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Power generated from nuclear fusion is one of those alternative energy sources that companies have been eyeing for decades. Facilities in the US, Europe, Russia, and Japan are pushing forward toward a way to harness the immense energy generated by the fusing of atoms — fusion fuel produces 10 thousand times more energy than coal burning. But there are still hurdles to overcome before we get our hands on what is considered the "holy grail" of energy sources.

The main obstacle keeping us from emission-free and nuclear waste-free fusion power is the amount of energy it takes to produce the conditions for nuclear fusion in the first place. Right now, most facilities put in as much or more energy into their nuclear fusion systems than what they get out. What you want is a surplus of energy that you can then turn into electricity. Breaking even is less than ideal.

Lockheed Martin announced on Oct. 15 that they have brought the world one step closer to nuclear fusion power. Their new approach to this age-old problem could lead to an operational reactor in just 10 years. Although Lockheed is moving forward, other laboratories across the country are not far behind.

There are multiple ways to produce nuclear reactions, but the two leading methods today are with lasers and with magnets. Laser fusion squeezes hydrogen atoms together to the point that they fuse with each other to create helium — this is the same nuclear fusion process that occurs in the center of the sun.

The other form of nuclear fusion is using hot plasmas that are contained by powerful magnetic fields. Atoms within the plasma recombine, and in the process release energy. This type of nuclear reaction is produced in large containment vessels called tokamaks.

Below are three other US facilities working on one of these two leading forms of nuclear fusion:

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the National Ignition Facility

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, located in Livermore, California, houses the world's most powerful laser at the National Ignition Facility. And last year, they raised the bar for laser nuclear fusion research by being the first in the world to produce a reaction that released more energy than what the researchers initially put in.

One of LLNL's latest achievements, announced last February, was when an LLNL team extracted 10 times more energy from their nuclear fusion reactions compared to past experiments. They published their results in the journal Nature.

To do this, they utilized a process called boot-strapping. Boot-strapping takes some of the residual particles created during fusion and deposits their energy into the overall fuel supply source instead of letting the particles escape.

"There is more work to do and physics problems that need to be addressed before we get to the end," said lead author of the paper Omar Hurricane in a statement released by the lab. "But our team is working to address all the challenges, and that's what a scientific team thrives on."

Princeton Plasma Physics Lab

Last March, researchers at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, located in Middlesex County, New Jersey, ran large-scale simulations of nuclear fusion reactions at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility. What they found after the ALCF's supercomputer finished crunching the numbers was an encouraging insight into the process of extracting energy from fusion reactions.

One of the ways to produce nuclear fusion reactions on Earth is to create a hot plasma. The atoms within this plasma fuse together and out comes the energy from nuclear fusion. However, one of the problems with this approach is that energy is lost through turbulence within the plasma. Scientists at PPPL discovered that this loss of energy is actually less than expected.

"Understanding and possibly controlling the underlying physical process is key to achieving the efficiency needed to ensure the practicality of future fusion reactors," said PPPL Principal research physicist William Tang in a statement issued by PPPL.

They hope their work will help with development of magnetically-confined fusion energy systems, in particular, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor tokamak under construction in France, which, once completed, will be the world's largest tokamak system.

University of Washington Fusion Experiment

Earlier this month, researchers at the University of Washington announced their efforts to design a nuclear fusion reactor that is cheaper than coal. Their design is similar to Lockheed Martin's in that it uses a hot plasma to generate the conditions for nuclear fusion reactions.

If their design was ultimately developed in to an operational reactor, they estimate that it would cost $2.7 billion to produce 1 billion watts of power whereas it costs coal plants $2.8 billion to produce the same amount of energy.

What makes their design so inexpensive compared to other fusion reactor designs, and competitive in cost with current energy sources, has to do with the shape of their containment vessel. Traditional tokamaks are shaped like a hollowed-out doughnut. The UW team is suggesting a hollowed-out sphere, instead, called a spheromak.

"Right now, this design has the greatest potential of producing economical fusion power of any current concept," said UW Professor of aeronautics and astronautics, Thomas Jarboe, in a statement released by the university.

They will release the details of their design on Oct. 17 at the International Atomic Energy Agency's Fusion Energy Conference.

The Plasma Science and Fusion Center at Massachusetts Institute of Technology has compiled a great list of all nuclear sites in the US. Check it out for more information.

