China’s sixth nuclear reactor at Yangjiang is now operational and is the 48th nuclear reactor in operation in China. The 1000 MWe CGN-designed ACPR1000 pressurised water reactor achieved a sustained chain reaction for the first time (first criticality) on 22 …

LPP Fusion has reduced the impurities in their plasma with the new beryllium electrodes. They will switch the gas mixture to include nitrogen in order to get the symmetrical compression needed for high gains in fusion yield that low impurity …

Tesla’s larger Megapack is doubling utility-scale energy storage with 60% more capacity while using 40% less space than current systems. At the site level, Megapack requires 40% less space and 10x fewer parts than current systems on the market. As …

Researchers achieved 29.1 ± 0.4% thermophotovoltaic power conversion efficiency, by reuse of unabsorbed subbandgap photons. They have roadmap to achieve higher efficiencies by separately considering the realistic improvements of material, device, and chamber parameters. With the improvement of these parameters, …

The world we know today has largely been shaped by geography, populations and agriculture. Peter Zeihan has some useful analysis of how geography has shaped geopolitics. He correctly notes the large advantages the US has had with the best farmland …

Elon previously described a vision of radically transforming the factories that build his cars. In 2016, Elon had the goal of making his factories ten times more productive every ten years. Elon wanted to transform his factories every two years. …

Thin Mirrors Boost Solar Efficiency to 29% and Soon 50% For Better Drones and Space Probes

Nextbigfuture interviewed Robert Hargraves of Thorcon to clarify some information about the status of the revolutionary Thorcon molten salt nuclear reactor and the implications of the new agreement with PAL Indonesia. There is good technical progress on this very promising …

LPP Fusion Will Scale to Higher Fusion Yield With New Beryllium Electrode

A scenario where a modern society could collapse is if the energy returned from new energy sources drops below critical levels. Clearly, if you spend more energy to build a new reactor or solar farm than what the reactor produces …