Via
NewAtlas.com:
HB11's hydrogen-boron laser fusion test yields groundbreaking results - By
Loz Blain
HB11 is approaching nuclear fusion from an entirely new angle, using
high power, high precision lasers instead of hundred-million-degree
temperatures to start the reaction. Its first demo has produced 10 times
more fusion reactions than expected, and the company says it's now "the
only commercial entity to achieve fusion so far," making it "the global
frontrunner in the race to commercialize the holy grail of clean
energy."
We've covered Australian company HB11's hydrogen-boron laser fusion innovations
before in detail, but it's worth briefly summarizing what makes this
company so different from the rest of the field. In order to smash atoms
together hard enough to make them fuse together and form a new element,
you need to overcome the incredibly strong repulsive forces that push
two positively-charged nuclei apart. It's like throwing powerful magnets
at each other in space, hoping to smash two north poles together
instead of having them just dance out of each other's way.
The Sun
accomplishes this by having a huge amount of hydrogen atoms packed into
a plasma that's superheated to tens of millions of degrees at its core.
Heat is a measure of kinetic energy – how fast a group of atoms or
molecules are moving or vibrating. At these temperatures, the hydrogen
atoms are moving so fast that they smack into each other and fuse,
releasing the energy that warms our planet...
Full article: https://newatlas.com/energy/hb11-laser-fusion-demonstration/
