Latest news with #Helion
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
On's New Trail Shoe Proves High Design Can Still Be Highly Technical
The Swiss brand's latest high-fashion collab with Loewe isn't made for runways or even cities. Every product is carefully selected by our editors. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Learn more Sneaker collabs take on many forms, and On is a master of the trade. The Swiss running brand counts Beams, Invincible, Post Archive Faction and, soon, Kith among its roster of collaborators. But none hold a candle to the brand's most important partner of all: the Spanish fashion label Loewe, with whom On has released a string of high-profile collections since 2022. Last year, the Cloudtilt 2.0 — which has seen multiple drops over the last 12 months — topped the Lyst Index ranking fashion's hottest products and brands. Thus sets the bar for the pair's latest luxury sneaker, which On calls the Cloudventure Loewe 2. That said, it looks nothing like your typical high-fashion collab. In fact, it's not even made for city sidewalks. When it releases this week, the Cloudventure Loewe 2 will arrive as a technical trail shoe, building off the lightweight template established by On's existing Cloudventure series. Like the Cloudventure Peak 3, the brand's lightest and fastest trail offering, the Cloudventure Loewe 2 combines CloudTec cushioning with what it calls a Speedboard — a carbon fiber plate designed to offer both stability and propulsion. The shoe also features On's signature Helion foam, as evidenced by sub-branding on the heel. Though the exact formulation may differ from shoe to shoe, Helion is comprised of EVA and Olefin Block Copolymers (OBC), making it one of On's most responsive midsole materials (second only to the Pebax-based Helion HF found in its top marathon racers). As for the upper, On and Loewe settled on a mix of breathable mesh and translucent TPU overlays, available in seven colorways that vary between monochromatic Gunmetal gray and baby blue (the latter is exclusive to men's sizing, with a pink variant on the women's side). Underfoot, the Cloudventure Loewe 2 hides one of its most eye-catching details: a marbled outsole, reminiscent of acetate frames, that's easiest to spot on the yellow colorway thanks to its high-contrast hues. Of course, fashion has long blurred the line between city and mountain, with Salomon's infamous XT-6 model representing the peak of the gorpcore trend. If any shoe is destined to knock it off its perch, it will likely look a lot like the Cloudventure Loewe 2. The On Cloudventure Loewe 2 will be available from May 14, as part of a broader collection that also includes performance apparel and accessories. As with the Cloudtilt 2.0, the retail price is set at $550 — a steep increase from On's mainline Cloudventure models but one unlikely to deter sneakerheads who raced to score previous releases from the two powerhouse brands. $550 at On Jack Seemer is the executive editor at Gear Patrol, with over a decade of experience in product journalism. He currently reports on a wide range of topics, including footwear, watches, EDC, cookware and more.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
A private start-up called Helion aims to have a working fusion reactor by 2028
Building a working nuclear fusion reactor has proven to be a daunting challenge even for multiple wealthy nations, as we've seen with the much-delayed ITER project. However, a private start-up called Helion thinks it can build one and start supplying energy by 2028 by taking a different approach than other reactors. Founded in 2013, Helion is in the news thanks to a $425 million funding round, backed by billionaires like Sam Altman and Peter Thiel. With more than $1 billion raised, the company is now valued at $5.4 billion. Nuclear fusion, which combines hydrogen atoms to form helium, is the holy grail for green energy. It's carbon free, and unlike current nuclear plants, produces no long-term radioactive waste. At the same time, reactors could produce enough electricity to power small cities. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Sustained fusion reaction that produces more energy that it consumes has never happened, though. The largest project, ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), is projected to cost up to $22 billion and won't go online until at least 2034 — and still hasn't produced a sustained reaction. The longest fusion reaction is 1,066 seconds (17 minutes and 43 seconds), set just recently by the EAST reactor in China. So how does Helion think it can succeed? Most experimental reactors compress plasma using magnetic or inertial confinement, which heats it enough to spark a fusion reaction. Once that happens, the fusion-generated heat powers a steam turbine to generate electricity. Helion is using a different approach by dispensing with the steam turbine. Fuel (deuterium and helium-3) is injected into both ends of the hourglass shaped reactor, then heated to form a plasma. Magnets form the plasma into a donut shape and fire them at each other at speeds up to 1 million MPH. They collide in the narrow middle section of the reactor and are further compressed by magnets there. That heats them up to the magic 100 million degrees Celcius, creating fusion. "As the plasma expands, it pushes back on the magnetic field from the machine's magnets," Helion explains on its website. "By Faraday's Law, the change in field induces current, which is directly recaptured as electricity, allowing Helion's fusion generator to skip the steam cycle." This system is simpler and potentially more efficient than a steam turbine. However, while the company has achieved fast enough pulse rates to achieve fusion, it has only done so on a small scale to date. "There [are] some big engineering challenges to get to those high repetition rates at the kind of big pulse powers where we talk about millions of amps," CEO David Kirtley told TechCrunch. And that's the rub with every other reactor. Fusion produces a huge surge of energy all at once and so far no one has been able to control and harness that. Helion thinks its simpler system will help, but has yet to prove it can do it experimentally, let alone commercially. Still, the company says its seventh-generation reactor, Polaris, is now "in operation" but has declined to share any results to date.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Helion raises $425 million from SoftBank's venture arm, hits $5.4 billion valuation
