In the News

2022

October 1, 2022
See the Facility That Tests Whether Nuclear Weapons Work
Gargantuan lasers induce a fusion reaction to test the U.S. nuclear stockpile. (Scientific American)

September 21, 2022
Fusion Energy Scientist Speaks To CleanTechnica About Fusion Potential
To provide some clarity and insights about fusion energy and its potential, it was a privilege to interview Dr. Pravesh Patel, one of the researchers at the National Ignition Facility who worked on the project with the milestone results. (CleanTechnica)

September 18, 2022
National Ignition Facility‘s laser-fusion milestone ignites debate
After failing to reproduce last year‘s record-breaking fusion-energy shot, scientists at the US National Ignition Facility have gone back to the drawing board. (Physics World)

September 17, 2022
Livermore astronaut mural encourages people to ‘Dream Big’
On the age of 10, Larry Lagin already knew he wished to develop into a scientist — his inspiration was NASA’s area program. (NaijaOnPoint)

September 16, 2022
A look at why there is new interest in fusion energy
Temperatures hotter than the center of the sun, the highest-energy lasers in the world, magnets the size of a basketball court—and the promise of virtually unlimited energy on Earth. (WTXL)

September 15, 2022
HOTTING UP Inside the race for ‘unlimited’ fusion energy as US, UK and China create ‘artificial suns’
THE “Holy Grail” of virtually limitless clean energy from nuclear fusion reactors is within reach after a series of major breakthroughs, scientists believe. (The U.S. Sun)

September 15, 2022
Huge gratings promise 50PW pulses
Lawrence Livermore collaboration says its meter-scale pulse compression gratings offer a route to unprecedented laser power. (Optics.org)

September 13, 2022
Laser potentissimi dritti al cuore delle nane rosse
In a recent article published in the journal Physics of Plasmas, a team of researchers from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (Llnl) describes a new experiment to study the physics in action in the depths of red dwarfs and shed light on the transport mechanisms of the energy produced by these little nuclear furnaces. (Media INAF)

September 12, 2022
LLNL directors talk past accomplishments, current challenges during 70th anniversary event
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, like long-standing research and development institutions, traditionally has been a place where employees spent most of their careers until they retired. (Livermore Vine)

September 7, 2022
Korea’s New Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough Maintains 100 Million°C for 30 Seconds! Here’s How It Was Achieved
Californian scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility claimed their 2021 experiment created a self-sustaining fusion reaction. (Tech Times)

September 6, 2022
MIT students contribute to success of historic fusion experiment
Students are part of large team that achieved fusion ignition for the first time in a laboratory. (MIT News)

September 5, 2022
LLNL, Korea Embark on Climate Change Collaboration
Leaders at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to collaborate on basic science and technology in the renewable energy, climate science, data science and characterizations arenas. (The Independent)

August 31, 2022
National lab partnership aims to enhance fusion energy production
In August 2021, scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) National Ignition Facility (NIF) had a breakthrough. They succeeded in a nuclear fusion energy experiment by using a laser shot to spark an explosion of energy from a peppercorn-sized fuel capsule. (Texas A&M Engineering)

August 29, 2022
The NIF in California gets one step closer to nuclear fusion
In August 2021, a nuclear fusion reaction triggered at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in California, US, generated more energy than the energy that directly went into heating the target capsule where the reaction took place. Now, a year later, the team has confirmed that the reaction met another important milestone: ignition. (Frontline)

August 26, 2022
This giant laser can simulate a planet’s core
How do you study the innards of alien worlds? You just need the world’s largest laser. (Vox)

August 22, 2022
Plasmas could be used to make the world’s most powerful laser
Because plasma can shape very intense light without being damaged, it could be used to make components for lasers thousands of times more powerful than the strongest ones that exist. (New Scientist)

August 22, 2022
Multi-Petawatt Laser Overcomes Power Limitations of Conventional Solid-State Optical Gratings
Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have created a portable multi-petawatt laser that circumvents the power constraints of traditional solid-state optical gratings by using plasma transmission gratings. (AZO Optics)

August 19, 2022
Nuclear fusion breakthrough as ‘ignition’ finally achieved
Three new studies celebrate a 2021 fusion power breakthrough, but controversy remains around replicating the findings. (The Independent)

August 18, 2022
A-Rod and Marc Lore invested in this startup trying to make fusion with insanely powerful lasers
As the effects of climate change become more obvious, the promise of nuclear fusion — a virtually unlimited source of carbon-free energy — is getting a new wave of attention. (CNBC)

August 17, 2022
The frontrunners in the trillion-dollar race for limitless fusion power
One milestone came quietly this month, when a team of researchers at the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Lab in California announced that an experiment last year had yielded over 1.3 megajoules (MJ) of energy, setting a new world record for energy yield for a nuclear fusion experiment. (Fast Company)

August 17, 2022
Experiment Brings Nuclear Fusion ‘One Step Closer’ As Source Of Energy
Scientists have confirmed a major breakthrough in nuclear fusion involving the first successful instance of ignition, the point at which a nuclear fusion reaction becomes self-sustaining. (Nucnet)

August 17, 2022
California Team Achieved First Self-Sustaining Fusion Reaction, Fail to Replicate It
Around this time last year, a group of scientists conducted a landmark experiment that yielded more than 1.3 megajoules of energy. After an analysis, the team of scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California has confirmed that they had successfully achieved a nuclear fusion reaction that was energetic enough to sustain itself. (Gadgets 360)

