Texas company create tiny particle accelerators for people to buy
VIDEO
WORLD 27 September 2022 - 02:00
A new plasma accelerator the size of a few shipping containers instead of a city has been developed by a private Texas-based company.
TAU Systems, based in Austin, has developed a prototype miniature plasma accelerator that could allow particle accelerator technology to be accessible for any institution who needs it, Newsweek reports.
According to TAU, this would allow the creation of custom medicines, break down microplastics and even eliminate nuclear waste.
"It has the potential to basically revolutionize the way we do, for example, biomolecular chemistry stuff," Bjorn Manuel Hegelich, the founder and CEO of TAU, told. "From vaccines, new drugs, new crops, garbage, plastic eating bacteria, [this technology has] all kinds of applications."
Particle accelerators generally use electromagnetic fields to propel charged particles to very high speeds and energies for use in research. The largest accelerator currently operating is the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Switzerland, operated by CERN, which accelerates two beams of protons and collides them head-on.
This compact accelerator generates powerful X-rays by using intense lasers to accelerate elementary particles to close to the speed of light, however, instead of around in a circle as seen at the LHC, this compact machine does it in a straight line.
"We're basically taking a normal particle accelerator, which is the size of a campus, right, but now with our technology we can fit it into a room," Hegelich said.
"I mean, it's still going to be a big machine as far as machines go. But it's going to be tens of meters instead of kilometers, and it's gonna be tens of millions of dollars instead of billions. So it becomes much more accessible to a much broader range of institutions and companies. And so thereby, we can have a lot more people access to these or other incredible tools and help them use them."
The LHC measures around 17 miles in circumference. TAU's accelerators, in contrast, are expected to measure no longer than a few shipping containers.
"CERN accelerates protons and antiprotons, while the machines that we are looking at, at least to start with, we're going to be concentrating on electrons," Hegelich said.
"What limits you in a conventional particle accelerator is that you need to build it out of something: you build the accelerating structure out of metal, and then you put an electric field on that metal structure and the electric field is what accelerates the particles. Now you can only make that field so strong: at a certain point, it will be so strong that it now starts to damage your accelerator structure and will start damaging the metal. We're using a plasma.
"A plasma is when you rip all the electrons off the atoms: once you've done that, there's really nothing else you can do to damage it more than that. So the laser generates a tremendously strong electric field. And that means we can make the distance over which we accelerate much smaller."
These X-rays allow researchers to look into systems on a molecular level, allowing for the analysis of proteins and new medicines.
"You can hit your protein with very bright X-rays, and the X-rays will actually destroy the protein. Before it destroys the protein, you get all the information about the structure, and you can measure that," Hegelich said. "With an X-ray free electron laser, you can now enter proteins that you cannot usually measure."
TAU hopes that this compact accelerator will make this kind of analysis more accessible to the scientific community.
The accelerators currently can only accelerate electrons to the kind of speeds needed for this application. However, TAU hopes to eventually be able to accelerate protons, which requires more power, but could enable them to be used to safely dispose of nuclear waste.
Currently, the heavy elements produced by nuclear fission reactions in nuclear power plants are disposed of via being placed in canisters which are then placed in tunnels and sealed with rocks and clay. This nuclear waste is composed mostly of uranium, but also other radioactive elements like long-lived isotopes of technetium, neptunium and plutonium.
By bombarding these heavy atoms with protons, you can change one element into another.
"You can transmute it to a different element so you could take a long lived nuclear waste isotope and transmute it, change it into a short lived one," Hegelich said.
"The physics of that is pretty clear. We've been doing this for decades at an accelerator, it's just there's no doubt that that can be done, this is being done in nuclear physics experiments all the time."
However, this would only be viable if the amount of energy used to get rid of the waste was less than what was generated in producing the waste, via the nuclear fission reaction.
Hegelich expects that each accelerator will cost around $10 million to $20 million each, eventually getting cheaper with time and development.
"The first one will probably be like every prototype first one's more expensive. But once you get started making many of them, I think sort of the low $10 to $20 million range depending on the size. And there we will be maybe even below the $10 million range. So a few million dollar range for just X-ray imaging of say, 3D printed parts, metal parts, and so on."
For now, TAU say that their greatest challenge is finding qualified people to work in this nascent field.
"It's still it's relatively new field and we're competing for people with the largest and most renowned academic institutions in the world."
