Free Republic

The interview with David Kirtley, founder of Helion Energy, dives into the development of fusion energy as a sustainable and efficient future power source with Helion's approach focusing on rapid iteration, efficiency in direct electricity generation, and addressing the challenges and regulatory aspects of commercializing fusion energy. Key Takeaways They make H3 by fusing two deuterium atoms that come from water. They convert the fusion directly into electricity. No steam needed. Their first power plant already is contracted with microsoft to produce power in 2028. They believe they will be able to produce electricity and make it available to the...

Looking down the barrel of the First Light Fusion’s “Big Friendly Gun” – a two-stage gas gun that's used to generate fusion reactions by the impact of a high-velocity projectile on a specially-designed target. Photo: First Light Fusion In my discussion (published starting here) with Paul Methven, head of Britain’s STEP program to build a first electricity-producing fusion power plant, Methven stressed that the program is open to more than one technological option. While STEP is betting mainly on the spherical tokamak, it is supporting the formation of a “fusion cluster” that will include private fusion companies pursuing entirely different...

The Orion: A molecular cloud shows cosmic filamentary structures where stars are being born. Image: ESA / Herschel / Ph. André, D Polychroni, A. Roy, V Könyves, N Schneider for the Gould Belt survey Key Program ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the first part of this series, we saw that electromagnetic processes in plasmas – electrically conducting gases – could, over trillions of years, produce the giant filaments that we see today as the largest structures in the universe. This happened without a Big Bang, without dark energy or dark matter, based on processes that we observe here on Earth in the laboratory...

Whirlpool Galaxy, photographed by the Webb Space Telescope. Photo: NASA ESA Webb / A Adamo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Introduction by Asia Times Science Editor Jonathan Tennenbaum In September Eric Lerner created a sensation with his Asia Times article, “Saying goodbye to the Big Bang,” arguing that the Big Bang theory is contradicted by an overwhelming mass of astronomical evidence accumulated over decades, including recent data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Eric Lerner ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The data forced even a pair of hitherto staunch advocates of the Big Bang, the well-known astrophysicists Adam Frank and Marcelo Gleiser, to admit that something must be...

It could usher an era of limitless clean, safe and affordable energy to meet the world's demand. Now, the 'holy grail' of power production – nuclear fusion, which makes the sun and the stars shine – has come a step closer. Scientists have switched on JT-60SA, a £500 million fusion device measuring around 40 feet in diameter, located in Naka north of Tokyo, Japan. JT-60SA contains swirling plasma heated up 200 million degrees Celsius (360 million degrees Fahrenheit). This is the threshold where hydrogen atoms can begin to fuse into helium, releasing sustainable energy in the process that could put...

Scientists have been chasing the dream of harnessing the reactions that power the Sun since the dawn of the atomic era. Interest, and investment, in the carbon-free energy source is heating up. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For the better part of a century now, astronomers and physicists have known that a process called thermonuclear fusion has kept the Sun and the stars shining for millions or even billions of years. And ever since that discovery, they’ve dreamed of bringing that energy source down to Earth and using it to power the modern world. It’s a dream that’s only become more compelling today, in...

Southeastern China’s Jiangxi province is going to build a fusion-fission power plant for more than 20 billion yuan (US$2.7 billion), with a target of continuously generating 100 megawatts (MW) of electricity. Jiangxi Electronic Group, a state-owned enterprise, said in a statement on Tuesday that Lianovation Superconductor and CNNC Fusion (Chengdu) Design and Research Institute signed a cooperation framework agreement on November 12 to jointly build a fusion-fission reactor in the province. ... In a fusion-fission hybrid reactor, the high-energy neutrons produced by the fusion reactions are absorbed in a “blanket” of fissionable material, where they trigger fission reactions. The favored...

Appearing with Sebastian Gorka, Kash Patel puts some excellent context on the issue of Dircuit Court Judge Chutkan presiding over the special counsel case against President Trump. ... I was unaware of the detail where Judge Chutkan originally presided over the case when Fusion GPS tried to block Devin Nunes and Kash Patel from revealing the source of the payments for the Chriss Steele dossier. ... Kash Patel: “Judge Chutkan, for those who don’t know, represented Burisma, Hunter Biden’s fraudulent consulting firm, she was a lawyer at the same law firm with Hunter Biden. But Seb, let’s put that aside....

A group of U.S. scientists say they have repeated their landmark energy feat - a nuclear fusion reaction that produces more energy than is put into it. But this time, they say the experiment produced an even higher energy yield than one in December...the lab "won't be discussing further details" of the July experiment until after more analysis.

Developing commercial fusion energy requires scientists to understand sustained processes that have never before existed on Earth. But with so many unknowns, how do we make sure we're designing a device that can successfully harness fusion power?We can fill gaps in our understanding using computational tools like algorithms and data simulations to knit together experimental data and theory, which allows us to optimize fusion device designs before they're built, saving much time and resources.Currently, classical supercomputers are used to run simulations of plasma physics and fusion energy scenarios, but to address the many design and operating challenges that still remain,...

