Unusual

 

Just a Few More Thoughts

What I don't understand is why we want to spend money buying petroleum crude oil from other countries when we can provide all the oil and gasoline that we need right here at home...

Now...  while I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer...  I am smart enough to realize that this is plain stupid and the people who this hurts the most are the general public who basically live from one paycheck to another...

I also understand that 50% of the American population has the relentless desire to go GREEN and while that is a noble quest, it would seem more reasonable to me to go GREEN gradually rather than all at once.

• I think smoking should stop all at once
• I think wars should stop all at once
• I think child abuse should stop all at once
• I think racism should stop all at once

But, I think our energy consumption should stop gradually...  but it should stop.

And, I am all for going green and buying an electric car to stop my dependence on fossil fuels.  

An electric car has a price tag of anywhere from $60,000 to $80,000 and higher...  the distance that an electric car can travel on a charge averages around 400 miles...  but, the recharging time is HIGH...

From Kelly Blue Book
Use these approximate calculations based on a 240V Level 2 power source and charging capacity, according to the manufacturers’ websites for the following 2021 cars:

• Chevrolet Volt EV: 10 hours
• Nissan Leaf: Up to 11 hours
• Tesla Model S: 12 hours
• Karma GS-6: 4 hours
• Tesla Model 3: 12 hours
• Porsche Taycan: Up to 10.5 hours
• Mini SE Hardtop: 4 hours
• Audi E-Tron: 10 hours
• Polestar 2: 8 hours
• BMW i3: 7 hours

Personally, I think I would be rather pissed off if I had to wait 4-12 hours for my car to charge while I was on vacation unless I was at a motel sleeping at night while the car was charging.  However, my wife and I like to go to Myrtle Beach, SC, and the last time we were down there (2021) the motels did not offer charging stations on their property.

So, an electric car with a driving range of 300-400 miles would be good to drive around the area where you live, so that you can charge it at night while you are doing things around the house...  but, then there is the cost of that vehicle...

I just cannot imagine how the general public is going to respond to being forced to go ELECTRIC...  especially when the power company cannot sustain the increased energy drain on their capabilities...  

THEN WHAT???

Living to LIVE

I was  healthy as a race horse until 2007 (age 60) when I was unexpectedly diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (SLL); however, I did not start treatment until 2008 when about that same time, I had experienced  what I considered to be a sharp pain in my chest that turned out to be a heart attack.  The heart attacked was caused by 3 heart ateries on the left side being blocked 100%, 90%, and 90% respectively.  I had surgery for 5 stents  in 2009/2010.

My chemo treatment consisted of:

Rituxan

Cytoxin

Fludara

Triandra

and it took place once a month and lasted anywhere from 4-6 hours.  Sometimes, I would have treatment on two back-to-back days that always result in me going to the ER because I could not  stop vomiting.

My treatment over the years caused me  to have low white and red blood counts as well as low platelets.  Being without an immune system and anemic,  made me vulnerable to other diseases.

In 2012, I was diagnosed with Melanoma on my foot that later spread to my groin and then to my neck.  In addition to my treatment for Lymphoma, I received treatment for Melanoma as well. 

For my melanoma I was taking Opdivo and Yervoy (infusions) and for my Lymphoma I was now taking Imbruvica (pills).  These new treatments were considered Immunotherapy not chemotheraphy.  I stopped taking Yervoy and received several doses of radiation which was the new treatment protocols out of MD Anderson the leading cancer hospital in the USA.

Cancer treatments fowled up the workings of my Thyroid so my Oncologist put me on meds for that.

Recently, it was discovered that either age or my cancer treatments  had fowled up  the L5 and L6 disks in my spine causing me to experience pain in my butt and in the back of my thighs making it difficult to walk.  An MRI is set for the end of next month and some sort of treatment regimen will be followed or I will have surgery.

Meanwhile, my treatment for both Lymphoma and Melanoma continues.

I have tried not to let my health issues impact my quality of life mentally even though it has impacted my quality of life physically, substantially.  I maintain a positive attitude and keep myself busy so I will not get depressed.

COVID has limited my movements as it has everyone else, but when I can, I leave the house for doctor appointments, to get groceries, gasoline, and sometimes go to a restaurant.  

I still mow the lawn when needed, weedeat, take out the garbage and recycle, and open and close our above ground pool.  I have replaced boards on our deck and performed minor maintenance tasks inside that I knew how to do.  I don't consider myself handicapped although others think that I am.