August 16, 2022
US Breakthrough In Nuclear Fusion Puts Dreams of Unlimited Clean Energy Within Reach
National Ignition Facility has met the Lawson criterion for nuclear fusion, but that only applies to real reactors, not laser experiments. (Newsbreak)

August 15, 2022
Confirmed: Scientists Reach Ignition On Nuclear Fusion
Scientists have confirmed in three peer-reviewed papers that the nuclear fusion experiment conducted on August 8, 2021, triggered a reaction that could be self-sustaining, which means the world is one significant step closer to a massive source of energy. (The Daily Wire)

August 14, 2022
Breakthrough in nuclear fusion energy: Ignition confirmed in record 1.3 megajoule shot
Last year in August, a yield of more than 1.3 megajoules (MJ) was achieved at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) National Ignition Facility (NIF) for the first time. (Interesting Engineering)

August 14, 2022
Ignition confirmed at log 1.3 MJ
After decades of researching inertial confinement fusion, the yield of more than 1.3 megajoules (MJ) First achieved on August 8, 2021. Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have put the National Ignition Facility (NIF) on the threshold of fusion acquisition and scientific ignition. (La Ronge Northerner)

August 14, 2022
Scientists report major breakthrough in nuclear fusion energy
Scientists recently confirmed that they achieved a significant breakthrough in nuclear fusion. (The Blaze)

August 14, 2022
Fusion power breakthrough celebrated in new studies, but controversy remains
On 8 August, 2021, 192 laser beams pumped vastly more power than the entire US electric grid into a small gold capsule and ignited, for a faction of a second, the same thermonuclear fire that powers the Sun. (Independent)

August 13, 2022
Researchers achieve Nuclear Fusion breakthrough
On August 8, 2021, for the first time, researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL’s) National Ignition Facility (NIF) recorded the yield of 1.3 megajoules (MJ) from Fusion research. One year later, the scientific results of the historic experiment have been published in three peer-reviewed papers. (TimesNow)

August 12, 2022
Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough Confirmed: California Team Achieved Ignition
A major breakthrough in nuclear fusion has been confirmed a year after it was achieved at a laboratory in California. (Newsweek)

August 12, 2022
Studies confirm that NIF reaches the ignition threshold
Almost a year ago, researchers at the National Ignition Facility reached a historic milestone in the field of nuclear fusion: They reached the ignition threshold (or “ignition” threshold), or the point at which the fusion reaction is energized. (Swords Today)

August 11, 2022
Ignition confirmed in a nuclear fusion experiment for the first time
We have ignition. An analysis has confirmed that an experiment conducted in 2021 created a fusion reaction energetic enough to be self-sustaining, which brings it one step closer to being useful as a source of energy. (NewScientist)

August 8, 2022
Fusion Turns Up the Heat
A laser-fusion scheme has achieved ignition—an important step on the road to energy production. (Physics)

August 1, 2022
Inside France’s super-cooled, laser-powered nuclear test lab
Lawrence Livermore describes a process for testing nuclear material with lasers at low temperatures as a “cryogenic target system,” which it runs in the National Ignition Facility. (Popular Science)

July 19, 2022
Fusion Industry survey shows significant increase in private investment
FIA said: ”When the history books are written about fusion energy, the last 12 months will be seen as the turning point when it became clear that fusion would move out of the laboratories and into the marketplace.” It cited a number of examples, including a controlled “burning plasma” for the first time at the National Ignition Facility in California. (Nuclear Engineering International)

July 8, 2022
Boldly Captured: Star Trek Into Darkness
For Star Trek Into Darkness, director J.J. Abrams and cinematographer Dan Mindel, ASC, BSC initially planned to shoot digitally in 3-D, but, in the end, their shared affection for the anamorphic format and their desire to maintain visual consistency with 2009’s Star Trek (AC June ’09) led them to choose film instead.
(American Cinematographer)

July 2022
Plasma Physics Laboratory Researchers Ask: Has Fusion’s Day Come?
For more than 70 years, physicists have been trying to achieve controlled nuclear fusion — the process that powers the sun and the thermonuclear (i.e., hydrogen) bomb — and for nearly as long, critics have been yanking their chains. (Princeton Alumni Weekly)

June 28, 2022
Breaking the strongest chemical bonds with laser shock compression
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists recently obtained high-precision thermodynamic data on warm dense nitrogen at extreme conditions that could lead to a better understanding of the interiors of celestial objects like white dwarfs and exoplanets. (Phys.org)

June 24, 2022
NMC Names Its Outstanding Alumni Award Winners
Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) has announced its 2022 Outstanding Alumni award recipients: Andrea (Annie) Kritcher, 2001–2003. (The Ticker)

June 8, 2022
Uncovering a novel way to bring to Earth the energy that powers the sun and stars
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have uncovered critical new details about fusion facilities that use lasers to compress the fuel that produces fusion energy. (PPPL News)

June 7, 2022
8 of the Largest Tools in the World
The world’s most powerful laser is actually 192 separate beams aimed at a target roughly the size of a pencil eraser. (History)

May 31, 2022
Fusion won’t avert need for climate change ‘sacrifice’, says nuclear energy expert
But the potentially abundant, if distant, source of sustainable energy could offer hope. (The Register)

May 25, 2022
Carving a Space-Time Crystal in a Plasma
Plasmas of charged particles—electrons or ions—can act as mirrors that reflect high-intensity light without being damaged. This property has been exploited to build plasma mirrors and other optical components for high-power lasers such as those used at the National Ignition Facility. (Physics)

May 23, 2022
Nuclear fusion: Key developments in 2021
There are at least 35 global companies and an October survey from the US Fusion Industry Association (FIA) and the UK’s UKAEA had information from 23 of them. Of the companies featured from the US (12), UK (five) and India, China, Canada, Australia, Germany and France, 15 were founded after 2010. (NS Energy)

May 20, 2022
Gilroy architect helping to create a more vital downtown Hollister
Architect Reid Lerner has worked on projects as diverse as the restoration of the historic Miller Red Barn in Gilroy, constructed in 1891, and National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, once described as the most important building in the world” for its work in advanced fusion technology. (Benito Link)

May 20, 2022
Lab internship program bridges gap between degree and military service
Justin Witkowski came to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) for a unique internship opportunity, one that would allow him to gain some practical experience during the gap between completing his undergraduate degree and starting his military career in the Navy. (Mirage News)

May 19, 2022
Smooth operators: the dark art of optical polishing
Gravitational wave detectors Ligo and Virgo have opened a new window into the cosmos, detecting the faint ripples of distant colliding black holes and neutron stars. (Electro Optics)

May 16, 2022
Engineering students show off mechanic projects
The Chico State College of Engineering, Computer Science and Construction Management students, who are set to graduate this month, displayed their senior capstone projects Friday at the college’s Senior Capstone Design Expo. (Chico Enterprise-Record)

May 5, 2022
NNSA Budget: FY22 Outcomes and FY23 Request
The National Nuclear Security Administration’s budget is increasing steadily in support of work to reconstitute plutonium production capabilities and other key infrastructure supporting the nuclear weapons stockpile, though funding for some science programs is under pressure. (FYI: Science Policy News from AIP)

April 26, 2022
Laser Optics Are Key To Recent Sustainable Energy Breakthrough
The current reliance on fossil fuels has obvious implications for ecosystems and climate, and ZYGO’s ongoing partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL’s ) National Ignition Facility (NIF) in the United States is helping to bring safe, virtually unlimited carbon-free energy one step closer to reality. (Metrology News)

April 26, 2022
Recent Nuclear Fusion Breakthroughs and the Opportunities They Offer
A milestone has been reached in the quest to harness the power of the stars for cost-effective clean energy on Earth by scientists working to establish practical nuclear fusion. (AZO Cleantech)

April 25, 2022
White House Sets Sights on Commercial Fusion Energy
At a recent White House summit, fusion experts discussed ways to accelerate the development of commercial fusion energy and embed justice considerations into the foundations of the nascent industry.
(American Institute of Physics)

April 19, 2022
Laser fusion startup ignited by early-stage funding
Both of the commercial ventures have been inspired by recent results from the National Ignition Facility (NIF), where researchers used the biggest laser in the world to produce a fusion output of 1.35 megajoules — more than 70% of the laser input energy, and seen as significant as it demonstrates the possibility of achieving ignition and fusion “burn” with a laser. (Optics.org)

April 8, 2022
Laboratory experiments replicate volatile plasma at the center of galaxy clusters
A team of U.S. National Science Foundation grantee astronomers and astrophysicists based at the University of Rochester and other institutions examined the inner workings of heat conduction in galaxy clusters—thousands of galaxies held together by gravity. (Technology.org)

April 8, 2022
National Ignition Facility Using Zygo Custom Optics for Laser Fusion Application
ZYGO’s ongoing partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL’s) National Ignition Facility (NIF) in the United States is helping to bring safe, virtually unlimited carbon-free energy one step closer to reality. (Novus Light Technologies Today)

April 8, 2022
Laser Fusion for a Sustainable Future
SCHOTT is advancing innovations in specialty glass that promote a more sustainable future and is well on its way to achieving climate neutrality by 2030. (Our Great Minds)

April 8, 2022
Thales : Lasers in the spotlight
Lasers have been around for over 60 years, but their untapped potential is still massive. They could unlock amazing new opportunities in healthcare, industry and the energy sector, provided their energy efficiency can be further improved. (Market Screener)

April 6, 2022
The Holy Grail of Energy Generation Might Finally Be Within Our Grasp
If you’ve ever been outside during the day, you’ve seen a fusion reactor—though you’re not supposed to stare directly at it. The sun is our fusion reactor in the sky. (The Daily Beast)

April 6, 2022
Porsche-backed startup pictures breakthrough for 3D printing using metal
Much of the most impactful climate tech works its magic behind the scenes. I firmly believe the convergence of digitalization and industrial transformation is one great example of that thesis. (GreenBiz)

April 5, 2022
U.K. Startup’s ‘Big Friendly Gun’ Achieves Fusion Breakthrough
A U.K. startup backed by China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd. proved a novel approach to generating fusion energy in a breakthrough that could slash the technology’s cost by providing cheap, clean nuclear fuel. (Bloomberg News)

April 5, 2022
Lasers Recreate the Conditions Inside Galaxy Clusters
Galaxies don’t exist in a vacuum. Ok, maybe they do (mostly, since even interstellar space has some matter in it). But galaxies aren’t normally solitary objects. Multiple galaxies interacting gravitationally can form clusters. (Universe Today)

