All articles tagged with #fusion energy
In southern France, ITER—the world’s largest fusion reactor and a $22 billion multinational project—strives to sustain 150-million-degree plasma in a tokamak using superconducting magnets, aiming to prove fusion can provide abundant, emission-free energy; despite delays, heat-shield cracks, and a $5 billion cost overrun, ITER’s open-science model and global collaboration are shaping the path for private fusion startups.
Federal regulators are closing public comments on a proposed fusion-energy rule, with final regulation expected this fall; the framework treats fusion as different from fission, aiming for a much lighter oversight that could even exempt fusion from NRC jurisdiction while state regulators supervise facilities. Industry leaders say this move is a pivotal step toward commercial fusion in the 2030s–2040s, lowering financial risk even as scientific and engineering hurdles remain.
Researchers on the EAST tokamak demonstrated a Detached divertor and Turbulence-dominated Pedestal (DTP) regime by precise light impurity seeding, achieving partial divertor detachment, full ELM suppression, and a boosted pedestal temperature with sustained confinement for about one minute, offering a path to reduce divertor heat while maintaining strong fusion performance.
SLAC researchers used giant x-ray lasers to image current filamentation instabilities in dense fusion plasma, capturing 500-femtosecond-scale evolution and revealing magnetic fields near 1,000 teslas, aiding understanding and modeling of fusion reactor behavior.
Nature highlights seven technologies set to shape 2026, from xenotransplantation using CRISPR-edited animal organs to reduce immune rejection, to AI-powered weather forecasting and climate modelling, a renewed push in next-generation nuclear power including small modular reactors and fusion, and advances in light-microscopy brain mapping alongside a massive Vera C. Rubin Observatory sky survey that will catalog billions of celestial objects over a decade—portending gains in medicine, energy, climate science, neuroscience, and astronomy.
The article discusses the potential for an energy crisis in the US driven by rising costs, increased demand from AI data centers, and delays in renewable energy projects, but also highlights the possibility that advancements in battery technology and smarter grid utilization could prevent such a crisis.
China's EAST tokamak has achieved a groundbreaking stable high-density plasma state called the 'density-free regime,' validating a theoretical model and potentially revolutionizing fusion energy development by overcoming long-standing stability barriers.
Scientists using China's EAST tokamak have achieved a long-theorized 'density-free regime' in fusion plasma, surpassing traditional density limits without instability, potentially paving the way for more efficient fusion energy development.
Scientists have discovered significant amounts of helium-3 underground in Minnesota, a rare isotope valuable for fusion energy, quantum computing, and scientific research, potentially providing an alternative source to lunar mining and impacting future energy and technology developments.
Scientists working with China's EAST reactor have achieved a significant breakthrough by reaching the 'density-free regime,' where plasma remains stable at higher densities than previously possible, marking a major step toward achieving fusion ignition and advancing fusion energy research.
In 2025, groundbreaking discoveries across multiple fields included proving the universe isn't a simulation due to computational limits, developing a highly efficient plastic-to-fuel process, uncovering ancient Neolithic tombs in Poland, rediscovering a rare 'living fossil' mammal in Indonesia, achieving a fusion milestone with helium-3, creating the strongest-ever polymer armor, and solving a century-old wind turbine efficiency problem, all of which significantly advanced human understanding and technology.
Trump Media is merging with fusion energy company TAE Technologies in a $6 billion deal to develop the world's first utility-scale fusion power plant, signaling a pivot into nuclear energy and diversifying beyond its social media platform, Truth Social, amid financial struggles and growing energy demands.
Trump Media's stock surged after announcing a merger with TAE Technologies to develop nuclear fusion power, significantly increasing the Trump family's wealth by over $500 million in a single day, with plans to build fusion power plants to support U.S. energy and AI initiatives.
Trump Media is merging with fusion company TAE Technologies to fund and accelerate fusion energy development, aiming for power production by 2031, with the deal providing significant cash infusion and a potential test of public market appetite for fusion tech, amidst political and regulatory scrutiny.
President Trump's social media company is merging with TAE Technologies in a deal valued over $6 billion, aiming to commercialize fusion power by 2031 with plans to build the world's first utility-scale fusion power plant, leveraging Trump's financial backing and TAE's technological expertise.