My body is tough because I spent my entire life physically training it to be tough through exercise, lifting free weights,  playing sports, as well as kayaking every weekend for close to 10 years.  As a teenager and young adult I would walk around our neighborhood with wedges and a sledge hammer, asking if anyone needed logs split for free as I wanted to build up my muscles.

Without intentionally performing preventive maintenance, my desire to do all of this all my life was performing preventive maintenance and my orthopedic doctor said that if I had not been as active as I was all my life, my problems with L5 and L6 would have been worse.

PERHAPS  WE CAN LEARN SOMETHING FROM MY HEALTH ISSUES...

Cat in Box

 

Hybrid Atomic Quantum Computers

Left: A hybrid array of cesium atoms (yellow) and rubidium atoms (blue). Right: The customizability of the researchers' technique enables them to place the atoms anywhere, allowing them to create this image of Chicago landmarks Willis Tower and the Cloud Gate. The scale bar in both images is 10 micrometers. Credit: Hannes Bernien

Qubits, the building blocks of quantum computers, can be made from many different technologies. One way to make a qubit is to trap a single neutral atom in place using a focused laser, a technique that won the Nobel Prize in 2018.


But to make a quantum computer out of neutral atom qubits, many individual atoms must be trapped in place by many laser beams. So far, these arrays have only been constructed from atoms of a single element, out of concern that making an array out of two elements would be prohibitively complex.

But for the first time, University of Chicago researchers have created a hybrid array of neutral atoms from two different elements, significantly broadening the system's potential applications in quantum technology. The results were funded in part by the NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute Hybrid Quantum Architectures and Networks (HQAN), and published in Physical Review X.

"There have been many examples of quantum technology that have taken a hybrid approach," said Hannes Bernien, lead researcher of the project and assistant professor in University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering. "But they have not been developed yet for these neutral atom platforms. We are very excited to see that our results have triggered a very positive response from the community, and that new protocols using our hybrid techniques are being developed."

Double the potential
While manmade qubits such as superconducting circuits require quality control to stay perfectly consistent, neutral atoms made from a single element all have exactly the same properties, making them ideal, consistent candidates for qubits.

But since every atom in the array has the same properties, it's extremely difficult to measure a single atom without disturbing its neighbors—they're all on the same frequency, so to speak.  READ MORE...

Dog Balls

 

Stopping Constant Complaints

You think you’re doing your best to get everything done to your partner’s satisfaction, whether it’s managing the finances or preparing a 5-star dinner. Much to your dismay, though, your partner continues to find reasons to complain. Maybe you forgot to run the dryer and now have nothing but drenched towels when it’s time for your partner’s shower. 

Perhaps you forgot to get cat food during your weekly shopping run, leading to still more complaints. Your partner also has their share of household duties, but it doesn’t bother you all that much when something gets messed up or forgotten.

As you think about these situations, it might strike you that some complaints can be reasonable and others can be totally out of line. Everyone forgets things from time to time, and most people get over their annoyance at these minor missteps. Your partner, though, isn’t particularly accepting and, if anything, seems to find something to complain about even when everything is going fine.

Based on new research in the workplace on abusive supervision by Wilfred Laurier University’s Lindie Liang and colleagues (2022), it may be possible to view the constant litany of complaints that your partner engages in as comparable to an overly demanding boss. Although workplace dynamics aren’t exactly the same as those that take place in a romantic relationship, there are still lessons from this research that you can apply to your relationship.

What Effects Can Constant Complaints Have on You?
The Canadian research team’s focus on abusive supervision provides some guidance into understanding the reactions that people have to being the target of someone else’s constant criticism. Fundamental to their analysis is the idea of “interpersonal justice,” a term defined in the literature as your “need to believe that we live in a ‘just world’ where one gets what one deserves and, in turn, deserves what one gets.” Adding to your sense of justice is the idea of “equity,” meaning that you believe what you put into a relationship is equal to the other person’s contributions.

Viewed from this perspective, if you believe that you’re doing your level best to give as much to your relationship as does your partner, your partner’s complaints will feel not only hurtful, but unfair. Unstated, but also expected as part of equity, is the idea that you will be treated with “politeness, dignity, and respect.” 

Maybe early in your relationship, when both of you were on your best behavior, your partner showed these tendencies and then some. Unlike a workplace, where these behaviors are both expected and rewarded, in your home life your partner may have let familiarity degrade some of these standards.  READ MORE...