April 5, 2022
Lasers could revolutionize medicine, future energy needs
Evidence suggests laser-based fusion energy could actually be a viable. (Ingersoll Voice)

April 4, 2022
Lawrence Livermore achieves a burning plasma in the lab
Inertial fusion requires a thousand-fold compression of matter to ultrahigh densities and temperatures. The Sun and other stars use gravity to do the job and fuse hydrogen into helium. To mimic the effect on Earth, scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) use the world’s most powerful bank of lasers to squeeze isotopes of hydrogen—deuterium and tritium—in a 2-mm-wide capsule. (Physics Today)

April 4, 2022
HB11 Energy Showcases the World’s First Laser-Driven Nuclear Fusion
HB11 Energy, the Australia-based first fusion energy company demonstrated a world-first ‘material’ number of fusion reactions by a private company, producing ten times more fusion reactions than expected based on earlier experiments at the same facility. (GoPhotonics)

April 1, 2022
“Fusion Is a Source of Near-Limitless, Clean Power”
It sounds fantastic — an answer to the dire need to quickly transition to clean and sustainable energy. But is nuclear fusion our way out of the energy crisis? (E-Magazine)

April 1, 2022
ZYGO Laser Optics Are Key To Recent Sustainable Energy Breakthrough
The current reliance on fossil fuels has obvious implications for ecosystems and climate, and ZYGO’s ongoing partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL’s) National Ignition Facility (NIF) in the United States is helping to bring safe, virtually unlimited carbon-free energy one step closer to reality.
(Australian Manufacturing)

March 31, 2022
The Planet Inside
Earth’s magnetic field, nearly as old as the planet itself, protects life from damaging space radiation. But 565 million years ago, the field was sputtering, dropping to 10% of today’s strength, according to a recent discovery. (Science)

March 30, 2022
Nuclear Fusion Shines a Light on Clean Energy Alternatives
Efforts to achieve fusion using inertial confinement aren’t as advanced, although the US-based National Ignition Facility and French Laser Mégajoule are leading the way. (E-Magazine)

March 30, 2022
HB11 demonstrates nuclear fusion using laser
Australian fusion energy company HB11 Energy has demonstrated a world-first ‘material’ number of fusion reactions by a private company, producing 10 times more fusion reactions than expected based on earlier experiments at the same facility. (Energy Source & Distribution)

March 30, 2022
First ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Character Promos Reveal More Aliens And Enterprise
Also, some of the gangways and machinery look inspired by real-life equipment, like those found at the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which was used for the outside of the warp core in Star Trek Into Darkness. (TrekMovie.com)

March 29, 2022
Three lab scientists are inducted into LLNL’s Entrepreneurs’ Hall of Fame
One current and two former Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists have been inducted into the Laboratory’s Entrepreneurs’ Hall of Fame (EHF). (R&D World)

March 29, 2022
HB11 Energy achieves world-first hydrogen fusion milestone with a laser, plans US$20m Series A
Sydney-based deep tech startup HB11 Energy has successfully shown what one of its physicist co-founders proved theoretically as a path to clean energy generation, using a laser to demonstrate a “material” number of fusion reactions between hydrogen and boron-11. (Business News Australia)

March 25, 2022
Laser Blazes New Milestone Toward Self-Sustaining Fusion Energy
Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (LLNL NIF) said that, for the first time, physicists have engineered and tested a laser system in which fusion itself — as opposed to external heating mechanisms — provided most of the heat needed for a fusion reaction. (Photonics Media)

March 18, 2022
Limitless clean power? White House makes risky bet on fusion
President Biden wants the warmth of many suns to power American homes and businesses. (E&E News)

March 17, 2022
Researchers design holographic lenses based on plasma
Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, University of California Berkeley, and Princeton University have recently used holography to design a new type of lens made from plasma. (Phys.org)

March 16, 2022
German start-up aims to generate unlimited clean fusion energy with lasers
In August, scientists took a significant step forward in laser fusion science in August at the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. (CNBC)

March 15, 2022
LLNL constructing high-power laser for new facility at SLAC
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s decades of experience in developing high-energy lasers is now being tapped to provide a key component of a major upgrade to the U.S. SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory’s Linac Coherent Light Source, located at Stanford University, California. (Optics.org)

March 15, 2022
Scientists replicated conditions that exist within galaxy clusters
To understand supercluster evolution, it is essential to understand the inner workings of the building blocks of superclusters—galaxy clusters. (Tech Explorist)

March 15, 2022
Astronomers Wanted to Find Out What’s It Like Inside a Massive Galaxy Cluster
If you think our Milky Way galaxy is big for those 100,000 light-years that it measures from one edge to the opposite, you should think about a galaxy cluster more often. That’s the place where hundreds of galaxies ‘meet.’ (Health Throroughfare)

March 11, 2022
Using pump lasers to create plasma lenses that focus at very high intensity levels
A team of researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the University of California at Berkeley and Princeton University has developed plasma-based techniques to build a lens for laser beams with petawatt-scale power. (Phys.org)

March 11, 2022
What’s it like inside a massive galaxy cluster? Scientists used 196 lasers to find out
An Earthbound experiment is replicating the extreme heat found in galaxy clusters located in deep space using nearly 200 lasers. (Space.com)

