Physical Attraction

In this double-header, we examine the various startups that are trying to make commercial nuclear fusion a reality. What technologies are they using? Who's backing them? And do any of them have a prayer of beating ITER to the punch? Comments, questions, concerns? Find the contact form on the website, or contact us on Twitter or Facebook. www.physicspodcast.com @physicspod

In this double-header, we examine the various startups that are trying to make commercial nuclear fusion a reality. What technologies are they using? Who's backing them? And do any of them have a prayer of beating ITER to the punch? Comments, questions, concerns? Find the contact form on the website, or contact us on Twitter or Facebook. www.physicspodcast.com @physicspod

What Can Four-Year-Olds Do that AI Can't? ==> Children are the greatest learners on the planet. As machine learning comes more and more into focus, and ambitious AI types are aiming to simulate the human brain in its entirety, there is a question to ask: how can our machine-learning algorithms learn from the curiosity and adaptability of children? @physicspod www.physicspodcast.com

Hello and welcome to this episode of Physical Attraction. I've been excited about this for a while. Today, on the show, for the first time ever, we have not one but TWO guests, who have co-written an excellent book together. They are both currently researching nuclear fusion, and they have written a book about the future of fusion energy called… well, the Future of Fusion Energy. Dr Justin Ball is currently studying plasma theory at Lausanne, and Jason Parisi works on turbulent transport in highly magnetized plasmas just a few buildings away from me here at the University of Oxford. Their book is an excellent guide to the science, history, and future of fusion energy, and of real help in compiling the marathon efforts in the show so far, so I was excited to be able to grab both of them for an interview to talk about fusion. Since this comes after I've already been yakking about fusion for ages, the conversation does assume some knowledge of what nuclear fusion is, but should be easy to follow if you've listened to some of the episodes in this series already.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Physical Attraction. My guests were Justin Ball and Jason Parisi. If you'd like to find out more, please do get their book – The Future of Fusion Energy – which is a highly entertaining and informative read. They also both have websites in the same format – Justin-ball.com and Jason-Parisi.com – and they can both be found on Twitter if you're into that sort of thing. Remember, comments, questions, concerns, feedback, etc. can all be directed to me on Twitter at physicspod, or via the contact form on our website at www.physicspodcast.com – it's always so wonderful to hear from listeners, and this is your chance to help me make the show as good as it can be! You can help us out by leaving a review on iTunes, purchasing past bonus episodes from the website, or just telling as many people as possible about the show to help spread the word if you like what we do. Until next time, then, take care.

Hello and welcome to this episode of Physical Attraction. I've been excited about this for a while. Today, on the show, for the first time ever, we have not one but TWO guests, who have co-written an excellent book together. They are both currently researching nuclear fusion, and they have written a book about the future of fusion energy called… well, the Future of Fusion Energy. Dr Justin Ball is currently studying plasma theory at Lausanne, and Jason Parisi works on turbulent transport in highly magnetized plasmas just a few buildings away from me here at the University of Oxford. Their book is an excellent guide to the science, history, and future of fusion energy, and of real help in compiling the marathon efforts in the show so far, so I was excited to be able to grab both of them for an interview to talk about fusion. Since this comes after I've already been yakking about fusion for ages, the conversation does assume some knowledge of what nuclear fusion is, but should be easy to follow if you've listened to some of the episodes in this series already.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Physical Attraction. My guests were Justin Ball and Jason Parisi. If you'd like to find out more, please do get their book – The Future of Fusion Energy – which is a highly entertaining and informative read. They also both have websites in the same format – Justin-ball.com and Jason-Parisi.com – and they can both be found on Twitter if you're into that sort of thing. Remember, comments, questions, concerns, feedback, etc. can all be directed to me on Twitter at physicspod, or via the contact form on our website at www.physicspodcast.com – it's always so wonderful to hear from listeners, and this is your chance to help me make the show as good as it can be! You can help us out by leaving a review on iTunes, purchasing past bonus episodes from the website, or just telling as many people as possible about the show to help spread the word if you like what we do. Until next time, then, take care.

In this episode, we examine some of the chaotic politics and causes of delay to the ITER project - and the perils of trying to collaborate across multiple countries on a multi-billion-dollar, multi-decade enterprise. After all this, is ITER still "The Way"? www.physicspodcast.com for comments, questions, concerns.

@physicspod

Many would argue that the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), currently under construction, is now 'The Way' to achieving power from nuclear fusion. But it faces extraordinary challenges. www.physicspodcast.com @physicspod

On this week's edition of TT, we take a brief break from the fusion series to look at two recent news stories about giant tech companies expanding their markets: both into healthcare, and into providing internet via satellites. www.physicspodcast.com for any comments, questions, concerns

The National Ignition Facility poured the heart and soul of the first few years of their work into achieving ignition - a plasma that would heat itself by thermonuclear reactions by as much as it was heated externally. Ultimately, it was close, but no cigar. www.physicspodcast.com @physicspod

The National Ignition Facility is, to date, the largest inertial confinement fusion experiment ever developed - and carried with it a huge amount of hope and hype that breakeven might be reached with this new device. www.physicspodcast.com @physicspod