Automation

 

Culture 40,000 Years Old

The migration of homo sapiens from Africa to the rest of the globe is an enduring point of fascination for archaeologists, who have been piecing together human movements across history since the dawn of the discipline. A new study published in Nature last week has helped unlock another piece of the puzzle.

That study, conducted by a research team led by Fa-Gang Wang, is an examination of Xiamabei, a 40,000-year-old archaeological site in northern China. At this site, researchers discovered evidence of a culture that processed ochre, which is used to make pigments. The discovery may seem like a small one, but it led the researchers to rethink how modern humanity evolved.

Ochre is a pigment found in clay, and its presence at archaeological sites suggests the people who lived in Xiamabei had advanced cognitive skills, partly because its points to creativity. However, the pigment can also be used to more practical ends, such as tanning hides.

At Xiamabei, researchers discovered that the humans at the site brought different deposits of ochre there and processed it through pounding and abrasion. This resulted pigments of varying color and consistency. Evidence of the pounding was found on a limestone slab where this processing took place. These humans produced such large quantities of ochre that the slab was stained with pigment.

The unique nature of the tools and processing method found at Xiamabei suggest that instead of one continuous wave of migration across Asia, colonization of this territory happened in distinct phases, the researchers said. “Our findings show that current evolutionary scenarios are too simple,” Michael Petraglia of the Max Planck Institute said in an interview with Science Daily. “Modern humans, and our culture, emerged through repeated but differing episodes of genetic and social exchanges over large geographic areas, rather than as a single, rapid dispersal wave across Asia.”

Another clue as to this disjointedness is what the researchers didn’t find: formal bone tools and ornaments, which were available at the time, but which evidently were not used by some of Xiamabei’s oldest inhabitants.

Stealing Bird

 

From the Back Porch

 

East Tennessee, as I have mentioned before and in my opinion, is a great place to live for a variety of reasons?

• less traffic
• less polution
• less crime
• less wokeness
• less expensive
• more reacreational lakes
• close to airport
• close to Smoky Mtns
• lots of farmland
• excellent healthcare
• calming lifestyle

In my backyard, I can watch squirrels and rabbits play and interreact with their environment.  Across the street from the front porch is an open field where families of deer roam free and easy without the fear of being hunted.  On either side of the house, I see birds of all sorts such as:

• Cardinals
• Blue birds
• Blue jays
• Doves
• Black birds
• Crows
• Purple martins
• Hawk
• Woodpeckers
• Robins
• Finches

In fact, there are over 100 species of birds that make their homes in East Tennessee.  In the summer months, we put out feeders for hummingbirds and have a dozen or more of them visit us daily until they fly south when colder weather arrives.

I am no longer a victim of cable, but have internet access through a fiber optics company, and take out monthly subscriptions for Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime that completely meets and oftentimes exceeds my entertainment needs.  Plus, I now have reliable access to the internet 24/7 with NO PROBLEMS.

My 1500 square foot home, sits on an acre of land and while I have neighbors on either side of me is 100 feet of space between our houses.  In the front of the house as I mentioned, is an open field and behind us there is a good acre of land between my house and the next one.

In the summer, I have a garden of tomatoes, bell peppers, squash, and zucchini and less than a mile away from the house is a farmer's market where I can purchase anykind of fresh vege that I want cheaper than I can buy them at the grocery stores.  That includes cuts of beef as well, although I eat very little red meat.

Coming from the Piedmont of North Carolina, I can honestly say that I prefer East Tennessee after living here for over 30 years.

Around the World

 

Ukraine V Russia

 

On Being White

Born with a Scorpion horoscope, I found myself the most happy when I am alone in the desert, living a life of isolation and self-reflection.

Let's be clear...

I was born CAUCASIAN... 82 years after the Civil War and the conclusion of slavery in the United States; therefore, I am not a part of slavery nor will I ever be a part of slavery and resent people telling me that because I am white, I am associated with slavery...

If you think I am a racist, then the fact that you think that about me, MAKES YOU A RACIST...  I am an American just as you are an American...  and, trying to identify or classify us in any other way, is not only misleading but ignorant because you are allowing the past influencing your future rather than using the past to make your future better.

MLK Jr. said that we should judge people by their actions not by their color...

Explain to me what is incorrect about that statement...

