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☆ NASA powers off a piece of Voyager 2 science to save power
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-02 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The NASA team overseeing the iconic Voyager 2 spacecraft made the decision to power down one of its science instruments in an effort to conserve energy. Despite the aging probe’s emptying power stores, NASA expects that Voyager 2 will keep operating with at least one science instrument into the 2030s. Voyager 2 has three radioisotope thermoelectric generators that power the spacecraft by converting heat emitted by the decaying plutonium into electricity. But turning off a piece of equipment on Voyager 2 or Voyager 1 — an identical spacecraft launched 16 days after its twin — is not ideal, NASA noted. After reaching beyond the heliosphere, or interstellar space, Voyager 2 has “collected limited data in recent years due to its orientation relative to the direction that plasma is flowing,” NASA said.

Persons: “ Organizations: CNN, NASA, ., Space, “

The United States will work with other governments to speed up efforts to make nuclear fusion a new source of carbon-free energy, U.S. Kerry spoke at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum. In southern France, 35 nations are collaborating on an experimental machine to harness fusion energy, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, to prove the feasibility of fusion as a large-scale, carbon-free source of energy. The global nuclear industry launched an initiative at COP28 for nations to pledge to triple this kind of nuclear energy by 2050. Commonwealth Fusion was founded in 2018 by researchers and students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Plasma Science and Fusion Center.

Persons: John Kerry, ” Kerry, Kerry, Andrew Holland, Dennis Whyte, Whyte, Edwin Lyman, Lyman, Bob Mumgaard, Mumgaard, it's Organizations: Climate, Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum, United Kingdom, United States, International, Reactor, Fusion Industry Association, Dubai, Commonwealth Fusion Systems, United, United Arab Emirates, Fusion, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Commonwealth Fusion, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Plasma Science, MIT, Commonwealth, Plasma Science, Fusion Center, Union of, Scientists, Washington, ARC, SPARC, AP Locations: States, U.S, Dubai, U.N, United States, France, Japan, Europe, China, Russia, Devens , Massachusetts, COP28, United Arab, Commonwealth, California

☆ The US is planning its first fusion plant, and it could generate pollution-free power by 2035
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Nuclear fusion is a breakthrough technology that could help the US achieve pollution-free power. Calling nuclear fusion a pioneering technology, Granholm said President Joe Biden wants to harness fusion as a carbon-free energy source that can power homes and businesses. A successful nuclear fusion was first achieved by researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California last December in a major breakthrough after decades of work. Nuclear energy is an essential component of the Biden administration's goal of achieving a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035 and net zero emissions economy by 2050. "We want to see everybody moving forward as quickly as possible (on the clean energy transition), including ourselves," she said.

Persons: it's, —, Biden, Jennifer Granholm, Granholm, Joe Biden, It's, Dennis Whyte, Rishi Sunak, Sunak Organizations: Service, US, Associated Press, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Control, Plasma Science, Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Energy, UK Locations: VIENNA, Vienna, California, France, Washington

☆ The internet just went on a wild quest that could result in floating trains and cheap EVs
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The internet went wild over claims scientists discovered a room-temperature superconductor. Here's how a room-temperature superconductor could change everything:Revolutionize the medical industryMRI machines currently depend on liquid helium coolant to keep cool enough to operate. A room-temperature superconductor would go a step further in helping create these fields under normal conditions. With room-temperature superconductors, EV makers might be able to take a closer step towards delivering cheap battery-run cars. This is where room-temperature superconductors could one day step in.

Persons: It's, gloriously, Dr Niladri Banerjee, Banerjee, Michael Fuhrer, Massoud Pedram, Eugene Hoshiko, they'd, Jason Laurea, Lawrence, Robert Knopes, Getty Images Elon, Tesla Organizations: Imperial College London, Theory, School of Physics, Monash University, University of Southern, Airport, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, MIT's, Science, Fusion Center, Fusion Systems, Getty Images, TechCrunch Locations: South Korea, Australia, University of Southern California, Shanghai, China, Pudong, levitating, Lawrence Livermore

☆ How the Voyager probes keep going decades after launch
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Voyager 2’s priceless data is captured and returned to Earth through its five science instruments, while Voyager 1 still has four operational instruments after one failed earlier in the mission. Both Voyager probes rely on radioisotope thermoelectric generators. Over time, the Voyager team has commanded the probes to turn off instrument heaters and other nonessential systems. The Voyager proof test model, seen here in 1976, has a platform showcasing several of the science instruments. “Picture it as an ocean of space with waves and turbulence and activity going on, and the Voyager instruments can measure what’s happening,” Spilker said.

☆ Nuclear fusion will not be regulated the same way as nuclear fission — a big win for the fusion industry
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The top regulatory agency for nuclear materials safety in the U.S. voted unanimously to regulate the burgeoning fusion industry differently than the nuclear fission industry, and fusion startups are celebrating that as a major win. As a result, some provisions specific to fission reactors, like requiring funding to cover claims from nuclear meltdowns, won't apply to fusion plants. Other differences include looser requirements around foreign ownership of nuclear fusion plants, and the dispensing of mandatory hearings at the federal level during the licensing process, Holland said. The electricity generated by nuclear fission is considered clean energy by the U.S. Department of Energy because it generates no greenhouse gas emissions. And these reactors deliver massive quantities of power: Half of the carbon-free energy generated in the U.S. comes from nuclear fission reactors.

U.S. scientists have achieved “ignition” — a fusion reaction that produced more energy than it took to create — a critical milestone for nuclear fusion and a step forward in the pursuit of a nearly limitless source of clean energy, Energy Department officials said Tuesday. The process imploded a tiny capsule inside the hohlraum that is filled with deuterium and tritium, creating a fusion reaction. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory"We have taken the first tentative steps toward a clean energy source," said Jill Hruby, the Energy Department's National Nuclear Security Administration. The Inflation Reduction Act provided millions in new funding for fusion projects and the White House this year convened the first fusion summit and developed a 10-year plan to commercialize fusion technology. A technician reviews an optic inside the preamplifier support structure at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif., in 2012.

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