nuclear
-
Physics
China’s ‘artificial sun’ sets record for nuclear fusion power generation
An experimental advanced superconducting tokamak achieved a remarkable scientific milestone by sustaining steady-state, highly confined plasma operation for 1,066 seconds. Credit: HFIPS The Advanced Superconducting Tokamak Experimental Station (EAST), commonly known as China’s “artificial sun,” has achieved a remarkable scientific milestone by sustaining steady-state, highly confined plasma operation for an astonishing 1,066 seconds. . The achievement, achieved on Monday, sets…
Read More » -
Physics
Scientists achieve coherence of nuclear spins in suspended particles
Left: Schematic diagram showing a floating diamond with 14 nitrogen nuclear spins embedded. Right: Spin energy levels showing polarization. Credit: Julien Voisin. A new study published in Physical Review Letters demonstrates the suspension of microparticles using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), with potential implications from biology to quantum computing. NMR is a spectroscopic technique commonly used to analyze various materials based…
Read More » -
Chemistry
Ultrafast electron imaging captures never-before-seen nuclear motion in hydrocarbon molecules excited by light
The researchers used a genetic algorithm to obtain the time-varying molecular structure of photoexcited o-nitrophenol from ultrafast electron diffraction data. Credit: JPF Nunes (generated using Microsoft Copilot) Interactions between light molecules and nitroaromatic hydrocarbon molecules have important effects on chemical processes in the atmosphere that can cause smog and pollution. However, changes in molecular geometry due to interaction with light…
Read More » -
Physics
New state of thorium opens possibilities for nuclear clocks
Increase in nuclear excitation probability with a single laser pulse. The symbol η (η) represents the relative strength between the interaction energy and the transition energy. The dashed purple line near the top represents a 10% probability. Credit: Physical Review Letters (2024). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.152503 Why do we have atomic clocks but not nuclear clocks? After all, the nucleus is usually…
Read More » -
Science
Nuclear rockets may reach Mars in half the time, but designing the reactors to power them is not easy
Nuclear-powered rockets may one day enable faster space travel. Credit: NASA NASA plans to send a crewed mission to Mars over the next decade, but the 140 million mile (225 million kilometer) journey there could take months or years round trip. This relatively long flight time is a result of the use of conventional chemical rocket fuel. The agency is…
Read More » -
Earth
Tonga’s volcanic eruption was caused by an explosion equivalent to ‘five underground nuclear bombs,’ new study reveals
Mr. Jinyin Hu and Dr. Thanh-Son Phạm. Credit: Jamie Kidston/ANU Two years on, new research from the Australian National University (ANU) has revealed the main trigger of one of the largest volcanic eruptions in history, the Hunga Tonga submarine volcano. The study is published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. Until now, the cause of this disaster has remained a…
Read More » -
Physics
Nuclear theorists use supercomputers to map the building blocks of matter in 3D
Nuclear theorists from the HadStruc Collaboration have been working on a mathematical description of parton interactions using supercomputers, including machines in Jefferson Laboratory’s Data Center. Credit: Jefferson Laboratory/Eileen Devlin Deep within what we perceive as solid matter, the landscape is far from static: The interiors of the particles called hadrons that make up atomic nuclei are made up of a…
Read More » -
Physics
Findings from the experimental setup indicate the feasibility of a small, portable nuclear clock.
(Left) VUV signal versus exposure time immediately after X-ray beam irradiation of a 229Th-doped CaF2 crystal. The VUV signal as a function of exposure time reaches a saturation value about 10 times faster than the expected decay half-life. (Right) Observed time profile of an isomeric decay signal with a half-life of about 450 seconds. This suggests that the isomeric state…
Read More »