A British team has reported hitting a major milestone...heating a nuclear reactor to the "magic figure" of 100 million degrees Celsius...The British company achieved the milestone using a "spherical tokamak" called ST40...Due to its design, the ST40 is "compact" – less than three feet across – and reaches around 13 feet in height.

How complicated can cold fusion be, really?Fusion upstart Helion Energy has named Microsoft as its first customer, and claims the software giant should be able to use electricity made by mashing together helium atoms from 2028. Which may come as a surprise to many, given that nuclear fusion – outside of stars and incredibly destructive bombs – remains largely theoretical. The few successes in the field have produced modest net energy gains. The most celebrated recent fusion experiment, revealed by Lawrence Livermore Laboratory's National Ignition Facility in late 2022, produced 3.15 megajoules (MJ) of fusion energy output using 2.05 MJ...

Helion Energy signed its first customer this week. The Everett-based company agreed to provide the software giant Microsoft with at least 50 megawatts of electricity from its planned first fusion power plant, starting in 2028. Fifty megawatts is enough electricity to power a data center or factory, said David Kirtley, Helion’s CEO. Founded in 2013, Helion has launched a multi-billion-dollar effort to produce electricity from fusion, the nuclear reaction that powers the sun and stars. Fusion has long been viewed as a potential zero-carbon source of energy. Unlike nuclear fission, which obtains its energy from splitting atoms, fusion does not...

The U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore Lab (LLL) in Northern California has recently gotten a lot of attention. It was just announced that they finally fused some hydrogen atoms and got more energy out than they put in — a net positive result. Drew Magary, writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, throws a little cold water on the event by adding that the lasers causing the fusion reaction were powered by electricity generated at way less than perfect efficiency.hrowing more cold water, I was told by someone who worked on the facility in question that they already had a...

California scientists announced a breakthrough that could commercialize nuclear fusion in a few decades, but a Vancouver-based company has a method that claims to power homes with the technology by the early 2030s. Unlike at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which used lasers to achieve net gain energy, General Fusion compresses hydrogen plasma inside a large cylinder to increase density and temperature. General Fusion's method uses high-powered pistons to squeeze liquid metal around the plasma to build pressure until the mixture hits 180 million degrees Fahrenheit - and fusion occurs. The firm says it plans to have its first commercial power...

Its implications go well beyond the Earth itself, affecting even the future of space travel. Researchers at the National Ignition Facility in Livermore, California achieved net energy gain in a thermonuclear fusion experiment. But how great of a breakthrough is this, really? As soon as physicists realized how the Sun made its energy, they dreamed of getting the same process to work on Earth. They have worked on it since the 1950s and finally achieved success. There is still a long way to go. But we can now say with confidence that in the not-too-distant future, fusion power stations will...

California scientists may have discovered a source of unlimited clean energy by recreating the process of nuclear fusion which powers the sun. Researchers at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab in Livermore were able to spark a fusion reaction that briefly sustained itself - a major feat because fusion requires such high temperatures and pressures that it easily fizzles out. The experiment was performed in August, but reported for the first time earlier this month. Similar tests have been performed before, but this was the first one that generated more energy than was used to create...

883 watching now Started streaming 72 minutes ago #nuclearfusion #energy #breakthrough A breakthrough in nuclear fusion could bring limitless clean energy and help the fight against climate change, experts have predicted. On Tuesday, scientists from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, in California are expected to announce that they have achieved the “holy grail” of getting more energy out of a fusion reaction than it took to trigger it. The team reportedly used 2.1 megajoules of energy to create the conditions for the reaction, and achieved a 2.5 megajoules return – an achievement known as fusion ignition.

Scientists have researched fusion since the 1950s. The Energy Department is expected to announce Tuesday that scientists have reached a breakthrough in nuclear fusion in their quest to produce a technology to provide clean, unlimited and affordable power. Scientists have researched fusion since the 1950s, and the Biden administration is likely to affirm the massive, decades-long investment, according to the Washington Post reported. "To most of us, this was only a matter of time," a senior fusion scientist told the newspaper. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm is expected to make the announcement Tuesday at a media event her department is promoting...

The August test actually generated more energy than scientists predicted, and damaged some equipment. Using the world's largest laser, consisting of 192 beams and temperatures more than three times hotter than the center of the sun One adjustment that helped: Researchers made the fuel capsule about 10 percent bigger and now it's up to the size of a ball bearing. That capsule fits in a tiny gold metal can that researchers aim 192 lasers at. They heat it to about 100 million degrees, creating about 50 percent more pressure inside the capsule than what's inside the center of the sun....