubbornly well behind.

It's not hard to understand why. Despite being a perfectly good choice of clean, uninterrupted, limitless power, there are very few places where hot rocks suitable for geothermal energy extraction sit conveniently close to the surface.

Quaise aims to change that by developing technology that will allow us to bake holes in the crust to record depths.

To date our best efforts at chewing our way through the planet's skin have bottomed out at around 12.3 kilometers (7.6 miles). While the Kola Superdeep Borehole and others like it may have reached their limit, though, they nonetheless represent amazing feats of engineering.  READ MORE...

Cutting Edge Fusion Reactor

Barely a year after the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) broke one record for fusion, it's smashed it again, this time holding onto a churning whirlpool of 100 million degree plasma for a whole 30 seconds.


Though it's well short of the 101 seconds set by the Chinese Academy of Sciences earlier this year, it remains a significant milestone on the road to cleaner, near-limitless energy that could transform how we power our society.

Here's why it's so important.

Deep inside stars like our Sun, gravity and high temperatures give simple elements such as hydrogen the energy they need to overcome the repulsion of their nuclei and force them to squeeze into bigger atoms.

The result of this nuclear fusion is heavier elements, a few stray neutrons, and a whole lot of heat.

On Earth, scooping together a Sun's worth of gravity isn't possible. But we can achieve similar results by swapping the crunch of gravity for some extra punch in the form of heat. At some point we can even squeeze enough heat from the fusing atoms to keep the nuclear reaction going, with enough left over to siphon off for power.

That's the theory. But getting that insanely hot plasma to stay in place long enough to tap into its heat supply for a sustained, reliable source of energy requires some clever thinking.  TO READ MORE, CLICK HERE...

Ten Quadrillion Power Watts

Scientists used an unconventional method of creating nuclear fusion to yield a record-breaking burst of energy of more than 10 quadrillion watts, by firing intense beams of light from the world's largest lasers at a tiny pellet of hydrogen.

Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Northern California said they had focused 192 giant lasers at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) onto a pea-size pellet, resulting in the release of 1.3 megajoules of energy in 100 trillionths of a second — roughly 10% of the energy of the sunlight that hits Earth every moment, and about 70% of the energy that the pellet had absorbed from the lasers. 

The scientists hope one day to reach the break-even or "ignition" point of the pellet, where it gives off 100% or more energy than it absorbs.  The energy yield is significantly larger than the scientists expected and much greater than the previous record of 170 kilojoules they set in February.

The researchers hope the result will expand their ability to research nuclear fusion weapons, the NIF's core mission, and that it could lead to new ways to harness energy from nuclear fusion — the process that powers the sun and other stars. Some scientists hope that nuclear fusion could one day be a relatively safe and sustainable method for generating energy on Earth.

"This result is a historic step forward for inertial confinement fusion research, opening a fundamentally new regime for exploration and the advancement of our critical national security missions," Kim Budil, the director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, said in a statement.   READ MORE

A Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough

Nuclear scientists using lasers the size of three football fields said Tuesday they had generated a huge amount of energy from fusion, possibly offering hope for the development of a new clean energy source.

Experts focused their giant array of almost 200 laser beams onto a tiny spot to create a mega blast of energy – eight times more than they had ever done in the past.

Although the energy only lasted for a very short time – just 100 trillionths of a second – it took scientists closer to the holy grail of fusion ignition, the moment when they are creating more energy than they are using.

"This result is a historic advance for inertial confinement fusion research," said Kim Budil, the director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which operates the National Ignition Facility in California, where the experiment took place this month.

Nuclear fusion is considered by some scientists to be a potential energy of the future, particularly because it produces little waste and no greenhouse gases.

It differs from fission, a technique currently used in nuclear power plants, where the bonds of heavy atomic nuclei are broken to release energy.

In the fusion process, two light atomic nuclei are "married" to create a heavy one.  In this experiment, scientists used two isotopes of hydrogen, giving rise to helium.  READ MORE