March 10, 2022
Scientists Use an Array of 196 Lasers to Recreate the Conditions Inside Galaxy Clusters
Galaxies rarely live alone. Instead, dozens to thousands are drawn together by gravity, forming vast clusters that are the largest objects in the universe. (AZoOptics)

March 9, 2022
Thermonuclear Fusion in a Sheared-Flow Z-Pinch: Advancing Another Viable Pathway to Fusion Energy
In findings that could help advance another “viable pathway” to fusion energy, research led by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) physicists has proven the existence of neutrons produced through thermonuclear reactions from a sheared-flow stabilized Z-pinch device. (SciTechDaily)

March 9, 2022
Researchers unravel the inner workings of heat conduction in galaxy clusters
The inner workings of heat conduction in galaxy clusters have been unraveled by a collaboration of international researchers led by the University of Oxford, University of Rochester and the University of Chicago. (Phys.org)

March 8, 2022
Dr Andrea Kritcher — Team Leader, Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) program, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)
This International Women’s Day, AZoCleantech spoke to inspiring women who have made a difference in the Clean Technology field. They share their experiences of working in STEM, their key achievements, any future projects they are working on, and the importance of breaking the bias to develop an equal future. (AZoOptics)

March 8, 2022
Scientists use 196 lasers to recreate the conditions inside gigantic galaxy clusters
Galaxies rarely live alone. Instead, dozens to thousands are drawn together by gravity, forming vast clusters that are the largest objects in the universe. (Phys.org)

March 8, 2022
Nuclear Fusion Edges Closer As Another Way to Harness Sun’s Energy Revealed
New research could open up another viable pathway to fusion energy, the process that powers the stars and creates their heat and light emissions. (Newsweek)

March 8, 2022
How Scientists Achieved Burning Plasma State — After Decades of Fusion Research
After decades of fusion research, a burning plasma state was achieved on November 2020 and February 2021 at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (NIF), the world’s most energetic laser. (SciTechDaily)

March 7, 2022
Understanding the promise and peril of fusion power: Chimera or climate panacea?
Decades of as-yet unrealized optimism for the safe and effective application of fusion power keep us waiting, but the climate clock keeps ticking in search of a fusion “solution.” (Yale Climate Connections)

March 7, 2022
Scientists confirm thermonuclear fusion in a sheared-flow Z-pinch device
In findings that could help advance another “viable pathway” to fusion energy, research led by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) physicists has proven the existence of neutrons produced through thermonuclear reactions from a sheared-flow stabilized Z-pinch device. (Phys.org)

March 4, 2022
Progress stokes optimism about usable fusion energy
European scientists have announced a further step toward the goal of creating usable fusion energy by creating a five-second burst of power—double their previous record. (China Daily)

March 3, 2022
National Ignition Facility details its attainment of a burning plasma
The Sun and other stars rely on gravitational compression to overcome the coulombic repulsion between atoms and power their fusion. (Physics Today)

March 2, 2022
Two wins for nuclear fusion power
An experiment at a European testbed suggests that the Iter nuclear fusion reactor has a good chance of succeeding. Meanwhile, US scientists breathed new life into an entirely different approach to the almost perfect power source. (Bits & Chips)

February 28, 2022
3dpbm Pulse Podcast Ep. 3: James DeMuth of Seurat Technologies
The special guest for this third episode of the 3dpbm Pulse Podcast 2022 is James DeMuth, CEO of Seurat Technologies, one of the most exciting new companies to emerge, targeting metal additive mass production, with its unique Area Printing process. (3D Printing Media Network)

February 24, 2022
Laser experiments re-create iron dynamics in planetary interiors
New measurements of pressurized iron offer clues as to the kinds of exoplanets that can sustain liquid-iron cores and magnetospheres. (Physics Today)

February 24, 2022
Burning plasma: are we close to cracking fusion?
Scientists in the U.S. have taken us one step closer to safe, sustainable fusion technology. (Palatinate)

February 23, 2022
Practical fusion reactors
Fusion promises to generate cheap, carbon-free, always-on energy, with no meltdowns and little radioactive waste. (MIT Technology Review)

February 23, 2022
Nuclear fusion: how excited should we be?
There’s been tremendous excitement about recent results from the Joint European Torus (JET) facility in the UK, hinting that the dream of nuclear fusion power is inching closer to reality. (The Conversation)

February 23, 2022
World’s largest laser sets huge fusion record with ‘burning’ plasma
Two studies on the fusion experiment titled "Design of inertial fusion implosions reaching the burning plasma regime" and "Burning plasma achieved in inertial fusion," have been published in the journal Nature Physics. (TweakTown)

February 22, 2022
Super-Earths May Have Longer Lasting Magnetospheres, Making Habitability More Likely
“Super-Earths” keep popping up. The most numerous exoplanets are those between Earth and Neptune in size, yet they’re also the most perplexing. (Optic Flux)

February 20, 2022
US Lab Takes Further Step Towards Nuclear Fusion Goal
US physicists have confirmed that they achieved a stage in nuclear fusion called "burning plasma" last year. (Energy & Power)

February 17, 2022
New studies highlight the potential of self-heating plasmas for fusion energy
Two research teams working at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LLNL) National Ignition Facility (NIF) demonstrated new approaches to increase nuclear energy production via a laser-driven fusion reaction. (Phys.org)

