Wednesday 23 April 2014

"Fusion reaction created in microwave oven"

From the BBC:

Scientists have outlined how they managed to create a fusion reaction using a household microwave oven.

Nuclear fusion is a nuclear reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei collide at a very high speed and join to form a new type of atomic nucleus. During this process, mass is not conserved because some of the mass of the fusing nuclei is converted to photons (energy).

An Irish-UK team placed hydrogen and helium (used in party balloons) into a 800W microwave oven, then added water and dishwashing liquid, and left on full power for several hours.

The results are reported in the journal Nuclear For Beginners.

1 comments:

Derek said...

Philo Farnsworth already worked this out in the 1960s. Now anyone can make one.

http://hackaday.com/2007/03/18/make-your-own-fusion-reactor/

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/ON-British-boy-builds-fusion-reactor-080314st.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_Wilson