Caliber.Az
1
|
20 points. What did Armenia, the EU and the US agree on in Brussels? Sensational details on Caliber.Az
17 April 2024 - 11:01
|
2
|
Iran seeks international backing following missile strikes on Israel Raisi calls Russia & Qatari leaders amid tension
17 April 2024 - 16:56
|
3
|
Serbian President seeks Azerbaijani support amid Western pressures Insights from Political Scientist Stevan Gajić
17 April 2024 - 13:10
|
4
|
French ambassador recalled from Azerbaijan amidst bilateral strain Macron admits defeat
17 April 2024 - 15:19
|
5
|
Is Ukraine on the edge? Big vulnerabilities
17 April 2024 - 16:13
|
Iran-EU trade reaches €380m in January 2024
20 April 2024 - 17:43
No damages as MAVs downed in Iran: FM
20 April 2024 - 17:27
Azerbaijani, Caucasus, Central Asian central bank governors explore prospects for partnership
20 April 2024 - 17:27
Turkish Foreign Ministry on Azerbaijan-Armenia deal
20 April 2024 - 17:09
Berlin climate dialogue to discuss Azerbaijan's COP29 preparations
20 April 2024 - 16:49
Triumph of sovereignty: Azerbaijan's quiet victory in the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers
Has & Verdiyan on Caliber.Az20 April 2024 - 16:30
Armenia's anti-corruption efforts under scrutiny
GRECO report highlights gaps20 April 2024 - 16:21
Azerbaijani foreign minister meets outgoing Iranian ambassador
Affirms strengthening bilateral ties20 April 2024 - 16:12
Türkiye ‘neutralizes’ 5 PKK/YPG terrorists in northern Syria
20 April 2024 - 15:55
IMF affirms readiness to support Azerbaijan in hosting COP29
20 April 2024 - 15:37
Ukrainian parliamentary delegation to visit Azerbaijan
20 April 2024 - 15:19
Armenia, Azerbaijan reach historic agreement at negotiating table
Prime Minister says20 April 2024 - 15:09
NATO trying to push Russia out of South Caucasus - analyst
20 April 2024 - 14:50
Azerbaijan, World Bank keen to cooperate on green transition
20 April 2024 - 14:31
Armenian PM announces withdrawal of Russian border guards from Tavush
20 April 2024 - 14:23
Athens conf highlights destruction by Armenia of cemeteries in Azerbaijani territories
20 April 2024 - 14:13
Media resources of Armenia, several other countries spread fakes
Statement by Azerbaijan Media Development Agency20 April 2024 - 14:05
Israeli strike on Iranian air defense radar site limited in scope
20 April 2024 - 13:54
Azerbaijani defense minister meets commanders of Land Forces
PHOTO/VIDEO20 April 2024 - 13:45
Azerbaijan, UN discuss transition to green energy
20 April 2024 - 13:39
Russian analyst: EU mission in Armenia turns into NATO mission
20 April 2024 - 13:23
US House advances $95 billion Ukraine-Israel package toward Saturday vote
20 April 2024 - 13:04
Unveiling Armenia’s motives behind lawsuits at The Hague
From politics to policy20 April 2024 - 12:35
Foes Azerbaijan and Armenia agree 'historic' return of villages
20 April 2024 - 12:28
Police seize cache of weapons & ammunition in Khankendi
Interior Ministry figures20 April 2024 - 12:06
Pro-Armenian senator urges US to cut military aid to Azerbaijan
French MP questions US diplomatic response20 April 2024 - 11:47
Azerbaijan engages with IEA to forge energy efficiency roadmap
20 April 2024 - 11:28
Ukraine targets Russia’s seven regions in drone attacks
20 April 2024 - 11:09
Explosion hits military base in Iraq's Babil
20 April 2024 - 10:49
Armenian PM shares insights on Brussels meeting with party members
20 April 2024 - 10:35
UN chief urges Baku, Yerevan to resolve outstanding issues
To normalize relations20 April 2024 - 10:21
US hails return of four villages of Gazakh district
20 April 2024 - 10:00
Western Azerbaijani Community condemns G7 for discrimination in refugee rights call
20 April 2024 - 09:49
Azerbaijan’s Gazakh District hails liberation of villages with joyful demo
PHOTO20 April 2024 - 09:37
EU endorses Azerbaijani-Armenian negotiations, backs delimitation process
20 April 2024 - 09:31
Azerbaijan showcases diplomatic valor by hosting COP29
20 April 2024 - 09:13
Ethiopia opens door for prized coffee exports to foreigners
20 April 2024 - 09:02
Saudi Arabia's $500 billion Neom megacity reportedly seeking new sources of cash
20 April 2024 - 07:03
Ukraine’s frontline is collapsing – and Britain may soon be at war
20 April 2024 - 05:04
Can TikTok's owner afford to lose its killer app?
20 April 2024 - 03:05