Tony Haynes, a former chairman of SIS, was keen on fusion technology and the prospect of cheap power. At https://phys.org/news/2023-05-small-fusion-temperatures-hotter-sun.html … we are told that to achieve commercial energy, fusion power plants will need to reach temperatures of 100 million degrees celsius. To do that requires careful control of plasma – which is an understatement. A study in the journal Nuclear Fusion, says they have reached such a temperature in a compact spherical tokamak device, ST40. It is much smaller than previous devices – with a high magnetic field. However, the downside is that the temperature high only lasted for 150 milliseconds. See also https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326 …
There is an interesting take on Lord Frost’s recent talk at https://www.americanthinker.com/2023/05/dealing_with_the_upcoming_climate_failure_blame_game.html … Frost realises, it says, that the Covid pandemic showed us all how government and public opinion work. Once the government launches a narrative and gets everyone, or most of them, onboard, it can’t reverse course. It can’t admit mistakes. The narrative continues unabated until it blows up and marginal supporters reject the mantra. How soon is the climate change blow up? Whatever, the response will blame its internal opposition – the climate deniers, or the anti-vaxxers in the case of covid, even leading to the sacking of an MP. Mao blamed the four olds – customs, culture, habits and ideas – hence the cultural revolution. In other words, in the face of defeat the climate change blob will blame everyone else for its failure. It will then seek to purge its opposition, real or imagined. Some way to go.
At https://phys.org/news/2023-05-protein-rare-earths-humans-paving.html … a protein found naturally in a bacterium isolated from English oak buds exhibits strong capabilities to differentiate between rare earths. Harnessing its power could revolutionise tech sectors by changing how critical minerals like rare earths are harvested.
Rare earths, such as neodymium and dysprosium, are critical components of modern technologies, from smart phones to hard drives. They are notoriously difficult to separate from rocks and from one another. Penn State scientists claim to have discovered a new mechanism by which bacteria can select between different rare earth elements, using the bacterium protein . They now have a way to separate these similar metals from one another – quickly. Under normal room temperature conditions. Rare earth elements, which include the lanthanide metals, are relatively abundant. They are dispersed, however, meaning they are mostly scattered throughout the planet in low concentrations. The new tool will allow harvesting of rare earths from devices we already have – and recycle them, as well as making the mining of rare earths easier.