Physical Attraction

The invention of the laser in 1960 opened up an entirely new approach to nuclear fusion - dramatically, and drastically compressing individual pellets of fuel with lasers. www.physicspodcast.com @physicspod

In the late 1960s, scientists crossed the Iron Curtain. Their mission was to investigate whether the claims of Russian scientists about their new nuclear fusion device, the tokamak, were really true. Their findings would change fusion research forever. www.physicspodcast.com

Taking a break from our nuclear fusion odyssey this week, I have a very special episode for you today. This week, our guest is Dr Kate Devlin. She's a senior lecturer in computer science who studies artificial intelligence and human-robot interaction, and she wrote a magnificent book: Turned On, Science, Sex and Robots. Now, the tagline is that the book is about love and sex with robots – and there is a great deal of fascinating stuff in there about that – but it's also a wonderful history of humanoid robotics, in reality and in fiction, and a great survey of the academic research into human-robot interactions in general. As artificial intelligence and chatbots become more omnipresent, and also take on a bigger role in our culture, whole new fields of psychology and sociology open up. We've already talked a little about chatbots in past episodes, and Dr Devlin's book was one of the best and most entertaining works that I've read about artificial intelligence and robots in a long time, so I was super excited to get this interview. Thanks for listening to this episode of Physical Attraction, and many thanks to our guest, Dr Kate Devlin. You can find her book – Turned On, Science, Sex and Robots – where-ever good books are sold, but I also highly recommend the audiobook… if, like me, you're getting those monthly Audible credits, it's wonderfully narrated by the author. You can also find out more about her work at www.drkatedevlin.com , and if you Google around, there are some Ted Talks and things of that variety to keep you entertained. And now for our housekeeping. A reminder that I'm still planning this 100th episode competition, but the due date is being continually extended – send your answers to the question "What Is Physics?" in text or audio format via the contact form on our website, and you'll be in with a chance to win books from some of our previous interview guests and a place on the show. The nuclear fusion series will be resuming shortly, and I can't wait to share it all with you, but I'm also not averse to puncturing it with a few off-topic breaks now and then as a palate-cleanser. But if you have any comments, questions, or concerns about the show, you can contact us via the contact form at www.physicspodcast.com, and you can find me on Twitter @physicspod. If you want to support the show, we have a Patreon account, at www.patreon.com/PhysicalAttraction – and I've actually just put up some "b-sides", there, shows that I recorded but didn't release for one reason or another, that subscribers can now enjoy listening to – alongside all the bonus episodes on Alien Attacks, Free Energy Scams, and failed end-of-the-world-predictions. Of course, if you don't want to donate, the best thing you can do to support us is always always to tell as many people about the show as you possibly can. Until next time, then, take care!

After the first generation of nuclear fusion reactors had profound instabilities, and couldn't confine the plasma for long enough to achieve their aims, the world began to realise that fusion might not be just ten years away from reality - and the whole field sank into the doldrums... until a very Soviet intervention. Physical Attraction is the podcast about physics, science, and technology. You can find further details about the show at www.physicspodcast.com - where you'll find the contact form, for any comments, questions, or concerns you may have. [I'm very good at responding to stuff that isn't spam.] You can also donate to the show via www.paypal.me/physicspodcast and you can subscribe to our Patreon via www.patreon.com/PhysicalAttraction . Both will give you the opportunity to purchase our past bonus episodes for a nominal donation! The best way you can support the show, though, is to tell as many people about it as you possibly can. You can engage with us on social media - Twitter @physicspod and Facebook, Physical Attraction. Until next time, take care.

In 1958, to great fanfare, the ZETA experiment at Harwell announced that they had achieved thermonuclear reactions, controlled in the lab. It was considered a huge breakthrough along the road towards nuclear fusion, and tabloids at the time trumpeted the experiment as allowing "limitless energy from sea water", and called it "Britain's Sputnik". But not everyone was convinced. Physical Attraction is the podcast about physics, science, and technology. You can find further details about the show at www.physicspodcast.com - where you'll find the contact form, for any comments, questions, or concerns you may have. [I'm very good at responding to stuff that isn't spam.] You can also donate to the show via www.paypal.me/physicspodcast and you can subscribe to our Patreon via www.patreon.com/PhysicalAttraction . Both will give you the opportunity to purchase our past bonus episodes for a nominal donation! The best way you can support the show, though, is to tell as many people about it as you possibly can. You can engage with us on social media - Twitter @physicspod and Facebook, Physical Attraction. Until next time, take care.

