Fission vs. fusion: What's the difference?

Fission involves splitting atoms; fusion is about combining them.

By Adam Mann - Live Science Contributor 4 days ago

Computer generated artistic impression of fission. (Image credit: Getty Images)

Fission and fusion are both natural atomic processes that release incredible amounts of energy, but in many ways, they are opposites. Fission involves the splitting of a single, generally heavy, atomic nucleus, whereas fusion requires the combining of two or more light atoms.

Atoms include protons and neutrons bound together in a central nucleus. Radioactive elements, like uranium, may contain dozens of these particles in their atomic hearts.

Fission occurs when heavy elements such as uranium spontaneously decay, which causes their nuclei to split. Each of the resulting halves has slightly less mass than the original atomic core, and the missing mass is converted to energy.

Physicists Lise Meitner and Otto Frisch discovered the principles underlying fission after receiving a private letter from nuclear chemist Otto Hahn in December 1938. Hahn's experiments showed that uranium atoms that were bombarded with neutrons would split, and Meitner and Frisch used the new science of quantum mechanics to explain why this happened.

All three scientists soon realized the terrible implications of their discovery, which was happening under the shadow of World War II. A single instance of fission might release a relatively small amount of power, but many fission reactions happening at the same time had the potential to be quite destructive if used to develop something like an atomic bomb.

NUCLEAR FISSION FOR ENERGY AND WEAPONS


When a uranium atom naturally goes through fission, it releases a neutron that will careen around. If this neutron hits other nearby uranium atoms, they will also split, creating a cascading chain reaction. In 1951, engineers built the first power plant harnessing the process of nuclear fission to produce energy, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

In a nuclear power plant, this process is carefully controlled. Fission releases heat, which boils water and generates steam that spins a turbine.

But in an atomic bomb, the cascading chain reaction spirals out of control, with fission happening at an ever-increasing rate. This releases a tremendous amount of power in a short span, generating the devastating blast of the bomb.

WHY FUSION DOESN'T PRODUCE ENERGY, YET

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor's plasma core is halfway done. This is the tokamak complex, which will house plasma that is 10 times hotter than the sun, once it is complete. (Image credit: ITER)

Fusion, by contrast, has yet to be fully developed as a human power source. In nuclear fusion, two nuclei of a light element, such as hydrogen, must overcome their natural electromagnetic repulsion and merge into a single, heavier nucleus.

The resulting entity is slightly less massive than the original two nuclei, and just like with fission, this missing mass is converted into energy. But generating enough power to smash atoms together until they stick is not easy and generally requires the extreme environment of a star's belly to happen.

Engineers have long dreamed of making sustained fusion reactions here on Earth. Fusion power would produce less nuclear waste than fission and uses relatively common light elements, such as hydrogen — rather than rarer uranium — as a fuel supply, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

But creating and sustaining fusion is difficult. An international experiment to test the feasibility of using sustained nuclear fusion to produce energy has built a magnet that's as tall as a four-story building and 280,000 times more powerful than Earth's magnetic field, as part of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER).

But ITER, a scientific partnership among 35 countries, has suffered numerous delays during its construction and isn't expected to generate more power than it consumes until at least the 2030s.

 
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Check out this helpful table that lists the difference between fission and fusion, from Chemistry LibreTexts.

 
Watch this video from the U.S. Department of Energy summarizing how fission and fusion work.

 
Learn more about the ITER experiment on the project's website.

Related: 6 years after Fukushima: Has Japan lost faith in nuclear power?

Related: Nuclear fusion reactor could be here as soon as 2025

JUMP TO:

Nuclear fission for energy and weapons

Why fusion doesn't produce energy, yet

Adam Mann is a journalist specializing in astronomy and physics stories. He has a bachelor's degree in astrophysics from UC Berkeley. His work has appeared in the New Yorker, New York Times, National Geographic, Wall Street Journal, Wired, Nature, Science, and many other places. He lives in Oakland, California, where he enjoys riding his bike. Follow him on Twitter @adamspacemann.

Ocasio-Cortez Urges Biden Not to Send US Troops to Haiti

The New York Democrat said the Biden administration should support efforts to bring to justice "any actors that may have been complicit on U.S. soil."


Soldiers guard the Dajabon border crossing between the Dominican Republic and Haiti after the borders were closed due to the assassination of the Haitian president on July 7, 2021. (Photo: Erika Santelices/AFP via Getty Images)


JAKE JOHNSON

July 12, 2021

U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Monday morning that the Biden administration should resist calls to deploy American troops to Haiti in the wake of the assassination of the Caribbean nation's president last week, warning that such a move would risk deepening the country's political crisis.

