"Is the dream of nuclear fusion dead?"

Views expressed in this science and technology update are those of the reporters and correspondents. Accesses on  05 August 2024, 1428 UTC.

Content and Source:  theguardian.com/science.

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Russ Roberts (https://hawaiisciencejournal.blogspot.com).

Science | The Guardian

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Is the dream of nuclear fusion dead? Why the international experimental reactor is in ‘big trouble’

200+Science | The Guardian / 1d

The 35-nation Iter project has a groundbreaking aim to create clean and limitless energy but it is turning into the ‘most delayed and cost-inflated science project in history’ It was a project that promised the sun. Researchers would use the world’s most advanced technology to design a machine that could generate atomic fusion, the process that drives the stars – and so create a source of cheap,

‘Free money’: £4bn lost to fraud and error on flagship HMRC ‘innovation’ scheme

200+Science | The Guardian / 2d

UK tax credits to promote research and development were claimed by a pub for changing its menus and by window cleaners for hanging their buckets A government scheme to champion new research and boost the economy has cost more than £4bn in fraud and error since 2020 after widespread abuse. The research and development tax credits scheme was designed to help drive world-leading innovation, but turn

‘Not stranded in space’: how Nasa lost control of Boeing Starliner narrative

100+Science | The Guardian / 1d

Technical issues and poor comms led many to believe two astronauts are lost in space, but a return date is imminent It should have been a welcome public relations triumph for Boeing, an opportunity to show that even if panels were falling from its aircraft , it could still fly humans into space and return them safely to Earth. And for a while at least, it looked like it had been successful. The m

Yesterday

Can you solve it? Are you smarter than an English major?

Science | The Guardian / 8h

Acquaint yourself with matters mathematical With apologies to Gilbert and Sullivan, but I meant the other type of English major: a person who studied English at university. American maths author Ben Orlin has a new book out aimed at this demographic. (More on this below.) the sum of all squares from 1 to 499 the sum of all cubes from 500 to 999 17% of 32 32% of 17 3997/4001 4996/5001 the square r

Sleep secrets: should you ever tell someone you dreamt about them?

Science | The Guardian / 8h

It can be difficult to resist the urge to divulge that someone has been rattling around your unconscious. But it is worth proceeding with care Talking about your dreams is a bit like describing the inside of your own mouth: intimate, personal but mostly dull. And yet, the urge to tell someone that they had a starring role in your dream is always extremely tempting. At least for me. I seem to beco

Starwatch: Perseids to peak in dazzling shower mid-month

Perseid meteor shower attracts visitors

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Science | The Guardian / 9h

Up to 100 meteors an hour will appear to emanate in all directions from their radiant point in Perseus constellation It is the big one for meteor watchers. The annual Perseid meteor shower will reach its peak of activity on the night of 12 August going into the early hours of 13 August. The chart shows the view looking north-east from London at midnight. The moon will have 50% of its visible surf

Looking to spark a love for electricity pylons | Brief letters

Science | The Guardian / 21h

Pylon design | Wind turbines | Grieving | Summer riots | Former Conservative MPs When our children were young, to lighten the boredom of driving on holidays in France, we gave titles to different designs of pylon – such as “perky cat” and “droopy dog” ( Letters, 30 July ). Perhaps if we had more variety in pylon design in the UK and gave them quirky names, people might learn to love them as well

‘Ear-marvellous’: how to enjoy the music and sounds of the world that surrounds us

45Science | The Guardian / 1d

A fuller appreciation of the sounds that surround us can transform your life The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche wrote that life without music would be a mistake. I agree, but I’d expand the frame to include a wide variety of other human and non-human sounds. For me, the world is often auraculous or “ear-marvellous” – full of noises, which, to cite Caliban in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, “ give del

Aug 3, 2024

Fifth of medicines in Africa may be sub-par or fake, research finds

29Science | The Guardian / 1d

Analysis suggests extent of problem UN estimates is causing 500,000 deaths a year in sub-Saharan region A fifth of medicines in Africa could be substandard or fake, according to a major research project, raising the alarm over a problem that could be contributing to the deaths of countless patients. Researchers from Bahir Dar University in Ethiopia analysed 27 studies in the review and found, of

Astrobiologist Nathalie Cabrol: ‘I believe Mars still has some big surprises for us’

Science | The Guardian / 1d

The director of the Carl Sagan Center on the possibility of life elsewhere in our solar system, what Venus can teach us about global heating, and what she thinks of Elon Musk The astrobiologist Nathalie Cabrol was born in 1963 and raised near Paris. She completed a PhD at the Sorbonne on the evolution of water on Mars and moved to the US in 1994 as a researcher at Nasa Ames. She has worked extens

British firms strive to create a buzz around insect farming

Science | The Guardian / 2d

Protein from flies and larvae is taking off, if more for chicken feed than human lunches. But what’s bugging the whole sector is a post-Brexit rules snarl-up Central London is not known for its farms. Yet under railway arches a five-minute walk from London Bridge station is a farm that breeds livestock in their hundreds of thousands every year. But there are no cows or chickens down on Entocycle’

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