SEE ALSO: LOCKHEED: We Made A Huge Breakthrough In Nuclear Fusion

SEE ALSO: How Lockheed Martin's New Approach To Nuclear Fusion Could Power The World

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Good news for lovers of Scotch: the Balvenie has announced the arrival of three new expressions just in time for the arrival of the holiday season stateside. Retiring the Tun 1401 series, master distiller David Stewart is now turning his attention to Tun 1509: 35 traditional American oak barrels and seven European oak sherry butts will arrive married and bottled at the natural strength of 47.1% abv. The first bottles will appear on shelves mid-October with a price tag of $350. If that’s too thin for your blood, there’s also The Balvenie Single Barrel Traditional Oak Aged 25 Years, available in a limited edition of no more than 300 hand-numbered bottles drawn from a single cask, with a suggested retail price of $599. Or, there’s also The Balvenie Fifty, Cask 4567 which will only see 15 bottles arrive in the states, each of which will set you back a mere $38,000.

Better news for lovers of Scotch and/or fans of mid-century modern furniture: The Glenlivet has designed a chair inspired by its Nadurra range. Each chair is individually made and designed by British furniture maker Gareth Deal using Aberdeen Angus leather that’s been steeped in oak bark. No tasting notes supplied, but you can see the chair for yourself in this video.

Failing a takeover of SABMiller, Anheuser-Busch InBev is now fueling rumors of a potential merger or takeover of PepsiCo. [Seeking Alpha]

Following Monday’s allegations of tax evasion in South Korea, Pernod Ricard executives have dismissed the accusations. In a brilliant turn of phrase, Pernod executives spoke to Just Drinks and insist it was a matter of “tax adjustments,” and not a fine. [Just Drinks]

The Atlantic features a small profile piece on Samuel Adams figurehead Jim Koch, elevating his status in the craft beer industry with the unofficial title, “The Steve Jobs of Beer.” This poses the question: if Koch is Steve Jobs, who is the Steve Ballmer of the beer world? [Dan Gordon -Ed.] [The Atlantic]

And finally today, Johnnie Walker has announced the wide release of another new limited edition expression. John Walker and Sons Private Collection 2014 is the inaugural release in what is slated to become an annual event. Originally released earlier this year at select travel outlets, it is pulled from 29 casks and is set to be a limited edition of 8,888 bottles with a retail price of about $850.

Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds forever changed the landscape of pop music. It's a deeply personal album, and Wilson's meticulously complex and bizarre arrangements elevated the three-minute radio tune to art.

The story of how Pet Sounds was made has been told and retold (and parodied) plenty of times since its release in 1966, but there are still so many fascinating little stories about the album that may have gone under the radar.

1. Pet Sounds was inspired by the immaculately constructed and filler-free Beatles album, Rubber Soul. "Rubber Soul blew my mind," Brian Wilson says. "When I heard Rubber Soul, I said, 'That's it. That's all. That's all folks.' I said, 'I'm going to make an album that's really good, I mean really challenge me.' I mean, I love that fucking album, I cherish that album."

2. Pet Sounds started with a panic attack. In December of 1964, while on a flight to Houston to start yet another Beach Boys tour, Brian Wilson collapsed in the plane's aisle and began sobbing. He had to return to California, where he recovered and realized that he could tour no longer. He called a meeting with the rest of the band and said, "Listen, I'm going to have to quit the touring group. But it's going to be well worth it, because I'm going to write you some good songs."

3. Throughout 1965, while the rest of band toured, Brian worked on his new project. He arranged, composed, and produced the album and conducted an army of L.A.'s best studio musicians, also known as "The Wrecking Crew," to perform on it. Wilson had unprecedented control over Pet Sounds, and he was just 23 years old.

4. Once the rest of the band returned from international touring, Brian had them come into the studio to put vocals down on top of his compositions. It took a full week to record the voice track on “Wouldn’t it be Nice.” Brian was so demanding, Mike Love took to calling him "Dog Ears" because he could hear things humans could not. Love joked that they'd have to re-record a take in case any of the members had "an impure thought" while singing that Brian could pick up on the track. Maybe it wasn't a joke.

5. Wilson wrote the instrumental track “Pet Sounds” with the intention that it would be used in a James Bond movie. The original title was "Run James Run."

6. Brian's arrangements on Pet Sounds are so musically complex and meticulous, meaning can be derived at a remarkably technical level, as music critic Jim Fusilli does here (taken from Fusilli's book about the album):

["You Still Believe in Me"] begins in B major, a key rarely used in pop, and remains in B major. The G# major chord below the first, and only, time the word "love" is invoked in the song is particularly striking; on the second pass, the G# major chord hits below the word "fail." In a rare example of the bassist emphasizing the root in a Brian Wilson arrangement, Carol Kaye hits the G# in both instances. It's as if Brian wanted there to be no confusion for the listener: in his mind, at least in this song, love equals failure.

7. Brian's abusive father and manager Murry Wilson had effectively been kicked out of his sons' musical lives after a drunken, in-studio tirade during a recording of "Help Me, Rhonda." Despite this, he managed to use his clout with Capitol Records to speed up Brian's vocal track on "Caroline, No" to make it sound higher to his liking.