February 16, 2022
Private Players Fuel Latest Fusion Craze
Nuclear fusion has been generating more excitement in recent months than it has in years. (Energy Intelligence)

February 16, 2022
The promise of fusion
Nuclear fusion has been on mankind’s agenda for decades, but it presents the most daunting engineering challenges. If we get it right the prize is virtually unlimited clean energy. So are we getting there, or does it remain in the realms of science fiction? (Engineering and Technology)

February 10, 2022
JET nuclear fusion reactor shatters record for energy production
The Joint European Torus (JET) fusion reactor near Oxford in the UK has produced the highest level of sustained energy ever from atom fusion, Nature has reported. (Engadget)

February 10, 2022
European scientists set nuclear fusion energy record
European scientists on Wednesday announced fresh progress in the drive to make nuclear fusion a practical, safe and clean energy source, saying an experiment at a site in England set a record for the amount of fusion energy produced, more than doubling the previous mark. (Gulf Daily News)

February 9, 2022
Nuclear-fusion reactor smashes energy record
A 24-year-old nuclear-fusion record has crumbled. Scientists at the Joint European Torus (JET) near Oxford, UK, announced on 9 February that they had generated the highest-ever sustained energy from fusing together atoms, more than doubling their own record from experiments performed in 1997. (Nature)

February 9, 2022
UK scientists set record for generating energy from nuclear fusion with reaction ‘10 times hotter than the sun’
Scientists in the UK have set a new record for generating energy from nuclear fusion, the same process that powers our Sun seen as a potential future source of near limitless power. (Sky News)

February 9, 2022
Inside the race for ‘unlimited’ fusion energy as US, UK and China create ‘artificial suns’ to solve world’s gas crisis
The “Holy Grail” of virtually limitless clean energy from nuclear fusion reactors is within reach after a major breakthrough, scientists believe. (The Sun)

February 9, 2022
European fusion reactor sets record for sustained energy
In experiments culminating the 40-year run of the Joint European Torus (JET), the world’s largest fusion reactor, researchers announced today they have smashed the record for producing controlled fusion energy. (Science)

February 9, 2022
Fusion experiment smashes record for generating energy, takes us a step closer to a new source of power
An experimental nuclear fusion project has set a world record in generating energy on Earth using the same kind of reactions that power the sun. (Live Science)

February 9, 2022
Five seconds, 59 megajoules: A new record for tokamak fusion
Joint European Torus (JET), located near Oxford in the UK, had set a new record for released energy. Over the course of a five-second “pulse,” 59 megajoules of energy were released, double the previous record for tokamak fusion set at JET in 1997. (Ars Technica)

February 9, 2022
Industry partnerships for laser fusion
A week ago, German startup Marvel Fusion announced development partnerships with Trumpf, Thales, and Siemens Energy. (Laser Focus World)

February 9, 2022
UK and EU scientists generate energy ten times hotter than the sun
TThe Joint European Torus (JET) experimental fusion machine based near Abingdon in Oxfordshire has enabled scientists to generate energy that released heat ten times hotter than the sun. (Euro Weekly)

February 3, 2022
Lars Jaeger: What Is the Latest Story on Nuclear Fusion?
Progress in nuclear fusion (as opposed to nuclear fission, on which today’s controversial nuclear power generation is based) is of great importance because nuclear fusion offers the possibility of safe and (almost) climate-neutral energy generation. (finews.com)

February 3, 2022
How Effective Communicators Inspire Scientists To Solve The World’s Biggest Problems
NIF’s breakthrough is “momentous” because it’s the closest anyone has come to recreating the power source of stars in a controlled lab environment here on Earth. (Forbes)

February 3, 2022
Laser System Enables Milestone Step Toward Self-Sustaining Fusion Energy
Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (LLNL NIF) said that, for the first time, physicists have engineered and tested a laser system in which fusion itself — as opposed to external heating mechanisms — provided most of the heat needed for a fusion reaction. (Photonics Media)

February 2, 2022
U.S. Project Reaches Major Milestone toward Practical Fusion Power
In a world first, the National Ignition Facility has generated a “burning plasma,” a fusion reaction on the cusp of being self-sustaining. (Scientific American)

February 2, 2022
US Researchers Report Successful Fusion Reaction
American scientists have announced another step toward producing energy from nuclear fusion.
(Voice of America)

February 2, 2022
Livermore Reports Burning Plasma for Fusion Energy
Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have succeeded in creating the conditions necessary for self-heating nuclear fusion fuel, known as burning plasma, a crucial step in harnessing fusion energy.
(EE Times)

January 31, 2022
LANL: More Than 60 Laboratory Staff Members Recognized With DOE Secretary’s Honor Awards
The four Los Alamos teams that received awards were the W76-2 Modification Team, the Burning Plasma on the National Ignition Facility Team, the Nuclear Incident Response Stabilization Team, and the Lovelace Biomedical Research Institute Material Removal Team. (Los Alamos Reporter)

January 31, 2022
Can nuclear fusion power the race to net zero?
A few recent breakthroughs have left nuclear fusion on the cusp of elusive ‘ignition’. Will it come in time to help the world decarbonise by 2050? (Energy Monitor)

January 29, 2022
Life on Earth-like exoplanets could be protected by strong magnetic fields
The extreme pressures and temperatures found in the cores of Earth-like planets have been recreated using an ultrahigh-power laser at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). (Physics World)

