Good News 16th December 2021

Researchers at a lab owned by the U.S. government have passed a crucial milestone on the way to their ultimate goal of achieving self-sustaining nuclear fusion.

On Aug. 8, 2021, an experiment at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) made a significant step toward ignition, achieving a yield of more than 1.3 megajoules. Researchers said this advancement puts them at the threshold of fusion ignition, which is defined as a sustainable and never-ending powerful energy source.

The experiment was enabled by focusing laser light—the size of three football fields—onto a target which is the size of a BB (Baseball Bat?) that produces a hot-spot the diameter of a human hair, generating more than 10 quadrillion watts of fusion power for 100 trillionths of a second.

“These extraordinary results advance the science,” said Jill Hruby, DOE under secretary for Nuclear Security and administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration.

“Gaining experimental access to thermonuclear burn in the laboratory is the culmination of decades of scientific and technological work stretching across nearly 50 years,” said Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Thomas Mason. “This enables experiments that will check theory and simulation in the high energy density regime more rigorously than ever possible before and will enable fundamental achievements in applied science and engineering.”

Looking ahead, access to this new experimental model will inspire new avenues for research and provide the opportunity to create further benchmarks. Plans for repeat experiments are well underway, although it will take several months for them to be executed.

Brits have revealed their best-loved Christmas traditions, including watching festive films, wearing Christmas jumpers—and tucking into turkey sandwiches on Boxing Day.

A survey of 2,000 adults found Christmas dinner to be the top tradition over the festive period, while listening to Christmas songs and putting a mince pie out for Santa on Christmas Eve also featured in the top 20.

The poll also found 53 percent believe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has made them value Christmas traditions more than they’d realized.

But going to a pantomime, shopping in-store, and going out for drinks on Christmas Eve were among the loved traditions that Brits now feel uncomfortable doing following lockdowns

The survey further revealed that 41 percent believe the traditions they follow have changed over the years—with 35 percent having adapted their traditions in a bid to be less materialistic, while 32 percent have altered their traditions for their children.

Francesca Savage, Head of Christmas at Save The Children, which commissioned the poll to celebrate its tenth Christmas Jumper Day this Friday (December 10), said, “For many of us, the traditions we take part in at Christmas are what make the festive period something we look forward to.

Say goodbye to reading glasses, at least if you are under 65. A new eye drop called Vuity which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in October could change the lives of millions of Americans with age-related blurred near vision, CBS News reports.

The condition affects about 128 million citizens mostly over 40 and the eye drops work well for people aged below 65. Vuity takes effect in about 15 minutes and lasts for 6 to 10 hours.

The drops make use of the eye’s inherent ability to reduce its pupil size.

“Reducing the pupil size expands the depth of field or the depth of focus, and that allows you to focus at different ranges naturally,” George Waring, principal investigator of Vuity’s clinical trial, told CBS.

The trial tested 750 participants who reported being happy with the results. “It’s definitely a life changer,” said Toni Wright, one of the participants.

The drops go for about $80 for a 30-day supply; which isn’t the cheapest, but is not too expensive either. Unfortunately, they also come with side effects such as headaches and red eyes and users are warned not to apply the drops while driving at night or when performing activities in low-light conditions.

“This is something that we anticipate will be well tolerated long term, but this will be evaluated and studied in a formal capacity,” Waring added about the side effects.

As of the time of this article, the drug is not covered by medical insurance and doctors believe it likely never will be. This is because it is kind of a luxury more than a necessity, reading glasses are cheaper and offer a better cost-for-benefit ratio. Still, the drops are bound to find plenty of customers particularly between the ages of 40 and 55 where they work best.

If you want to understand how glasses (and these drops) work, step inside this article.