Energy Physics News Explained for Pupils
Recent energy transfer, radiation, thermal physics and power technology stories linked to school physics.
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Energy archive
Week beginning 3 August 2026
Nuclear fusion in metal foils: why quantum tunnelling matters at low energies
Experiments with deuterium-loaded palladium and titanium foils found that fusion yields stopped falling as expected below about 2 keV. The result suggests that a solid material can change the environment in which nuclei tunnel and react, although the absolute fusion rate remains far too small for power generation.
Why pressure can make electric-car batteries last longer
University of Cambridge researchers found that keeping lithium-ion pouch-cell electrodes under a carefully controlled stack pressure could double their cycle life. Too little pressure encouraged cathode cracking, while too much promoted lithium plating, so the result is about finding a narrow engineering balance rather than simply squeezing a battery harder.
How heat-transfer fins help phase-change materials store energy faster
Three-dimensional simulations show that several well-spaced fins can melt a phase-change material more effectively than one large fin. The reason is not just extra conduction: liquid in the gaps starts circulating and transfers energy, while fins placed too close together can interfere with one another.
Week beginning 13 July 2026
Week beginning 6 July 2026
Quantum computers model molten salt for fusion fuel
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Cleveland Clinic and IBM have used a hybrid quantum-classical workflow to calculate how tritium interacts with FLiBe, a molten salt being studied for future fusion reactor blankets.
AI helps physics models predict rare extreme heatwaves
Researchers have combined fast AI weather forecasts with physics-based climate modelling so rare, dangerous heatwaves can be sampled more efficiently and studied with better statistics.
Optical-fibre experiment reveals Hawking radiation backreaction
A fibre-optic analogue of a black-hole horizon has revealed a direct process for stimulated Hawking-like radiation and measured how that radiation changes the light field that produced it.
Week beginning 15 June 2026
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