"I do not believe right now that the introduction of U.S. troops, particularly without any sort of plan, sets any community —whether it's the U.S. or whether it's Haitians—up for success," the New York Democrat said in an appearance on Democracy Now! "Our role should be in supporting a peaceful transition and a peaceful democratic process for selecting a new leader and avoiding any sort of violence."

Ocasio-Cortez went on to say that the Biden administration should support efforts to bring to justice "any actors that may have been complicit [in the assassination] on U.S. soil."

Watch:


The New York congresswoman's remarks came hours after Haitian authorities announced the arrest of a Haitian-born, Florida-based doctor who allegedly helped mastermind the killing of President Jovenel Moïse in his home last week.

Christian Emmanuel Sanon—a 63-year-old man who has been living in Florida periodically for two decades and has more than a dozen businesses registered in the state—is the third Haitian-American who has been arrested in connection with the assassination. In total, more than two dozen people have been detained for taking part in the killing, including 11 former members of the U.S.-backed Colombian military.

According to Haitian authorities, Sanon worked with a Miami-based private security firm to hire the mercenaries who gunned down Moïse in the dead of night. Video footage from the scene shows armed assailants posing as officials from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency as they moved in on Moïse's private residence in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Following the assassination, Acting Prime Minister Claude Joseph asked the Biden administration to send U.S. troops to Haiti with the ostensible goal of protecting the country's key infrastructure, prompting outcry from Haitians and observers familiar with the bloody history of U.S. intervention in the Caribbean nation.

While the Biden administration has yet to grant the troop request, the U.S. did send officials from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security to Haiti over the weekend to—in the words of Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby—"see what we can do to help them in the investigative process."

"I think that's really where our energies are best applied right now in helping them get their arms around investigating this incident and figuring out who's culpable, who's responsible, and how best to hold them accountable going forward," Kirby said in a Fox News appearance on Sunday. "That's where our focus is right now."

Kirby added that Joseph's call for U.S. troops is "going through a review."

Progressives Call on Biden to Lift U.S. Embargo on Cuba as Thousands Protest Critical Shortages

"The truth is that if one wanted to help Cuba, the first thing that should be done is to suspend the blockade of Cuba as the majority of countries in the world are asking," said Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.


In Minneapolis, Minnesota in March 2021, protesters demand that the Biden administration take immediate action to reverse the economic sanctions imposed by former President Donald Trump on Cuba. (Photo by: Michael Siluk/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)


JULIA CONLEY

July 12, 2021

Progressives in the U.S. and around the world on Monday demanded the Biden administration lift the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba and hundreds of sanctions on the country after thousands of Cubans protested the country's economic crisis, which has been worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The protests in Havana and several smaller cities and towns made headlines Sunday, with major international outlets reporting on Cubans taking to the streets to express outrage over food and medicine shortages.


"Biden’s Cuba policies, just like Trump’s, are causing misery and could lead to chaos, violence, mass migration. This must stop!" —Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK

Demonstrators chanted, "Enough!" and "Freedom!" while one person told the Associated Press, "We are fed up with the queues, the shortages."

As The Economist reported earlier this month, food exports from the U.S. to Cuba, which imports about 70% of its food and relies heavily goods exported from the U.S., recently reached their lowest level since 2002.

Last month, The Intercept reported that the decades-long U.S. trade embargo against Cuba as well as sanctions imposed by the Trump administration and kept in place by President Joe Biden has kept Cuba from accessing "critical foreign-made medical supplies to treat its own population" during the pandemic, even as Cuba sent more than 2,000 medical professionals to help fight the global crisis in other countries.

According to The Intercept, large shipments of ventilators, masks, and syringes have been unable to reach Cuba since the pandemic began due to companies' financial ties to the United States.

Days before leaving office, former President Donald Trump designated Cuba as one of four state sponsors of international terrorism, along with North Korea, Iran, and Syria. The Biden administration has not lifted the designation, which "restricts Cuba's access to international financing as its economy emerges from a massive recession, having slid 11 percent in 2020," The Intercept reported.

While much of the international reporting on Cuba's protests over the weekend focused on anti-government sentiment on the island, activists including Medea Benjamin of CODEPINK said the clear solution to Cubans' economic woes lies in U.S. government policy changes.

