Scientists have managed to repeatedly produce nuclear fusion ignition for the first time, marking a major milestone towards achieving near-limitless clean energy at scale.
A team at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in the US achieved fusion ignition last December, producing a net energy gain from a fusion reaction for the first ever time.
The feat was hailed as a “moment of history” by physicists, which LLNL scientists have now repeated a further three times.
The lab used the National Ignition Facility (NIF) to fire 192 laser beams at a frozen pellet of isotopes held within a diamond capsule suspended in a gold cylinder.
The resulting reaction replicated the same natural processes found within the Sun and resulted in a record energy increase of 89 per cent. This was only enough energy to boil a kettle, however scaling up this proof-of-concept could herald a “new era” of energy, according to the scientific journal Nature. [snip]
Nuclear fusion was on the agenda at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) earlier this month, with governments agreeing to speed up efforts to develop the technology.
“We are edging ever-closer to a fusion-powered reality. And at the same time, yes, significant scientific and engineering challenges exist,” US Climate Envoy John Kerry said at the summit in Dubai.
“Careful thought and thoughtful policy is going to be critical to navigate this.”
China, Japan, Russia and the European Union are also investing heavily in nuclear fusion research, with more than $6 billion invested to date, according to the Fusion Industry Association...
Limitless clean energy. What a game changer that would be, especially if it could evolve quickly and as a public utility, not as a profit- making opportunity for energy companies. We're fast approaching the climate change tipping point after which it might not matter what clean technology comes along. For now, we have to keep going with conservation and renewable energy and not depend on a silver bullet to save us from ourselves.
At least 68 people were killed by an Israeli airstrike on a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Sunday night, according to Gaza's Hamas-run Ministry of Health.
The strike hit the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, east of Deir al-Balah. At least 12 women and seven children were among the dead, according to The Associated Press, which cited early hospital figures.
When asked for comment, the Israel Defense Forces told ABC News on Monday: "The IDF received reports of an incident in the Maghazi camp and is reviewing the incident. Despite the challenges posed by Hamas terrorists operating within civilian areas in Gaza, the IDF is committed to international law including taking feasible steps to minimize harm to civilians."
Stories like this are proliferating more every day. By now, it's become blindingly obvious that the object of Netanyahu's offensive is to apply maximum blunt force to turn Gaza into a pile of uninhabitable rubble, without regard to civilian death and suffering or to the fate of the Hamas- held hostages (families of those hostages getting ever more vocal in opposing Netanyahu's "war to the end" policies). What began as a righteous campaign to eliminate the vile terrorist Hamas organization has become, through the far- right Netanyahu government's callous disregard for civilian Palestinian lives, a nightmare that's changed the paradigm from what was sympathetic and supportive world opinion into increasing hostility toward Israel and, collaterally, toward Jewish populations around the world. That's almost as bad as it gets.
Iowa will not participate this summer in a federal program that gives $40 per month to each child in a low-income family to help with food costs while school is out, state officials have announced.
The state has notified the U.S. Department of Agriculture that it will not participate in the 2024 Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children — or Summer EBT — program, the state’s Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Education said in a Friday news release.
Iowa will not participate this summer in a federal program that gives $40 per month to each child in a low-income family to help with food costs while school is out, state officials have announced. [snip]
States that participate in the federal program are required to cover half of the administrative costs, which would cost an estimated $2.2 million in Iowa, the news release says.
Some state lawmakers, including Democratic Sen. Izaah Knox of Des Moines, quickly voiced their opposition to the decision.
“It’s extremely disappointing that the Reynolds administration is planning to reject federal money that could put food on the table for hungry Iowa kids,” Knox said in a statement. “This cruel and short-sighted decision will have real impacts on children and families in my district and communities all across Iowa.”
Officials in nearby Nebraska also announced this week that the state will not participate in Summer EBT, which would cost Nebraska about $300,000 annually in administrative costs, the Lincoln Journal Star reported.
“In the end, I fundamentally believe that we solve the problem, and I don’t believe in welfare,” Nebraska Republican Gov. Jim Pillen told the Journal Star on Friday...
Republicans have perfected the art of punching down on the most vulnerable, in the name of fiscal responsibility, or States rights, or (more accurately) "they're not us." Our turn to punch back is at the ballot box.