8. The barking at the end of "Caroline, No" comes from Brian's two dogs, Banana and Louie.

9. The dreamy, plinking sound at the beginning of "You Still Believe in Me" is achieved by someone reaching inside an open piano and directly plucking its strings. This effect is used in other songs on the album, but it is isolated here.

10. Besides its orchestral strings and wind sections, Pet Sounds is famous for its unusual and almost comedic use of bizarre instruments, including, but nowhere even near limited to, bicycle horns, vibraphones, timpani, finger cymbals, Coke cans, accordions, modified twelve-string mandolins, and water jugs.

11. Capitol Records wasn't thrilled with the album and how far it strayed from the band's usual sound. The company refused to issue a single with it until months after its release. ("Sloop John B" and "Caroline, No" were released as singles months before the album, with the latter published as a Brian Wilson solo).

12. Capitol had such little faith in Pet Sounds, they decided to release The Best of The Beach Boys, a collection of the band's well-known surf and party hits, around the same time.

13. Pet Sounds peaked at number 10 on the charts in the United States. The Best of The Beach Boys landed at 8.

14. Pet Sounds was a hit in the UK, where it topped the charts. Before its release there, Brian's tour fill-in Bruce Johnston took two copies with him to London and managed—through Beach Boys fanatic Keith Moon—to arrange a meeting at a hotel with John Lennon and Paul McCartney to play it for them. They listened to it once through, paused, and immediately asked to hear the album again. Shortly afterward, the two began to work on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

15. According to Beatles producer George Martin, "Without Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper never would have happened....Pepper was an attempt to equal Pet Sounds."

Last weekend there were local elections in the Czech Republic, and the local Pirate Party has dozens of candidates on the ballots.

The Pirates campaigned with a program that advocates more Government transparency, more involvement for citizens, less copyright monopolies and the use of free software.

This message was received well by the public as 21 Pirate Party representatives were voted into regional parliaments. In addition, several other Pirates gained seats through the lists of other local parties.

One of the biggest victories was booked in Mariánské lázně where the Pirates came out as the biggest party with 21% of the total vote. This means that the Czech town may soon have its first Pirate mayor.

Pirate Party seats in Mariánské lázně

The Pirate Party also did well in the capital city of Prague where it received 5.3% of the vote. This translates to four seats in the local parliament.

Despite the successes the Pirates don’t expect that they will govern in many regions. This may happen in a few places, but only if they can agree on a good program with the other parties.

“Generally we are against coalitions, especially in Prague, but in some regions with parties and people who are closer to our program we might govern,” Pirate Party’s Markéta Gregorová tells TorrentFreak.

According to Maša Čorak, co-chairperson of Pirate Parties International, the Czech success was welcomed after several disappointing results in other European countries. Talking to the Pirate Times, she says that the victory will carry over to other countries.

‘I have no doubt that every single Czech pirate that succeeds in being an elected official will do a tremendous job in promoting our core goals and ideas and putting them back in the public spotlight. That is, after all, the beauty of this movement; a victory in just one country can be and will be a huge step forward throughout entire Europe,” she says.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

BIS - TELL IT TO THE KIDS

this song and music video is pretty cool, and hella 90s, check it out… 

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Whether you love her or hate her, you have to admit Taylor Swift's latest hit "Shake it Off" has an undeniable danceability factor. Even these '80s and '90s sitcom stars can't resist the catchy beat. Watch everyone from the Huxtables to the Fresh Prince to the Saved by the Bell gang rock out and "shake it off".

[comediva]

Yep, pumpkin spice is pretty much like eggnog for morning people. I don’t know about you, but I can’t stand the stuff, and as with most artificially flavored food and drinks, it’s almost always over sugared.

[Last Week Tonight with John Oliver | Via]

Microsoft's attempt to make its Surface Pro 3 tablets an integral part of the NFL suffered another hiccup this week when Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler was asked about using the devices.

According to Jon Greenberg of ESPN.com, while discussing the Bears win over the Atlanta Falcons, Cutler referred to the Surface tablets as "knockoff iPads" despite the immense amount of Surface branding seen on NFL sidelines.

Greenberg went on to clarify that Cutler, the highest-paid player in the NFL, did say the Surface tablets "work great" but that he just didn't know what they were called or who made them.

After paying the NFL $400 million to make the Surface tablet "The Official Tablet of the NFL," Microsoft ran into a similar problem with network announcers who had trouble identifying the new technology. However, after some coaching from Microsoft, that problem has apparently been corrected.

As for Cutler and other players, if only there was a way for Microsoft to make it clear on the sideline what the tablets are called and who makes them. Oh wait...

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