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Near the start of the 20th century, physicists discovered many different kinds of rays: cathode rays, alpha rays, beta rays, proton beams, neutron radiation, x-rays, gamma rays, etc. The first five are actually particle beams. Cathode and beta rays are electrons, proton beams are hydrogen nuclei, and alpha rays are helium nuclei. Physics terminology can be confusing. You may think of “radiation” as massless energy—radio waves, infrared heat, light waves, x-rays, gamma rays,

Cold fusion became a hot topic in 1989. Two Utah scientists, Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons, announced results of an experiment in which they passed a current through deuterium oxide (heavy water). Water molecules split, and positively charged deuterium ions migrated to a negative electrode made of palladium metal. Some deuterium fused, generating excess heat. Such cold fusion reactions do not conform to our current understanding of nuclear physics. The papers published

Most historians credit a 1934 experiment by Mark Oliphant in Ernest Rutherford’s laboratory at Cambridge as the first demonstration of nuclear fusion. Oliphant used an ion-acceleration apparatus to shoot a beam of deuterium nuclei into targets that also contained this “heavy” form of hydrogen. Deuterium (2H1) nuclei have both a proton and neutron, with twice the mass of ordinary hydrogen nuclei with only a proton (1H1). Oliphant’s experiment is described in "Transmutation Ef

It has been said that Ernest Rutherford “is to the atom what Darwin is to evolution, Newton to mechanics, Faraday to electricity and Einstein to relativity.” Born in rural New Zealand in 1871, Rutherford studied there, and then at Cambridge University in England, before taking a professorship at McGill University in Montreal Working at McGill during 1902 and 1903, Rutherford and his colleague Frederick Soddy wrote two landmark papers proposing that radioactive decay involve

A key premise of my book, “The Sun Within,” is that cells derive energy from nuclear reactions similar to those in stars. In stars, the fusion of lighter elements into heavier elements provides energy. Fusion occurs under conditions of intense heat and pressure in a star’s core. There, electrons are stripped away from the atomic nuclei. This creates a plasma—a sea of electrons in which are found fully ionized, bare atomic nuclei. These nuclei have strong positive charges owi

In physics, one joule, the standard measure of energy, is roughly what you need to lift up an apple up one meter against the force of gravity. Power is how fast energy is produced or consumed. One watt, the standard measure of power, represents the use of one joule in a second. A megawatt is a million watts. Canada could try to be an energy superpower, producing and consuming as much energy as possible, as quickly as possible. But why? This is like picking up the apple, pu

Nuclear reactions in the Sun are powerful sources of electromagnetic radiation. The Sun emits infrared radiation, visible light, ultraviolet rays, and even more powerful X-rays and gamma rays. Most of this radiation is filtered out by the atmosphere. What passes through—visible light—drives photosynthesis. Virtually no gamma radiation reaches the Earth’s surface from space. However, rocks containing uranium and thorium emit gamma rays. Although uranium and thorium decay pr

I turn 75 next month, and I’ve just published my first book, on atomic energy and life. I discuss these topics separately and, more importantly, the intersection between the two. When we eat a green plant we are taking in solar energy produced by nuclear fusion reactions in the Sun’s interior—hence the book title, “The Sun Within.” But if I’m right, and I’m pretty sure I am, there are nuclear reactions within us and other living organisms that are somewhat like those found i