The puzzle of the plasma doughnut

Our antibiotics are failing us. In 2025, the UK Government said antibiotic resistance (AMR) contributes to more than 35,000 deaths each year in the UK. Emergency doctors say they are losing patients on a regular basis when they run out of ways to treat them. Antibiotics have save ...  Show more

Have you ever been told you aren't good enough to do something, then gone ahead and proved the naysayers wrong by doing it anyway - in glorious, headline-grabbing style? That is the satisfying story of Dr Dean Lomax. Dean grew up in Doncaster with a passion for fossils but after ...  Show more

The process that powers our sun was still a mystery about 100 years ago. Bit by bit, scientists have worked out that the fusion of hydrogen at a star’s core can generate enough power to keep it shining for billions of years. Now, armed with this knowledge, researchers around t ...

It’s nearly a century since it was discovered that the sun and other stars are powered by nuclear fusion. It’s when hydrogen atoms merge to form helium, and release huge amounts of energy. Since then, scientists have dreamed of reproducing the process here on Earth, with one Nobe ...  Show more

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">After decades of attempts, scientists have finally created a nuclear fusion reaction in a lab. On today’s show, what this breakthrough means for the future of energy.</span>

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What is thermonuclear fusion? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice break down the Department of Energy’s breakthrough, thermonuclear fusion at the center of stars, supernovae, and how stars are born.

NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode commer ...