January 29, 2022
Scientists Achieve Milestone in Self-Sustaining Fusion Energy, Burning Plasma in U.S. Experiments for First Time
For more than 60 years, scientists have sought to understand and control the process of fusion, a quest to harness vast amounts of energy released by the type of reactions that power the sun and stars. (Good News Network)

January 28, 2022
Scientists Make Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough With Help From World’s Biggest Laser
U.S. scientists have used the world’s largest laser to take a “critical step” towards self-sustaining nuclear fusion power. (Newsweek)

January 27, 2022
Physicists report first creation of self-heating plasma for nuclear fusion
Nuclear physicists are notching scientific advances for fusion energy, fueling hopes — and billions in investment — to create an energy source that doesn’t produce carbon or nuclear waste. (Axios)

January 27, 2022
Cutting-edge laser lab brings fusion energy closer than ever
Scientists and engineers at the Lawrence Livermoore National Laboratory say they successfully created burning plasma in a laboratory that briefly sustained itself by the heat of its own nuclear fusion reactions — a key milestone on the road to harnessing functional fusion energy. (Popular Mechanics)

January 27, 2022
US lab sparks nuclear fusion. What will it take to make it last?
Researchers at a California lab caught a glimpse of the future when they created a fusion reaction that lasted a fraction of a second. If scientists find a way to sustain this nuclear fusion for longer, they could create a revolutionary source of clean energy. (The Christian Science Monitor)

January 27, 2022
Burning plasma signals step forward in race for nuclear fusion
US scientists have succeeded in demonstrating self-heating plasma in a crucial step towards self-sustaining fusion energy. (The Register)

January 27, 2022
US Lab Achieves New Nuclear Fusion Stage! More Energy Emission Recorded
A U.S. laboratory achieved a new nuclear fusion stage called the “burning plasma.” This is currently a big deal for science since various experts across the globe are still trying to crack the mystery of this thermonuclear reaction since it can offer a massive amount of power. (Tech Times)

January 27, 2022
Breakthrough at cutting-edge laser lab brings fusion energy closer than ever
Scientists and engineers at the Lawrence Livermoore National Laboratory say they successfully created burning plasma in a laboratory that briefly sustained itself by the heat of its own nuclear fusion reactions — a key milestone on the road to harnessing functional fusion energy. (Tech Radar)

January 27, 2022
Burning plasma state achieved at Lawrence Livermore Lab
One of the last remaining milestones in fusion research before attaining ignition and self-sustaining energy production is creating a burning plasma, where the fusion reactions themselves are the primary source of heating in the plasma. (Nuclear Newswire)

January 27, 2022
Nuclear Fusion Milestone As Energy Emitted Exceeds Energy Put In For First Time
Back in August, researchers from the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory believed they might have finally crossed the threshold of “ignition” of inertial confinement fusion. Now they have confirmed it. They managed to get more energy out of the fusion reactor than was originally needed to make the material fuse. (IFLScience)

January 27, 2022
New experiment results bolster potential for self-sustaining fusion
For more than 60 years, scientists have sought to understand and control the process of fusion, a quest to harness the vast amounts of energy released when nuclei in fuel come together. (Science Daily)

January 27, 2022
Fusion Scientists Make ‘Burning Plasma’ Breakthrough With 129-Laser Experiment
Scientists from the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in California demonstrated “burning plasma” in the laboratory for the first time, a crucial step towards achieving practically limitless fusion energy, a report from the BBC explains. (Interesting Engineering)

January 27, 2022
DOE lab achieves major milestone for fusion energy
Scientists at a Department of Energy national laboratory are reporting a significant milestone in their pursuit of the distant quest to generate limitless, carbon-free electricity from fusion energy reactors. (E&E News)

January 27, 2022
Nuclear fusion milestone creates “burning plasma” for the first time
For the prospect of limitless, clean energy produced through nuclear fusion to become a reality, scientists need the reactions at the heart of the technology to become self-sustaining, and newly published research has edged them closer to that goal. (New Atlas)

January 27, 2022
Livermore Lab Scientists Create ‘Burning Plasma’ in Nuclear Fusion Experiment
Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California have reached a key milestone in the course toward generating clean and renewable energy from nuclear fusion by demonstrating for the first time a “burning plasma” in a lab experiment. (ExecutiveGov)

January 26, 2022
Hot stuff: Lab hits milestone on long road to fusion power
With 192 lasers and temperatures more than three times hotter than the center of the sun, scientists hit — at least for a fraction of a second — a key milestone on the long road toward nearly pollution-free fusion energy. (Associated Press)

January 26, 2022
Researchers achieve milestone on path toward nuclear fusion energy
U.S. government scientists said on Wednesday they have taken an important step in the long trek toward making nuclear fusion — the very process that powers stars — a viable energy source for humankind. (Reuters)

January 26, 2022
Scientists hit a milestone toward nuclear-fusion energy
Video: U.S. government scientists said they have created a ‘burning plasma’ — the very process that powers stars — in the laboratory, marking a milestone toward making nuclear fusion a viable energy source for humankind. (Reuters)

January 26, 2022
NIF: US lab takes further step towards fusion goal
US physicists have confirmed that they achieved a stage in nuclear fusion called “burning plasma” last year. (BBC News)

