Nuclear fusion challenges addressed

Nuclear fusion could prove an abundant source of clean energy, reports Technology Review.

But the process can be difficult to control, and scientists have yet to demonstrate a fusion plant that produces more energy than it consumes.

Physicists at MIT have addressed one of the many technological challenges involved in harnessing nuclear fusion as a viable energy source. They've demonstrated that pulses of radio frequency waves can be used to propel and heat plasma inside a reactor.

With the global food crisis pushing more people below the poverty level, organisations are scrambling to find ways to help countries produce new crops on their own rather than depending on costly imports for food, writes Media Global.

Facing problems of changes in soil, due to climate change and land degradation from past farming techniques, the joint Food and Agriculture Organisation/International Atomic Energy Agency is hoping that countries will turn to induced mutation.

The process has been used since the 1920s to create crops that produce higher yields and are resistant to climate change effects, diseases and insects.

Texas Instruments is working with Fulton Innovation, the developer of eCoupled wireless-power-transfer technology, to accelerate development of efficient wireless-power technologies that can charge portable devices, says Electronic Design Strategy News.

TI's interest in eCoupled is to provide integrated circuits for eCoupled-powered battery-charging systems for low, medium and high-power applications ranging from cellphones to notebook computers, power tools and other rechargeable systems.

The technology analyses the charge profile of a battery and efficiently transfers the correct amount of energy. It accomplishes this by constantly changing the operating frequency to seek resonance and adjusts the power transfer accordingly.