Written by: www.livescience.com
Scientists have produced superheated gas exceeding temperatures of 2 billion degrees Kelvin, or 3.6 billion degrees Fahrenheit.
This is hotter than the interior of our Sun, which is about 15 million degrees Kelvin, and also hotter than any previous temperature ever achieved on Earth, they say.
They don't know how they did it.
The feat was accomplished in the Z machine at Sandia National Laboratories.
"At first, we were disbelieving," said project leader Chris Deeney. "We repeated the experiment many times to make sure we had a true result."
Thermonuclear explosions are estimated to reach only tens to hundreds of millions of degrees Kelvin; other nuclear fusion experiments have achieved temperatures of about 500 million degrees Kelvin, said a spokesperson at the lab.
The achievement was detailed in the Feb. 24 issue of the journal Physical Review Letters.
The Z machine is the largest X-ray generator in the world. It’s designed to test materials under extreme temperatures and pressures. It works by releasing 20 million amps of electricity into a vertical array of very fine tungsten wires. The wires dissolve into a cloud of charged particles, a superheated gas called plasma.
A very strong magnetic field compresses the plasma into the thickness of a pencil lead. This causes the plasma to release energy in the form of X-rays, but the X-rays are usually only several million degrees.
Sandia researchers still aren’t sure how the machine achieved the new record. Part of it is probably due to the replacement of the tungsten steel wires with slightly thicker steel wires, which allow the plasma ions to travel faster and thus achieve higher temperatures.
One thing that puzzles scientists is that the high temperature was achieved after the plasma’s ions should have been losing energy and cooling. Also, when the high temperature was achieved, the Z machine was releasing more energy than was originally put in, something that usually occurs only in nuclear reactions.
Sandia consultant Malcolm Haines theorizes that some unknown energy source is involved, which is providing the machine with an extra jolt of energy just as the plasma ions are beginning to slow down.
Sandia National Laboratories is located by Albuquerque New Mexico and is part of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
"Switching between different kinds of chuu chuu sometimes gives this "urgh wtf?" effect because it's giving people the phi phenomenon."
"vices are like genitals - most are ugly to behold, and yet we find that our own are dear to us."
(G.W. Dahlquist)
Owner of Dragosani's left half
Is it the Truth?
Is it Fair to all concerned?
Will it build Goodwill and Better Friendships?
Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?
Im in a lonely battle with the world with a fish to match the chip on my shoulder. Gnu in Binnu in a cnu
"Moo," said the happy cow.
According to Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle of Quantum Dynamics, we may already be making love right now...
Love is the law.
Written by:
Because of the high voltage involved, the Z machine is submerged in oil and water. This image shows lightning arcs beneath the liquid surface
Peace, Love, Circles
Written by: jeff(fake)
Treat with caution till more information comes out.
Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]
Written by: NYC
Temperature is an average so using temperature to describe extremely small sample sizes is misleading or at least useless.
"i see you at 'dis cafe.
i come to 'dis cafe quite a lot myself.
they do porridge."
- tim westwood
"Moo," said the happy cow.
Written by: coleman
then, as long as you know what percentage of the plasma is ionised, you can determine the ion temperature fairly accurately, no?
"Moo," said the happy cow.
Written by: colemanWritten by: NYC
Temperature is an average so using temperature to describe extremely small sample sizes is misleading or at least useless.
but the temperature of a hot plasma is generally meaured using the electron temperature which can be pretty well defined.
then, as long as you know what percentage of the plasma is ionised, you can determine the ion temperature fairly accurately, no?
cole. x
Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]
There is a slight possibility that I am not actually right all of the time.
I had a dream that my friend had a
strong-bad pop up book,
it was the book of my dreams.
I had a dream that my friend had a
strong-bad pop up book,
it was the book of my dreams.
Written by: Tao Star
well, wow in a way, but what are they going to do with it?
surely it's of no more use than the hottest they got before this?
apart from showing off...that's always a valid excuse i guess. but still, i don't really see the point.
But there's no sense crying over every mistake. You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.
Laugh Often, Smile Much, Post lolcats Always
Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]
Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]
Written by: NYC
I'm pretty sure I need some thermonuclear bubbles. I'm not sure why, but I'm pretty sure that I need them.
I had a dream that my friend had a
strong-bad pop up book,
it was the book of my dreams.
"vices are like genitals - most are ugly to behold, and yet we find that our own are dear to us."
(G.W. Dahlquist)
Owner of Dragosani's left half
Written by: spiralxWritten by: coleman
then, as long as you know what percentage of the plasma is ionised, you can determine the ion temperature fairly accurately, no?
Surely all of a plasma is ionised eh? Since that's the definition and all
"i see you at 'dis cafe.
i come to 'dis cafe quite a lot myself.
they do porridge."
- tim westwood
"Moo," said the happy cow.
"i see you at 'dis cafe.
i come to 'dis cafe quite a lot myself.
they do porridge."
- tim westwood
"Moo," said the happy cow.
the best smiles are the ones you lead to