Energy production, storage and distribution
A Pb0.6Sr0.4ZrO3 thin film keeps more than 88 % efficiency at 4 K under 9 MV/cm. Separate tests measure 211 J/cm³ at 77 K under 9 MV/cm, 10^8 cycles at 77 K under 6 MV/cm and about 1.5 µs from 300 to 77 K under 2 MV/cm; no complete device is demonstrated.
Over 17.2 live days with both Chooz reactors shut down, Double Chooz measures 106 ± 18 residual candidates after background subtraction: the background-only hypothesis is rejected at 5.9 σ. The result is compatible with the 88 ± 7 predicted events; without experimentally separating the sources, the model attributes 44% of them to the spent-fuel pools.
Ordering a platinum-cobalt alloy requires heat; but heat coarsens the nanoparticles and ruins their active surface. A team at Washington University in St. Louis reports breaking that trade-off by confining the particles inside carbon channels.
On April 25, 1954, Bell Labs unveiled the first silicon solar cell with an efficiency of 6%. Daryl Chapin, Calvin Fuller, and Gerald Pearson transformed a phenomenon known since 1839 into a viable energy source — paving the way for an industry worth $400 billion by 2024.
In 1888, Nikola Tesla patented the polyphase induction motor and the alternating current distribution system. Partnered with George Westinghouse, he won the "War of Currents" against Edison — and laid the foundations of the electrical grid that powers 8 billion people today.
On December 5, 2022, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory produces 3.15 MJ of fusion energy from 2.05 MJ of laser energy — the first net gain (Q = 1.54) in the history of inertial confinement fusion. The deuterium-tritium reaction replicates the process that powers the stars.