Latest news with #fusion
South China Morning Post
21 hours ago
- Science
- South China Morning Post
China's super steel for nuclear fusion, new ‘Darwin Monkey' computer: 7 science highlights
We have put together stories from our coverage on science from the past two weeks to help you stay informed. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing Chinese scientists have detailed how they created CHSN01 (China high-strength low-temperature steel No 1), deployed it this year in the construction of world's first fusion nuclear power generation reactor and put China in a leading position in materials science. Chinese scientists say they can create a zone of electromagnetic calm, similar to the eye of a storm at the heart of an intense signal jamming environment. Photo: Shutterstock Chinese scientists have developed an advanced electronic warfare technique that can create a zone of electromagnetic calm, similar to the eye of a storm at the heart of an intense signal jamming environment. This groundbreaking innovation could allow Chinese military forces to disable enemy communications and navigation systems while protecting their own troops and allied networks from collateral disruption. Chinese engineers have unveiled the world's first brain-like computer made up of more than 2 billion artificial neurons. The neuron count of the 'Darwin Monkey' approaches that of a macaque and could be used to advance human brain-inspired artificial intelligence (AI), according to its developers at Zhejiang University.
Yahoo
06-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Commonwealth Fusion Systems Names Christopher P. Liddell to Board of Directors
DEVENS, Mass., Aug. 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), the largest private fusion company, today announced that Christopher P. Liddell, a former White House official who has also served in top roles at global corporations including Microsoft Corp. and General Motors Co., has joined the Board of Directors as an independent board member. "With his career of leadership positions spanning the public, private, and philanthropic sectors, Chris Liddell will help CFS as we enter our next phase of growth. We'll benefit from his experience in building dynamic organizations that have a variety of stakeholders and are at the intersection of technology, finance, and geostrategy," said Bob Mumgaard, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder. "Fusion is poised to become a vital part of the global energy sector, offering new opportunities for energy independence and security. We look forward to having Chris's expertise and counsel as CFS takes an expansive role in leading the growing fusion industry." Liddell joins a CFS Board of Directors that includes Mumgaard, a long-time leader in fusion; Brandon Sorbom, Chief Science Officer, Co-founder and first author of the ARC paper; Alan Eustace, who served as Senior Vice President of Engineering and First Senior Vice President for Knowledge at Google; Katie Rae, CEO & Managing Partner of Engine Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in the next generation of Tough Tech founders; and Clara Andreoletti, President and CEO of Eni Next, the venture arm of the Italian energy company Eni. Liddell, 67, offers four decades of corporate experience, having served as Chief Financial Officer at both Microsoft and International Paper Co., as well as Vice Chairman and CFO at General Motors, where he oversaw the company's $23 billion public offering in 2010 — the largest in history at the time. In the public sector, Liddell was an Assistant to the President during the first Trump administration. He has also served as White House Deputy Chief of Staff, Director of Strategic Initiatives, and Director of the American Technology Council. He's the author of "Year Zero," a book that outlines a strategic approach to planning and building a more effective White House. Liddell is a dual citizen of the United States and New Zealand and holds a bachelor of engineering degree from the University of Auckland and a master of philosophy degree from the University of Oxford. "I am a great believer in fusion and am excited to be a part of CFS as the company leads the commercialization of this vital power source in the next few years," Liddell said. "CFS is advancing this technology before our very eyes and is unlocking a new form of safe and clean energy that promises to meet near insatiable demand in the United States and worldwide." About Commonwealth Fusion SystemsCommonwealth Fusion Systems is the world's leading and largest private fusion company. The company's marquee fusion project, SPARC, will generate net energy, paving the way for limitless carbon-free energy. The company has raised more than $2 billion in capital since it was founded in 2018. Media contacts:Commonwealth Fusion Systemspress@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Commonwealth Fusion Systems
Yahoo
02-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Startup launches project to create fuel for near-infinite energy machines: 'We can do it in a facility the size of a Starbucks'
If Austin's Hexium successfully delivers a key fusion fuel isotope, it will be thanks to a storyline that includes lithium, lasers, and technology developed in the 1980s. And it will all amazingly happen inside a building the size of a Starbucks, one of the men behind the effort told TechCrunch. "We don't have to build a facility the size of a Costco or a football stadium," co-founder Jacob Peterson said in the story. "We can do it in a facility the size of a Starbucks, and we achieve good economics at very small scale, and then we just parallelize our process." Peterson and co-founder Charlie Jarrott have already been making headlines for California-based Focused Energy, which was founded to develop laser-based fusion power at a $65 million facility. Hexium is intended to gather a key part of fusion fuel from lithium, a complicated and necessary hurdle for labs from around the world that are trying to harness the power of the sun. The process often involves huge magnetic machines designed to contain swirling plasma and extreme heat. "I realized no one is working on this supply chain stuff," Jarrott told TechCrunch. While Focused and Hexium use lasers, the process is different at each company. For the latest effort, the laser tech dusts off a U.S. Department of Energy approach called atomic vapor laser isotope separation to corral lithium isotopes. Lithium-6 is the rare one needed for fusion fuel. The government had planned to use lasers to complete the same task for uranium isotopes for common fission power plants. But