PPPL is leading STELLAR-AI, a new platform that pairs artificial intelligence with high performance computing to dramatically speed fusion energy simulations and connect computing resources directly to experimental devices like NSTX-U. The project, part of the national Genesis Mission, brings together national labs, universities, tech giants and fusion companies to build the computational foundation the fusion community needs.

Water behaves in remarkable ways when heated and pressurized beyond its critical point. Under these extreme conditions, known as supercritical water, it no longer acts like an ordinary liquid. Instead, it takes on properties similar to organic solvents, dissolving hydrocarbons efficiently and transporting molecules rapidly. These unique features make supercritical water a promising green medium for energy conversion technologies such as biomass gasification, plastic recycling, and in situ fuel extraction.

Researchers have learned how stingrays adjust for negative lift near the seafloor - being sucked downwards - and the discovery could help build smarter underwater robots that avoid disastrous ground collisions. 

Important everyday products—from plastics to detergents—are made through chemical reactions that mostly use precious metals such as platinum as catalysts. Newly identified methods to harness the properties of tungsten carbide could yield viable substitutes for platinum.

Physicists have used a new optical centrifuge to control the rotation of molecules suspended in liquid helium nano-droplets, bringing them a step closer to demystifying the behaviour of exotic, frictionless superfluids. It’s the first demonstration of controlled spinning inside a superfluid—researchers can now directly set the direction and frequency of the molecule’s rotation, which is vital in studying how molecules interact with the quantum environment at various rotational frequencies.

Scientists have created 3D printed surfaces featuring intricate textures that can be used to bounce unwanted gas particles away from quantum sensors, allowing useful particles like atoms to be delivered more efficiently, which could help improve measurement accuracy.

Scientists in Scotland have shown that a type of laser already similar to the one currently used in routine eye surgery could one day help surgeons remove unwanted tissues, such as tumours, with unprecedented accuracy.