As a WHITE MAN living in the USA, I live my life as I want it to be lived, not as how you want me to live my life.  As a RETIRED WHITE MAN, I see us all as one group of people, some of which are good and some of which are bad...  Some of us live in the city, some of us live in the country, and some of us live in the suburbs.  Some of us live on the east coast or west coast, some of us live in the middle while some of us live in the north or south.

We have educated and non educated Americans, religious Americans, and non-religious Americans.  We have tall Americans, short Americans, fat Americans, and thin Americans, but we are all Americans.

YES...  I AM WHITE...  but, just like you:

• I had no choice about my birth
• I have no choice about my parents
• I had no choice about my birth country or state
• I had no choice about my birth body
• I had no choice about my birth mentality
• I had no choice about my birth personality

I suggest you think about this the next time you try and judge me...

Passion

 

Math and Machine Learning

Machine learning makes it possible to generate more data than mathematician can in a lifetime

For the first time, mathematicians have partnered with artificial intelligence to suggest and prove new mathematical theorems. While computers have long been used to generate data for mathematicians, the task of identifying interesting patterns has relied mainly on the intuition of the mathematicians themselves. However, it’s now possible to generate more data than any mathematician can reasonably expect to study in a lifetime. Which is where machine learning comes in.

Two separate groups of mathematicians worked alongside DeepMind, a branch of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, dedicated to the development of advanced artificial intelligence systems. András Juhász and Marc Lackenby of the University of Oxford taught DeepMind’s machine learning models to look for patterns in geometric objects called knots. The models detected connections that Juhász and Lackenby elaborated to bridge two areas of knot theory that mathematicians had long speculated should be related. In separate work, Williamson used machine learning to refine an old conjecture that connects graphs and polynomials.

András Juhász and Marc Lackenby of the University of Oxford taught DeepMind’s machine learning models to look for patterns in geometric objects called knots. The models detected connections that Juhász and Lackenby elaborated to bridge two areas of knot theory that mathematicians had long speculated should be related. In separate work, Williamson used machine learning to refine an old conjecture that connects graphs and polynomials.

“The most amazing thing about this work and it really is a big breakthrough is the fact that all the pieces came together and that these people worked as a team,” said Radmila Sazdanovic of North Carolina State University.

Some observers, however, view the collaboration as less of a sea change in the way mathematical research is conducted. While the computers pointed the mathematicians toward a range of possible relationships, the mathematicians themselves needed to identify the ones worth exploring.

Snow Skiing

 

A Spectacular Universe

Just 12 million light-years away, the galaxies Messier 81 and 82 offer a nearby preview of the Milky Way-Andromeda merger.

Right in our cosmic backyard, a preview of the Milky Way’s future unfolds.
The galaxy Messier 81, also known as Bode’s Galaxy, is one of the brightest and closest galaxies to Earth not found in our Local Group. By connectng the lower-left corner of the Big Dipper’s cup to the upper-right corner and then traveling that same distance in the same direction, you can find M81 and the other major galaxies of its group all clustered together. (Credit: E. Siegel/Stellarium)

Just outside the Big Dipper’s “cup,” Bode’s Galaxy, Messier 81, lingers.
This optical image of Bode’s Galaxy, M81, comes courtesy of the Hubble Space Telescope. The spiral arms are littered with hot, young, blue stars, while large extent of the arms indicates a gravitational interaction with one or more nearby neighbors. A wider-field and multiwavelength view supports that. (Credit: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA))

12 million light-years away, it’s a naked eye object for those with acute vision and exceptionally dark skies.
The two largest, brightest galaxies in the M81 Group, M81 (right) and M82 (left), are shown in the same frame in these 2013 and 2014 photos. In 2014, M82 experienced a supernova, visible in the 2014 (blue) image just above the galactic center. (Credit: Simon in the Lakes)

The largest galaxy in the M81 group moves ever-so-slightly towards us.       READ MORE...

Flowing Water

 

Magnetic Fluid Engines

China is reportedly developing and testing its hypersonic technology at an unprecedented pace. It claims to have added another engine to its arsenal that can propel it to the forefront of the hypersonic race.

China’s hypersonic weapons program hopes to springboard itself into the future with an “air-breathing” magnetic fluid engine that might make it commercially possible to go anywhere on Earth in under an hour.

By 2035, China intends to construct a hypersonic passenger fleet that will use near-Earth orbit to go to any destination in the world in under an hour. Even though this program has been ridiculed by Western observers, China remains committed to developing an aircraft of this caliber and expanding the fleet in over a decade after a successful operation.