In the early 1950s, optimism surrounding the potential for nuclear fusion in devices like the Stellarator, the pinch devices, and the magnetic mirror were frustrated by plasma instabilities. It turns out that you cannot treat plasmas like charged particles whizzing around in magnetic fields - instead, the complex theory of magnetohydrodynamics needs to be taken into account, and, as the name suggests, it's not easy to understand! Physical Attraction is the podcast about physics, science, and technology. You can find further details about the show at www.physicspodcast.com - where you'll find the contact form, for any comments, questions, or concerns you may have. [I'm very good at responding to stuff that isn't spam.] You can also donate to the show via www.paypal.me/physicspodcast and you can subscribe to our Patreon via www.patreon.com/PhysicalAttraction . Both will give you the opportunity to purchase our past bonus episodes for a nominal donation! The best way you can support the show, though, is to tell as many people about it as you possibly can. You can engage with us on social media - Twitter @physicspod and Facebook, Physical Attraction. Until next time, take care.

In 1950-1, Argentine dictator Juan Peron and German scientist Ronald Richter announced that they had cracked the secret of limitless energy from nuclear fusion, and would soon sell energy "in pint-sized bottles, like milk" to every household in the nation. Of course, the slight problem was that this technology was really (perhaps) a century away, and Ronald Richter was a crackpot. But they still had their impact on the history of nuclear fusion. This is their story. Physical Attraction is the podcast about physics, science, and technology. You can find further details about the show at www.physicspodcast.com - where you'll find the contact form, for any comments, questions, or concerns you may have. [I'm very good at responding to stuff that isn't spam.] You can also donate to the show via www.paypal.me/physicspodcast and you can subscribe to our Patreon via www.patreon.com/PhysicalAttraction . Both will give you the opportunity to purchase our past bonus episodes for a nominal donation! The best way you can support the show, though, is to tell as many people about it as you possibly can. You can engage with us on social media - Twitter @physicspod and Facebook, Physical Attraction. Until next time, take care.

Hello, and welcome to this episode of Thermonuclear Takes - our occasional bonus episodes that deal with topics in the news when there's just TOO MUCH EXCITING STUFF out there to talk about. This episode:

• The teenager who built a nuclear fusion reactor in his bedroom - should ITER give up and go home? (Spoiler: no.)
• A new study that suggests possible catastrophic climate feedbacks at high temperatures has been published
• OpenAI's new neural network is like nothing we've ever seen, and can imitate human writing more convincingly than I'd thought possible yet

You can find the show at www.physicspodcast.com and contact us with your comments, questions, concerns, etc. Twitter @physicspod Facebook - Physical Attraction.

Building a nuclear fusion power plant is no easy feat. Fusion naturally occurs in temperatures comparable to those at the heart of the Sun - temperatures so hot as to instantly vaporise virtually any substance on Earth. Physical Attraction is the podcast about physics, science, and technology. You can find further details about the show at www.physicspodcast.com - where you'll find the contact form, for any comments, questions, or concerns you may have. [I'm very good at responding to stuff that isn't spam.] You can also donate to the show via www.paypal.me/physicspodcast and you can subscribe to our Patreon via www.patreon.com/PhysicalAttraction . Both will give you the opportunity to purchase our past bonus episodes for a nominal donation! The best way you can support the show, though, is to tell as many people about it as you possibly can. You can engage with us on social media - Twitter @physicspod and Facebook, Physical Attraction. Until next time, take care.

[Reupload with the actual, correct file this time - sorry!

Thomas]

When Teller's dream of a hydrogen, fusion bomb was eventually realised, it was another physicist, Ulam, who really came up with the winning design... and the first steps along the road to nuclear fusion on Earth. Physical Attraction is the podcast about physics, science, and technology. You can find further details about the show at www.physicspodcast.com - where you'll find the contact form, for any comments, questions, or concerns you may have. [I'm very good at responding to stuff that isn't spam.] You can also donate to the show via www.paypal.me/physicspodcast and you can subscribe to our Patreon via www.patreon.com/PhysicalAttraction . Both will give you the opportunity to purchase our past bonus episodes for a nominal donation! The best way you can support the show, though, is to tell as many people about it as you possibly can. You can engage with us on social media - Twitter @physicspod and Facebook, Physical Attraction. Until next time, take care.