Science Saturday, 12/01

Welcome to another Science Saturday! Let’s begin:

 

Futurism.com: Fusion Reactor World Records

A second round of tests were conducted at the Wendelstein 7-X Stellarator, a type of reactor that’s used to research fusion. The Stellerator was able to sustain plasma for 100 seconds, a new world record, and achieved temperatures of over 36 million degrees Fahrenheit, another record. This is another step foreward for sustainable fusion energy in the future.

For my take on nuclear fusion, go here.

 

Forbes: New Mars Rover Lands Successfully

After travelling 600,000,000 miles over the past 6 months, NASA’s InSight rover has finally touched down on the surface of Mars. this is the 8th time Nasa has successfully landed on Mars. InSight is equipped with a drill to allow it to gather data from under Mars’s surface. Researchers hope to use this mission to learn about Mars’s seismic activity.

 

 

Phys.org: Cheaper Solar From Iron

Reasearchers reported this week that they have successfully developed an iron-based molecule that behaves as a photocatalyst, meaning that it can be used to produce electricity from sunlight in solar panels. This would allow for cheaper solar panels, as the photocatalysts that are used in solar panels today are based on rarer, more expensive metals.

 

ScienceMag.org: First CRISPR Edited Babies Born in China

Widespread shock rippled through the scientific community this week when He Jiankui, of the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, China, announced that his team had conducted an experiment in gene editing, having modified the CRISPR sequence in twin girls who were born in early this month. The modification is to bolster resistance to HIV.

 

National Geographic: Weird Seismic Waves

On November 11th, an odd seismic disturbance was measured at a number of different . Little is known about the cause of the seismic disturbance, except that it originated between Madagascar and mainland Africa. The waves are odd because they were measured for such a long duration, but disturbances like this do happen, and are explainable. In the past, particularly violent volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, or nuclear detonations have caused such events.

 

That’s all for this week. Enjoy the weekend.

Until next time,

-Sal