The program’s lead scientist claimed that the super-quiet engine with no moving parts will also aid in the construction of the next-generation launch vehicle, which is expected to enhance China’s space capability tremendously.

The ‘Next Generation Launch Vehicle’ is likely to launch a crewed mission to space and could potentially make its first flight in 2026. An advanced engine powering it could turn out to be a technological space milestone for the communist nation.     READ MORE...

Lean Horne

 

My Biased Views

1977 was when this caricature was drawn for me by a local NC artist...  I was 30 years old...  that was 44 years ago...  I kept my stache for several years then I got over the need for facial hair...  mainly because everyone was doing it...  I also started cutting my hair short once everyone was growing their hair long...  that's just the kind of person I am...  I try not to be like everyone else...  and, in so doing, I don't have many friends...  but, I am honest to myself and have my own integrity...

I am a Christian, but I do not attend institutionalized religion churches...  and, it is not because of all the hypocrisy that I see inside those walls but because those who preach to me...  don't really teach me anything...  I learned more about faith and religion but reading the Bible cover-to-cover myself.

I survived the 1960's and I survived Woodstock but I have not survived the music of the 60's and 70's because lyrics aren't even close to the lyrics of those decades...  we have become intellectually ignorant and have no desire to show that in our music...  so it reflects this emptiness.  I am a Vietnam Veteran but I don't believe in wars, nor do I own a firearm even though I have the right to do so.

I hold a BA in English and an MBA with a focus in Strategic Planning but my entire 45 year career had nothing to do with either of those two degrees.  I made above average grades but no one ever asked to see my transcripts before hiring me, including educational institutionals who had hired me to teach.  Just another form of hypocrisy.

I have no student debt because I used the GI Bill to pay for my education.  In fact, I have no debt at all and have been debt free for over 15 years.  I use a credit card but I always pay it off before any interest is added.

"I"...  "I"...  "I"...  how else do you expect me to share who I am or who I am not?

My thoughts will, for the most part, be controversial as I like to get people to think and I like to rock the boat.  Thinking outside the box is the key to intellectual growth...  so, let's start with this...

I believe in GOD but only as an extraterrestrial...

 

8 Types of People

 

My Daily Journey

As a child, I learned the value of play.

As a teenager, I learned the value of sports.

As a young adult, I learned the value of service.

As a mature adult, I learned the value of love.

As an middle-aged adult, I learned the value of work.

As a senior citizen, I learned the value of health.

As a retiree, I learned the value of being alone.

When alone, I learned the value of meditation.

When meditating, I learned the value of thoughts...

What is thought?

Is thought a memory?  or an idea?  or a concept?'

Is thought good or bad or indifferent?

Have you ever thought about:

What is our purpose here?

Why are we here?

Why is the universe so large?

Are we the only human life forms in the universe?

Is there a cosmic consciousness?

Where is my journey taking me - was the question that I have asked myself?  And, while I have no answers, I understand, in a fundamental way, that my journey is taking me somewhere...  and, that is not just to my death...  it is taking me to an awareness...  to an enlightenment...

Obviously, I need money to live...  but, I do not live for money...  and, there is a big difference because my quality of life is impacted by that decision...  in the sense of:  what kind of quality of life do I want to have?

How big of a house do I need to own?

Do I need to have a reliable vehicle?

How much food do I need to eat each day?

How can I maintain good health?

Do I need to void my mind of all thought?

My journey provides me with a series of questions that I try to answer throughout the day, knowing that all my answers are always going to be incomplete as I really won't know the answers when I want to realize them.  I will understand these answers only when I need to be aware of the answers for which I seek.

Understanding that it just happens this way, is the first step of your journey...

laughs

Filters of Consciousness

In addition to the basic capacity for sense perception, the Unified Theory of Knowledge (UTOK) identifies three primary domains of human consciousness. The first is the experiential or primate self, which includes both the capacity for subjective experience and the manner in which perceptions become referenced against motives and emotions that are relevant to one's self. The basic features of this domain of consciousness is shared with other mammals. The second domain is the ego, which refers to the language-based narrating capacity of your interpreter system. It is the “I” that describes, evaluates, and explains the “me” when you are engaged in explicit self-conscious reflection. Finally, your persona refers to the way you project your identity out into the social world to manage impressions and regulate your role and place in the social field.


