US researchers heat aluminium to 2,000,000 degrees.
US Department of Energy researchers have used the world’s most powerful laser to heat a tiny piece of aluminium foil to two million degrees, while probing the matter using the same laser. The experiment was the first of its kind in the world, and it all happened in less than a trillionth of a second.
The research marks a huge step towards understanding the fusion reactions found in the heart of starts, and will be used to help create future fusion reactions like in the National Ignition Facility, where scientists are working to create a fusion reaction that creates more energy than is put in, which in turn is hoped to become the major clean energy source of the future.
(Source: news.slac.stanford.edu)
