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Synchronicity

There's something called synchronicity that we've probably all experienced at one time or another. Some people prefer the term 'meaningful coincidence.' You're thinking about your friend from high school whom you haven't seen in 20 years, and lo and behold she calls you up the next day. Or you hear Larry King use the word propinquity only a few ...

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Sinchronicity
Geology

Our Most Abundant Fossil Fuel

Coal is our most abundant fossil fuel. The US has more coal than the rest of the world has oil. There is still enough coal underground in this country to provide energy for the next 200 to 300 years. ... Continue reading

OurMostAbundantFossilFuel
Biology

Why Aren't Mice More Like Us?

The sequence of the human genome was published two years ago, and recently, the sequence of the mouse genome was published. Amazingly, 99% of mouse genes have a counterpart in people. So why are they ... Continue reading

Mice
Physics

The Early Universe Soup

In the first few millionths of the second after the Big Bang, the universe looked very different than today. In fact the universe existed as a different form of matter altogether: the quark-gluon ... Continue reading

TheEarlyUniverseSoup
Biology

Neurogenesis

Until recently, any doctor would have told you that when you lose brain cells, you can never replace them. Scientists now know that the human brain has the ability to regenerate brain cells, or ... Continue reading

Neurogenesis

The World's Largest Laser

LargestLaserIn a rural community in Northern California, in a building spanning the length of two football fields scientists are creating the world's largest laser. The National Ignition Facility project, know as NIF, is being developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy.

When complete, the facility will house 192 laser beams in two bays. The beams will generate a peak power of 1000 times the electric generating power of the entire United States, although only for a few billionths of a second. When fired, the laser light from the beams will travel through tubes almost the length of the entire building, and pass through giant crystals that will covert the infrared light of the lasers to ultraviolet light. The ultraviolet light from the 192 lasers will then converge on a 10-meter diameter target chamber that looks nothing but out of this world. The ultimate target is inside this chamber; a BB-sized plastic sphere, holding fusion fuel. The hydrogen fuel will reach temperatures of 100 million degrees and will be converted to helium with the release of fusion energy.

The goal of this ambitious project is national defense and research in the areas of energy creation through fusion power, nuclear reactions, astrophysics, and material sciences.