By Stephen Nellis (Reuters) - Helion, a startup working to generate electricity from nuclear fusion, on Tuesday said it has raised $425 million in venture funding from a group of investors including SoftBank Group's Vision Fund 2. The Everett, Washington-based Helion said the funding will help it speed up the development of its next generation fusion reactor design, which aims to tap into the same reactions that power the sun to make carbon-free electricity without long-lasting radioactive waste. The company has an agreement with Microsoft to begin providing power in 2028. Helion is among the dozens of public and private groups looking to crack the key challenge of fusion: how to get more electricity out of the nuclear reaction than it takes to create and contain it. Rather than use fusion to heat water into steam that would turn a power turbine, Helion uses powerful magnets and electronic components such as capacitors and thyristors - which allow power to flow in only one direction - to capture fusion energy directly through electromagnetic induction. In an interview, Helion Chief Executive David Kirtley said the 6,000 massive capacitors and 50,000 thyristors needed for the firm's current machine were secured from outside suppliers and often had to be adapted from industrial uses. Helion, which employs 450 people, plans to start manufacturing its own capacitors, which will help add about 100 jobs. "It took years to get all them in-house from external suppliers, and we need to turn up those rates," Kirtley said. "That's the goal - to do that all in house in the United States." Kirtley said the funding will also help Helion design and prototype custom thyristors for the next machine. Other investors in the funding round include Lightspeed Venture Partners and a major university endowment fund that Kirtley declined to name. Also joining the round were Helion's existing investors: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman; Mithril Capital, which was co-founded by Peter Thiel; Capricorn Investment Group, Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz; and steel producer Nucor. (This story has been corrected to clarify that Helion's funding round includes significant participation from new and existing investors in paragraph 1)
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
China ‘building laser-ignited fusion research centre' in challenge to US
China is building a gigantic laser-ignited fusion power laboratory that is 50pc larger than its US counterpart as the two superpowers spar for energy supremacy. The part-built research centre near the city of Mianyang, in the Sichuan province, has been observed in satellite imagery, with experts warning it could be used to advance both power generation and nuclear weapons. It will have four arms housing massive laser bays capable of shooting powerful beams into a central 'experiment bay' in the centre, the independent research organisation CNA Corp told Reuters. This is for a type of reaction known as laser-ignited fusion, where high-powered lasers are fired at tiny fuel pellets to make them extremely hot and dense, fusing them into hydrogen and releasing energy. Fusion is the same reaction constantly taking place in the heart of the sun. For decades, scientists have viewed harnessing this tricky process as the 'holy grail' of energy because of the amounts of power it would unlock. In 2022, the $3.5bn (£2.8bn) National Ignition Facility (NIF) in northern California generated more energy from a fusion reaction than the lasers pumped into the target for the first time – a key milestone. However, CNA Corp estimated that the experiment bay at the Chinese facility is about 50pc larger than the one at the NIF. The sprawling development was revealed on Tuesday as American start-up Helion announced a $425m fundraising. Helion is backed by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs Sam Altman, Open AI's chief, and Peter Thiel, the PayPal co-founder and serial venture capitalist. The highly secretive company is racing to build the world's first fusion reactor by 2028 under a deal with Microsoft. Using so-called magneto-inertial fusion technology, Helion's reactor will heat up hydrogen and helium based fuels into a plasma state and then smash them together using powerful magnets. The resulting reaction creates large amounts of energy and generates an electric current through the plasma's interaction with the magnetic field. Helion's latest fundraising takes the amount raised by the company to more than $1bn and values the business at $5.4bn. David Kirtley, Helion's chief executive, said: 'We are on the brink of delivering a transformative energy solution that can meet the world's increasing electricity demands while preserving US energy leadership. 'Our mission has always been focused on rapidly developing and deploying safe, reliable fusion generators that provide abundant, affordable electricity. 'Earning the support of such a prestigious group of investors is a testament to our progress in both solving hard scientific and technical challenges and tackling the practical realities of building hardware to commercialise a brand-new technology.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Reuters
28-01-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Helion raises $425 mln from SoftBank's venture arm, hits $5.4 bln valuation
Jan 28 (Reuters) - Helion, a startup working to generate electricity from nuclear fusion, on Tuesday said it has raised $425 million in venture funding from a group of investors led by SoftBank Group's (9984.T), opens new tab Vision Fund 2. The Everett, Washington-based Helion said the funding will help it speed up the development of its next generation fusion reactor design, which aims to tap into the same reactions that power the sun to make carbon-free electricity without long-lasting radioactive waste. The company has an agreement with Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab to begin providing power in 2028. Helion is among the dozens of public and private groups looking to crack the key challenge of fusion: how to get more electricity out of the nuclear reaction than it takes to create and contain it. Rather than use fusion to heat water into steam that would turn a power turbine, Helion uses powerful magnets and electronic components such as capacitors and thyristors - which allow power to flow in only one direction - to capture fusion energy directly through electromagnetic induction. In an interview, Helion Chief Executive David Kirtley said the 6,000 massive capacitors and 50,000 thyristors needed for the firm's current machine were secured from outside suppliers and often had to be adapted from industrial uses. Helion, which employs 450 people, plans to start manufacturing its own capacitors, which will help add about 100 jobs. "It took years to get all them in-house from external suppliers, and we need to turn up those rates," Kirtley said. "That's the goal - to do that all in house in the United States." Kirtley said the funding will also help Helion design and prototype custom thyristors for the next machine. Other investors in the funding round include Lightspeed Venture Partners and a major university endowment fund that Kirtley declined to name. Also joining the round were Helion's existing investors: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman; Mithril Capital, which was co-founded by Peter Thiel; Capricorn Investment Group, Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz; and steel producer Nucor (NUE.N), opens new tab.