after the Soviet Union fell, nuclear fuel was more widely available from old Russian weapons-grade uranium, according to the TechCrunch story. Unlike fission, fusion does not produce long-lasting nuclear waste or carry a meltdown risk, answering safety concerns from critics. Fusion combines particles, creating new atoms to make energy; fission splits them. The challenge for fusion is sustainably maintaining reactions that involve temperatures hotter than the sun, all per government reports. Hexium announced $9.5 million in seed funding in the spring. The experts are tweaking the government laser process to accommodate lithium. They can hone low-energy beams to separate lithium-6 from lithium-7 in vapor metal clouds. The lasers will condense lithium-6 into a liquid, where it will run into a trough for collection. The isotope will be sold to fusion labs to make fuel. Lithium-7 can be used in traditional nuclear operations, all according to TechCrunch. Hexium's website also noted medical and industrial uses for the collected isotope. The team plans to have a pilot plant running this year making up to hundreds of pounds of lithium-6. Should we be harnessing the ocean to power our homes? Absolutely Leave it be It depends I'm not sure Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. It's an exciting update for nuclear energy, which produces abundant power with no heat-trapping air pollution. NASA links rising temperatures to increased severe weather risks, including floods. However, fusion isn't yet ready for sustainable production. And nuclear power is increasingly costly and slow to develop, Colorado energy think-tank co-founder and physicist Amory Lovins told The Cool Down. He said that solar and wind projects are the fastest, cheapest form of energy to build in response to growing grid demand. It's an energy source that can be leveraged at home, as well. Tax credits of up to 30% expire at the end of the year, thanks to President Donald Trump's Big Beautiful Bill, but EnergySage can help you lock in the rebates before they expire. The incentives and the right installer can save you thousands of dollars. What's more, the tech can reduce or eliminate your power bill. North Carolina State University's Clean Energy Technology Center has a database of perks offered at the state level, as well. At Hexium, the founders see potential in fusion immediately, specifically providing a key resource to make the fuel needed for experiments. "There isn't a single company that is going to make the fuel for those companies," Jarrott told TechCrunch. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Geek Wire
30-07-2025
- Science
- Geek Wire
Impinj stock surges 20% after Q2 revenue tops estimates at $97.9M
Helion breaks ground on what could be the world's first fusion plant despite significant uncertainty
Geek Wire
23-07-2025
- Business
- Geek Wire
Avalanche lands $10M state grant to build fusion energy R&D site in Washington
GeekWire's startup coverage documents the Pacific Northwest entrepreneurial scene. Sign up for our weekly startup newsletter , and check out the GeekWire funding tracker and venture capital directory . The Richland, Wash., space that will house the planned FusionWERX facility being built by Avalanche Energy. (Avalanche Photo) Seattle startup Avalanche Energy has landed $10 million from the Washington State Department of Commerce Green Jobs Grant Program to launch a first-of-its-kind, commercial-scale testing facility for fusion technologies in Eastern Washington. The facility, called FusionWERX, is a public-private partnership offering shared R&D resources to universities, companies, and government labs to support fusion power businesses, the sector's supply chain and production of radioactive materials. Fusion companies globally are chasing the vision for essentially limitless, carbon-free power created by smashing together light atoms. They're building super high-energy devices that use magnets and lasers to generate the conditions needed to achieve and sustain fusion. The Pacific Northwest is a fusion hub with companies that include Avalanche, Zap Energy, Helion Energy, Kyoto Fusioneering, Altrusion and ExoFusion in Washington state, and General Fusion in British Columbia, among others. Robin Langtry, co-founder and CEO of Avalanche Energy. (Avalanche Photo) 'By supporting Avalanche's FusionWERX facility, Washington is translating cutting-edge fusion science into family-wage jobs and a resilient clean-energy supply chain,' said Joe Nguyen, director of the Department of Commerce, in a statement. 'It's exactly the kind of community-driven innovation our Green Jobs program exists to champion.' Robin Langtry, co-founder and CEO of Avalanche, called the new funding 'an unexpected but very welcome surprise' that should create 12 permanent jobs in Richland, Wash., in the Tri-Cities. He did not share a total price tag for the effort. Work has already started on the interior of the site. FusionWERX aims to be one of the most advanced privately owned operations for handling tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen. The facility is located in a building owned by the Port of Benton that was previously licensed for tritium operations. There are already interested customers for the space. Fusion Fuel Cycles, which is a partnership between Kyoto Fusioneering and Canadian Nuclear Labs, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to test multiple technologies. There are also potential collaborations in the works with the U.S. Department of Energy and Washington State University, Langtry said. Avalanche is developing compact, magneto-electrostatic fusion devices that use tritium as a fuel. Earlier this month, the startup hit a milestone by operating its desk-sized device at 300 kilovolts for multiple hours — a voltage density about twice that of lightning. Company leaders said they have the highest-voltage compact fusion device ever built, and can generate neutrons that are needed by industries such as advanced materials science, nuclear power and specialized medical treatments. Avalanche has signed its first neutron customer, who needs the subatomic particles for a process called 'advanced material doping treatment.' The startup didn't name the customer, but the process is most commonly used for semiconductor applications. Avalanche has raised $50 million to date from investors that include Chris Sacca's Lowercarbon Capital, Founders Fund, Toyota Ventures, Azolla Ventures and others. It previously received $8 million in government grants and contracts. The company is reportedly aiming to raise a Series B round of up to $100 million, according to Axios.