"Biden’s Cuba policies, just like Trump’s, are causing misery and could lead to chaos, violence, mass migration," said Benjamin. "This must stop!"

The Trump administration barred most travel from the U.S. to Cuba and banned people in the U.S. from sending remittances to their relatives in the island nation, cutting off a major source of income for many—a policy that has yet to be lifted by Biden.

Last month, the U.S. delegation to the United Nations General Assembly was joined only by Israel in voting against a resolution to condemn the six-decade trade embargo imposed by the U.S. on Cuba; 184 countries voted for the resolution, which has passed every year for nearly three decades.

"Biden hasn't shown himself to be any different from Trump," Cuban journalist Laura Prado told CBS News after the U.N. vote. "What's needed is action and deeds."

Biden's State Department released a statement Sunday expressing support for the Cubans who were protesting, framing the issue as promoting the "right to peaceful assembly to express concern about rising Covid cases/deaths and medicine shortages."

"The U.S. has had no problem starving Cuba with a decades-long embargo that the entire world (minus Israel) condemns," said Assal Rad, a senior research fellow at NIAC Action. "If we care about Cubans, lift the embargo."

Others, including Miami's Democratic Socialists of America chapter and Progressive International, echoed the calls made by Rad and Benjamin, with Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) tweeting about the issue on Monday.

"The truth is that if one wanted to help Cuba, the first thing that should be done is to suspend the blockade of Cuba as the majority of countries in the world are asking," Mexico's leftist president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said Monday. "That would be a truly humanitarian gesture. No country in the world should be fenced in, blockaded."

David Adler, general coordinator for Progressive International, noted that the corporate U.S. media reported on Sunday's protests as though the embargo has little connection to Cubans' suffering. The blockade has barred U.S. trade with Cuba since 1962 and has cost the island an estimated $130 billion according to Cuban officials and the United Nations.

"So do reporters just not know that there's been a decades-long U.S.-led embargo targeting Cuba," asked Evan Greer, director of digital rights group Fight for the Future, "or they just don't think it's relevant to reporting on protests about food and medicine shortages?"
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Bernie Sanders Adds Voice to Supporters of Cook County Strike

One SEIU Local 73 strike leader said the 18-day action "is about basic dignity and respect for workers who have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic and before."


Striking SEIU Local 73 member Shadonna Davis speaks at a vigil for workers who died of Covid-19 in Chicago on July 9, 2021. (Photo: SEIU Local 73)


BRETT WILKINS

July 12, 2021


In a show of solidarity with thousands of Cook County, Illinois employees on strike over stalled contract negotiations, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders this weekend admonished county officials for failing to agree to a fair deal for workers who have risked and sacrificed so much—including their lives—during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

"I watched those close to me get sick and die. All we are asking for as Cook County workers is what we are due."
—Shadonna Davis,
SEIU Local 73

Over 2,000 members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 73 employed by Cook County—which includes the city of Chicago and over 100 of its suburbs—are in their third week of striking over contract negotiations. Strikers continued picketing on Monday, their 18th day of action.

SEIU Local 73, which represents custodians, technicians, and administrative assistants, is demanding better pay and advancement opportunities. Members say that Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle—whose failed 2019 mayoral candidacy received seven-figure financial support from the union—does not recognize the sacrifices they've made during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

In a tweet on Saturday, Sanders (I-Vt.) said it was "outrageous" that Cook County received $1 billion from the American Rescue Plan—the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief and economic stimulus package signed into law by President Joe Biden in March—"but still refuses to negotiate a fair deal for workers."


Sanders also supported the 2019 Chicago Teachers Union strike and traveled to the city to stand with the educators during their 11-day work stoppage.

SEIU Local 73 says that in addition to Sanders, U.S. Rep. Marie Newman (D-Ill.) and numerous state, county, and local officials have shown solidarity with the strikers. One of them, Chicago City Alderwoman Maria Hadden, told strikers during a Friday demonstration in Maywood that "you all are the lifeblood of making sure our county works."

"The work that you do is so essential," said Hadden, "and if we've learned anything over the pandemic, it's that we need you!"

Unions, progressive organizations, and faith groups are also among those who have expressed support for the strike. In a letter (pdf) to Preckwinkle, 27 faith leaders wrote:


As the spiritual leaders of Cook County, we are calling on you to settle the contract with the Cook County workers represented by SEIU Local 73. These essential workers have kept our county running during the pandemic. They have put their lives on the line to provide the vital services our people depend on.

