The reaction generally requires creating a high-energy state of matter known as plasma, which has quirks and behaviors that scientists are still trying to understand. Fusion has also been demonstrated in laboratories, but under conditions that consume far more energy than the reaction produces. Humans have been able to trigger fusion, but in ways that are uncontrolled, like in thermonuclear weapons (sometimes called hydrogen bombs). Imitating the sun on Earth is a tall order. The fusion reactions then provide the energy to speed up other atomic nuclei and trigger even more fusion reactions. To overcome that repulsion and spark fusion, you have to get the atoms moving really fast in a confined space, which makes collisions more likely.Ī star like the sun, which is about 333,000 times the mass of Earth, generates gravity that accelerates atoms toward its center - heating them up, confining them, and igniting fusion. One of the difficulties with fusion is that atomic nuclei - the positively charged cores of atoms - normally repel each other. Getty Imagesīut the sun has an advantage that we don’t have here on Earth: It is very, very big. Your friendly neighborhood fusion reactor. Even from 93 million miles away, our nearest star generates enough energy to heat up the Earth through the vacuum of space. “But trying to do it in a lab has provided us a lot of challenges.”įor a demonstration, one only has to look up at the sun during the day (but not directly, because you’ll hurt your eyes). We’ve seen it demonstrated,” said Carolyn Kuranz, a plasma physicist at the University of Michigan. “It’s a weird thing, because we absolutely know that the fundamental theory works. These basics are well understood, and researchers are confident that it’s possible to harness it in a useful way, but so far, it’s been elusive. So there’s an enormous multiplier for matter that’s converted into energy, making fusion an extraordinarily powerful reaction. The last part of the formula is “c,” a constant that measures the speed of light - 300,000 kilometers per second, which is then squared. “E” stands for energy and “m” stands for mass. That tiny bit of lost matter is converted into energy according to Albert Einstein’s famous formula, E = mc 2. The reason that fusion generates so much energy is that the new element weighs a smidgen less than the sum of its parts. The most common form is two hydrogen atoms fusing to create helium. It’s what happens when the nuclei of small atoms stick together, fusing to create a new element and releasing energy. These reactions powered the very first atomic bombs, and today they power conventional nuclear reactors.įusion is even more potent. Nuclear fission is what happens when big atoms like uranium and plutonium split apart and release energy. Fusion is way more powerful than any other energy source we have Researchers say they are closer than ever. With some of the most powerful machines ever built, scientists are trying to refine delicate, subatomic mechanics to achieve a pivotal milestone: getting more energy out of a fusion reaction than they put in. And they make the case for not only continuing fusion research, but aggressively expanding and investing in it - even if it won’t light up the power grid anytime soon. They talk about their recent progress and why fusion energy remains such a challenge. The latest episode of Unexplainable, Vox’s podcast about unsolved mysteries in science, asks scientists about their decades-long pursuit of a star in a bottle. But despite its promise, fusion is often treated as a scientific curiosity rather than a must-try moonshot - an actual, world-changing solution to a massive problem. With global average temperatures rising and energy demands growing, the quest for fusion is timelier than ever: It could help solve both these problems at the same time. It would produce no greenhouse gases and minimal waste compared to conventional energy sources. It’s a technology that could safely provide an immense and steady torrent of electricity, harnessing abundant fuel made from seawater to ignite the same reaction that powers the sun. Still, the enormous potential of fusion makes it hard to ignore. Yet almost every time researchers make an advance, the goal posts seem to recede even farther in the distance. Scientists have been studying the physics of fusion for a century and working to harness the process for decades. To build a fusion reactor is essentially to create an artificial star. Fusion energy is perhaps the longest of long shots.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |