Michael Banks

2 weeks ago | physicsworld.com | Michael Banks

“Fusion is now within reach” and represents “one of the economic opportunities of the century”. Not the words of an optimistic fusion scientist but from Kerry McCarthy, parliamentary under-secretary of state at the UK’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. She was speaking on Tuesday at the inaugural Fusion Fest by Economist Impact. Held in London, the day-long event featured 400 attendees and more than 60 speakers from around the world.

3 weeks ago | physicsworld.com | Michael Banks

The CERN particle-physics lab near Geneva has released plans for the 15bn SwFr (£13bn) Future Circular Collider (FCC) – a huge 91 km circumference machine. The three-volume feasibility study, released yesterday, calls for the giant accelerator to collide electrons with positrons to study the Higgs boson in unprecedented detail. If built, the FCC would replace the 27 km Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which will come to an end in the early 2040s.

3 weeks ago | physicsworld.com | Michael Banks

Disabled people in science must be recognized and given better support to help reverse the numbers of such people dropping out of science. That is the conclusion of a new report released today by the National Association of Disabled Staff Networks (NADSN). It also calls for funders to stop supporting institutions that have toxic research cultures and for a change in equality law to recognize the impact of discrimination on disabled people including neurodivergent people.

3 weeks ago | physicsworld.com | Michael Banks

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh in the UK have built a prototype “hairy robotic gripper” that is inspired by the hairs found on ant jaws. Ants are not only excellent nest builders but are also expert foragers, able to carry food and other items that can be many times their own weight. Part of that ability lies in their powerful jaws, with snap-jaw ants able to close their mandibles at a top speed of 400 kmph.

4 weeks ago | physicsworld.com | Michael Banks

The first direct evidence for auroras on Neptune has been spotted by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Hubble Space Telescope. Auroras happen when energetic particles from the Sun become trapped in a planet’s magnetic field and eventually strike the upper atmosphere with the energy released creating a signature glow.