The United States should embark on a coordinated national research program into inertial confinement fusion — but only after researchers successfully demonstrate the scientific basis of the technology by creating a burning plasma in the laboratory, an expert panel assembled by the U.S. National Academies recommends in a report released today. (sciencemag.org)
It's a proven technology: Joseph Stalin launched the first national research program into the idea in 1928 and the Soviets used it for 40 years to produce power. (sciencemag.org)
Broad cuts to the USGS National Research Program (NRP), part of the Water Mission Area, would reduce research at the 32 Water Science Centers across the United States. (aaas.org)