January 26, 2022
Government Scientists Create ‘Burning Plasma’ In Fusion Energy Milestone
Scientists have brought the dream of nuclear fusion one step closer to reality with the first-ever demonstration of a “burning plasma” in the laboratory, a milestone that marks “a critical step towards self-sustaining fusion energy,” reports a new study. (Vice)

January 26, 2022
Hot stuff: Fusion power milestone reached
Researchers said Wednesday they were able to spark a fusion reaction that briefly sustained itself. The ultimate goal, still years away, is to generate power the way the sun generates heat. (NBC News)

January 26, 2022
Physicists create self-burning plasma, but is it a step towards sustainable nuclear fusion energy?
Last February, about an hour's drive from San Francisco, a pinhead-sized sun of sorts flared into fleeting existence. In less than a billionth of a second, it shrugged off 170 kilojoules — the equivalent energy of nine 9-volt batteries, or about half a chocolate-coated biscuit. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

January 26, 2022
‘Burning’ hydrogen plasma in the world’s largest laser sets fusion records
The secret behind a record-breaking nuclear fusion experiment that spit out 10 quadrillion watts of power in a split second has been revealed: a “self-heating’ — or “burning” — plasma of neutron-heavy hydrogen inside the fuel capsule used in the experiment, according to researchers. (Live Science)

January 26, 2022
Fusion energy is now closer than ever thanks to a breakthrough made at a cutting-edge laser lab
Scientists and engineers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory claim to have created burning plasma in a lab that was sustained for a short time by the heat of its own nuclear fusion reactions — a significant step toward harnessing functional fusion energy. (Ceng News)

January 26, 2022
Powerful Sandia machine-learning model shows diamond melting at high pressure
A Sandia National Laboratories supercomputer simulation model called SNAP that rapidly predicts the behavior of billions of interacting atoms has captured the melting of diamond when compressed by extreme pressures and temperatures. (Mirage News)

January 20, 2022
Seurat raises $21M to take on casting and decarbonize manufacturing
CEO James De Muth targets millions of metal parts produced with “nuclear-inspired”" Area Printing technology. (3D Printing Media Network)

January 19, 2022
3D printing’s next act: big metal objects
A new metal 3D printing technology could revolutionize the way large industrial products like planes and cars are made, reducing the cost and carbon footprint of mass manufacturing. (Axios)

January 19, 2022
A Blue Collar Scientist: Changing the World Through Boundless Ambition and Company Ethos, with LLNL Director Kim Budil
Podcast: One look at the news today will tell you the world is facing a whole host of problems: from political upheaval to the socio-economic effects of Covid-19 all the way to climate change — it’s pretty clear we have a lot of work to do. At times, it can really feel like we’re being overwhelmed by the issues we have to tackle. (Mission.org)

January 13, 2022
The Most Habitable Alien Planets Might Be ‘Super-Earths’
They’re bigger than your average Earth, and now we’ve learned they might just be better at hosting life.
(Daily Beast)

January 13, 2022
Measuring The Melting Curve Of Iron At Super-Earth Core Conditions
A new study appearing in Science suggests that Earth-like planets outside of the solar system are likely to have a longer duration of magnetically shielded habitability than Earth. (UIC Today)

January 13, 2022
Scientists wielded giant lasers to simulate an exoplanet’s super-hot core
The molten cores of larger rocky exoplanets should stay hot longer than those within small worlds, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science. That’s good news for interstellar explorers–because a molten core is probably required for life to develop on a planet. (Popular Science)

January 13, 2022
Rocky Exoplanets with Four to Six Times Earth’s Mass Have Longest Dynamos, Study Suggests
In new research, a team of scientists from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and elsewhere used high-energy lasers at the National Ignition Facility and X-ray diffraction to determine the iron-melt curve up to a pressure of 1,000 gigapascals (nearly 10,000,000 atmospheres), three times the pressure of Earth’s inner core and nearly four times greater pressure than any previous experiments. (Sci-News)

January 11, 2022
Fusion Power Generation May Come Sooner Than You Think
Public-private partnerships are investing in a clean energy future. (Discourse)

January 10, 2022
Fusion’s role in fighting climate change
Excitement about fusion energy is growing. The international ITER project in France, which counts China, India, Europe, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the United States as its partners, is starting to assemble the world’s most powerful fusion experiment. (Tech Xplore)

January 6, 2022
Fusion energy is a reason to be excited about the future
It’s been a long road, but recent advances mean we’re closing in on a game-changing technology. (Vox)

January 6, 2022
Was 2021 A Breakthrough Year For Fusion Energy?
In a year where the news has been dominated by Covid vaccines and variants, billionaires blasting into space and climate change (the IPCC report, COP26, crazy weather…), those plugged into the science and energy news may have noticed an uptick in stories about fusion energy. (Forbes)

January 4, 2022
A cautiously positive outlook for 2022
Laser fusion could become even more important. In August 2021, the National Ignition Facility achieved a record of 70% conversion from laser input to output energy. This relates to the world’s most pressuring question: How can we generate more energy within a smaller carbon footprint (Laser Focus World)

January 3, 2022
China’s ‘Artificial Sun’ Project Heats Up the Competition
While China and other nations pour billions of dollars into developing the technology, researchers say we are still decades away from a working reactor emerging from the experimental stages. (Asia Financial)