Free Republic

To make fusion reactors, we need materials that can withstand its punishing environment, and a new Chinese-made material can survive reactors’ intense conditions. Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story: * The central solenoid is the heart of a fusion reactor, and a "jacket" of meticulously crafted stainless steel—capable of withstanding extreme temperatures and magnetic fields—protects it. * Chinese scientists say that a new super steel, called China high-strength low-temperature steel No. 1, (CHSN01), can operate at a maximum of 20 Tesla, which outperforms the steel jacket that will be used by ITER. * China is incorporating CHSN01...

The atomic energy of betavoltaic batteries can power a variety of devices, from aerospace and robots to your future smartphone, for up to a century without recharging. ================================================================== In the world of batteries, duration is king. Whether nestled in the smallest wearable or providing back-up power for the electric grid, a battery that provides reliable energy for longer will always outlast the competition—figuratively and literally. The U.S. led the way in nuclear battery innovation over the past 70 years—and even developed the first battery that ran on nuclear radiation in the 1950s. But in the 21st century, China has become...

“If Planet Nine is real, it would be on such an odd orbit and so far out in the outer Solar System, that it would really challenge our ideas of planet formation and dynamics,” Ann-Marie Madigan, assistant professor of astrophysics... Madigan isn’t searching for just one planet — she’s looking for an entire belt of celestial objects. Like Planet Nine, this proposed Zderic-Madigan, or ZM, belt would be really out there, far beyond the Kuiper belt, with some of its closest bodies being more than twice as far from the Sun as Pluto at perihelion. Unlike the Kuiper belt, this...