NEWS RELEASES

Researchers in Germany and the U.S. set a new fusion record, this time for the triple product in a plasma longer than 30 seconds: a key measure of whether a fusion system can sustain itself. It’s calculated by multiplying three factors: plasma density, temperature and the length of time the plasma is confined in the magnetic field. The international effort moves the world one step closer to a commercial fusion power plant, which will need to run continuously at temperatures hotter than the sun. 

Scientists at University College Cork (UCC) in Ireland have developed a powerful new tool for finding the next generation of materials needed for large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computing.

The significant breakthrough means that, for the first time, researchers have found a way to determine once and for all whether a material can effectively be used in certain quantum computing microchips.

In a review in The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, Stephen Long, a professor of crop sciences and of plant biology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, describes research efforts to “future-proof” the crops that are essential to feeding a hungry world in a changing climate. Long, who has spent decades studying the process of photosynthesis and finding ways to improve it, provides an overview of key scientific findings that offer a ray of hope.

Researchers developed a faster, more stable way to simulate the swirling electric fields inside industrial plasmas — the kind used to make microchips and coat materials. The improved method could lead to better tools for chip manufacturing and fusion research.