Asking for the same raise that the county provided other unions... is only fair and just. These are our neighbors, our family, and our friends. We are asking you to look into your heart and do the right thing. Send your negotiating team back to the bargaining table and settle this contract with the workers.

NBC Chicago reports the county workers' strike, which is the longest in SEIU Local 73's history, began after nine months of failed negotiations over a new contract. The union rejected the county's offer of an 8.5% pay hike over the next four years, explaining that it was a smaller increase than offered to other unions.

SEIU Local 73 leaders decried what they said is a lack of incentives for long-term workers and raises for the county's poorest-paid workers, including custodians and housekeepers. They are also demanding raises to help pay for health insurance premium increases.

A county spokesperson told WBEZ that wage and healthcare offers to SEIU workers are "identical" to those in deals reached with four other unions last month. A statement from Preckwinkle's office said the county "is proud to have a history of strong relationships with the labor unions that represent our workforce."

"The work that you do is so essential, and if we've learned anything over the pandemic, it's that we need you!"
—Chicago Alderwoman
Maria Hadden

However, Ericka White, a union steward and negotiating team member for SEIU Local 73 who works in Cook County's procurement office, told Jacobin that the contract negotiations are "about basic dignity and respect for workers who have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic and before."

"Cook County government never closed down during the pandemic," said White. "The people using the services of Cook County are the least of us—we couldn't shut down the hospitals, we couldn't shut down the jails, we couldn't shut down the corporate offices. We didn't have that luxury."

"We've always worked hard, and we should not be pushed aside like we're insignificant," she said. "We provide a service for Cook County government, and we're determined to not let that be forgotten. The main thing we're fighting for is our healthcare coverage. The county is proposing increasing our healthcare premiums over the life of our four-year contract by almost 80%."

White continued:


A great many of our coworkers, especially those in the clinics and jails, have contracted the virus. Some not once but twice. We have employees who have passed away due to Covid while doing their jobs. We are a county health system, so we don't turn anybody away. We had whole floors at the hospital that were Covid floors, and our members were the ones working them. For parts of it, they didn't even have PPE [personal protective equipment].

Sylvia Kizer, a 60-year-old county housekeeper of nearly 30 years, is one of the workers who has twice contracted the coronavirus.

"I caught it in December 2020 and then again in March 2021," Kizer told the Austin Weekly News, a community news site covering Chicago's West Side. "I know I caught Covid on the job. I have to ask for personal protection equipment and I work with biohazards. I've worked in areas where we're not informed that the patient has Covid."

"It's a lack of respect, a lack of dignity, a lack of necessity," said Kizer. "They don't see us as grown people and they don't see us as human beings."

Speaking at a Friday candlelit vigil for workers who have died of Covid-19, SEIU Local 73 member Shadonna Davis, who contracted the virus, said, "I watched those close to me get sick and die."

She added: "All we are asking for as Cook County workers is what we are due."
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ACCELERATIONISM

'Time for Incrementalism Is Over,' Says Climate Movement as Extreme Weather Hits US

"Buildings are collapsing into the sea. Infrastructure is melting. Hundreds are dying from extreme heat. Millions are without power. The ocean is literally on fire. The climate crisis is here."


Trees burning as the Beckwourth Complex Fire approaches Highway 395 in California. (Photo: Ty ONeil/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

JESSICA CORBETT

July 12, 2021

With hundreds of thousands of acres burning across swaths of the U.S. West that have already endured record-breaking heat this summer—and mounting concerns about the GOP and centrist Democrats watering down federal infrastructure legislation—the climate movement on Monday reiterated demands for ambitious government action and investment

Progressives that called President Joe Biden's initial physical and human infrastructure proposal, the American Jobs and Families Plans, inadequate have ramped up their criticism in the wake of a bipartisan deal Democrats want to pass alongside a reconciliation bill, a flooded New York City subway system, a collapsed condo in Florida, a pipeline-related fire in the Gulf of Mexico, and a firenado in California.

"Buildings are collapsing into the sea. Infrastructure is melting. Hundreds are dying from extreme heat. Millions are without power. The ocean is literally on fire. The climate crisis is here," said Ellen Sciales, communications director of the youth-led Sunrise Movement, in a statement Monday.

"And yet, some Democratic politicians like Joe Biden are still pushing for a compromise on climate under the guise of 'bipartisanship'—though it's actually just doing the bidding of Exxon lobbyists," she added, pointing to an exposé that provided insight on the company's lobbying efforts targeting key senators who are working on the infrastructure package.

