Free Republic

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...

The sunspot, known as AR3085, has also been shooting off several minor solar flares, though nothing strong enough to be disruptive on Earth. The sunspot, known as AR3085, has also been shooting off several minor solar flares, though nothing strong enough to be disruptive on Earth. Sunspots are regions on the sun where magnetic fields are so intense that some heat is prevented from reaching the sun's surface. As such, sunspots may appear as dark patches. Due to the intense magnetic fields, sunspots are known sources of solar activity. When these magnetic field lines suddenly shift, a vast amount of...