These domains are specified in UTOK via Justification Systems Theory (JUST)2. In particular, JUST argues that we can understand the evolution of the human ego and persona as arising out of the fact that with propositional language came the problem of having to justify one’s self to others. UTOK proclaims this is a central problem that shapes the structural and functional arrangement of our language-based propositional thought. It also makes very clear predictions regarding the relationship between the domains of consciousness. Specifically, JUST posits that there should be specific kinds of filtering processes that should be present between both the experiential self and the ego and the ego and the persona. These dynamic processes are where we find two of the three filters of consciousness.


According to JUST, the ego must narrate what is happening to the primate experiential self and do so with the task of developing a justifiable narrative of events. This means that there should be filters associated with how the ego construes the experiential self. Specifically, it should work to filter out impulses, images, ideas, and feelings that are unjustifiable. And it should then work to develop justifiable narratives for those experiences, drives, and images that are acknowledged. In addition, powerful thoughts and feelings that the ego cannot control or deny should be experienced as alien and “ego-dystonic.”


Of course, therapists of a psychodynamic orientation have long identified precisely these kinds of processes and dynamic relations between self-consciousness and subconscious processes. Indeed, the idea that the ego sits atop the more animalistic portions of our mental lives and filters out undesirable processes via repression or suppression and then rationalizes those portions to manage our sense of self in the relational world is a basic set of insights from the Freudian tradition. It is because of this set of insights from psychodynamic theory that UTOK labels the filter between the primate-experiential self and the ego the "Freudian Filter." It operates between nonverbal images, drives, and impulses and verbal narration and, at this interface, the primary dynamic this filter is attempting is to translate the experiential self into a justified narrative and also regulate it so that it conforms.  READ MORE...

Sea Lion Chasing Boat

JORO Spiders

A female Joro spider crawls across a branch. Credit: Davis et al, Physiological evaluation of newly invasive jorō spiders (Trichonephila clavata) in the southeastern USA compared to their naturalized cousin, Trichonephila clavipes, Physiological Entomology (2022).

If you live in Georgia, it's hard not to notice the state's latest resident.

The bright yellow, blue-black and red spiders' golden webs will be all over power lines, in trees around town and even on your front porch come summer.

The Joro spider first arrived stateside around 2013 and has since spread across the state and Southeast. But new research from the University of Georgia suggests the invasive arachnids could spread through most of the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S.

There's really nothing we can do to stop them. But that's not necessarily bad news.

Joros don't appear to have much of an effect on local food webs or ecosystems, said Andy Davis, corresponding author of the study and a research scientist in the Odum School of Ecology. They may even serve as an additional food source for native predators like birds.

"People should try to learn to live with them," he said. "If they're literally in your way, I can see taking a web down and moving them to the side, but they're just going to be back next year."

"The way I see it, there's no point in excess cruelty where it's not needed," added Benjamin Frick, co-author of the study and an undergraduate researcher in the School of Ecology. "You have people with saltwater guns shooting them out of the trees and things like that, and that's really just unnecessary."  READ MORE...

Drones

 

Innovative New Magnet

PPPL physicist Yuhu Zhai in front of a series of images related to his magnet research. 

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have designed a new type of magnet that could aid devices ranging from doughnut-shaped fusion facilities known as tokamaks to medical machines that create detailed pictures of the human body.

Tokamaks rely on a central electromagnet known as a solenoid to create electrical currents and magnetic fields that confine the plasma—the hot, charged state of matter composed of free electrons and atomic nuclei—so fusion reactions can occur. But after being exposed over time to energetic subatomic particles known as neutrons emanating from the plasma, insulation surrounding the electromagnet's wires can degrade. If they do, the magnet could fail and reduce a tokamak's ability to harness fusion power.

In this new type of magnet, metal acts as insulation and therefore would not be damaged by particles. In addition, it would operate at higher temperatures than current superconducting electromagnets do, making it easier to maintain.

Fusion, the power that drives the sun and stars, combines light elements in the form of plasma to generates massive amounts of energy. Scientists are seeking to replicate fusion on Earth for a virtually inexhaustible supply of power to generate electricity.

"Our innovation both simplifies the fabrication process and makes the magnet more tolerant of the radiation produced by the fusion reactions," said Yuhu Zhai, a principal engineer at PPPL and lead author of a paper reporting the results in Superconductor Science and Technology.  READ MORE...