Sciales highlighted that the movement's demands aren't just focused on infrastructure legislation; activists also want the president to use his executive power to deliver on his broad campaign promises to combat the climate emergency.

"Communities in every corner of this country, especially low-income communities and communities of color, are currently bracing for or suffering from the climate crisis. It is clear we need bold action now," she said. "And despite these deadly climate disasters and videos of the Gulf of Mexico literally on fire after a pipeline leak, Biden is still refusing to stop Line 3, which will further endanger our air, our water and lock us into more fossil fuel development."

The Sunrise leader declared that "this 'unprecedented' weather must serve as a wake-up call for our politicians. The time for incrementalism is over. We need to call the 'bipartisan' infrastructure plan what it is: the ExxonMobil Plan."

"Politicians must stop entertaining a weak, fossil fuel-backed plan," Sciales said, "and instead seize on this historic opportunity to avert the climate crisis by investing in a mass mobilization of our society and economy, rebuilding the infrastructure we lost to the crisis and protecting the lives of millions of Americans."

"If Biden and Democrats do not pass and sign trillions of dollars in climate investments including a massive Civilian Climate Corps through a Democratic reconciliation bill," she warned, "it will be a death sentence for our generation."

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said Monday on DemocracyNow! that progressive lawmakers are "united" in opposing "bipartisan legislation without a reconciliation bill, and one that takes bold and large action on climate" by cutting down planet-heating emissions, helping frontline communities, and creating jobs.

Ocasio-Cortez is leading the congressional fight for a Civilian Climate Corps (CCC) with fellow Green New Deal champion Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.)—an effort Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) notably endorsed last week, pledging to work with Sunrise activists.

The chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Rep. Pramila Japayal (D-Wash.), has also affirmed her position in recent days, tweeting that "it's time to go big, bold, and fast on an infrastructure package that not only fixes our roads, bridges, and transit systems—but also invests in the care economy, climate action, and working families."

Jayapal, whose state is among those suffering from wildfires and record heat, pointed out Monday that the triple-digit temperatures in another western state—California—endanger a significant portion of the United States' food supply, and repeated her call for climate action.

Axios reported Monday that "wildfires were burning across more than 768,000 acres of land in 12 western U.S. states, and over 500,000 acres in Canada on Sunday amid another searing heatwave."

The Bootleg Fire in southern Oregon—which nearly doubled in size from Saturday to Sunday—has now been burning for six days straight, scorching over 150,000 acres.

According to the New York Times:

Charles Smith, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Medford, Oregon, said the fire was especially worrying because Oregon's fire season had only just begun.

"There's concern because of how early this is starting, and how far it has grown within a relatively short amount of time," he said.

The Oregon fire has put pressure on the power grid that connects to neighboring California, leading Golden State officials to urge residents and businesses to conserve electricity on Monday.

In the Mojave Desert, California's Death Valley recorded temperatures of a potentially record-setting 130°F on Friday and 129.4°F degrees on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service's preliminary figures.

Experts continue to emphasize humanity's impact on climate, and how that affects wildfires.

"The exceptional fire weather this year and in recent years does not represent random bad luck," Jacob Bendix, a Syracuse University professor who specializes in wildfire distribution, told the Los Angeles Times. "It is among the results of our adding carbon to the atmosphere—results that were predictable, and indeed that have been predicted for decades."

Craig Clements, a professor of meteorology and director of the Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center at San Jose State, echoed that message.

"Climate change is real, it's bad, and it's really affecting our fire weather and our fire danger," he told the newspaper. "Its fingerprints are all over this stuff."

 

The hidden culprit killing lithium-metal batteries from the inside

First-of-their-kind snapshots reveal byproduct crippling powerful, experimental cells

DOE/SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES

Research News

IMAGE: IN THIS NEW, FALSE-COLOR IMAGE OF A LITHIUM-METAL TEST BATTERY PRODUCED BY SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES, HIGH-RATE CHARGING AND RECHARGING RED LITHIUM METAL GREATLY DISTORTS THE GREEN SEPARATOR, CREATING TAN REACTION... view more 

CREDIT: KATIE JUNGJOHANN, SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- For decades, scientists have tried to make reliable lithium-metal batteries. These high-performance storage cells hold 50% more energy than their prolific, lithium-ion cousins, but higher failure rates and safety problems like fires and explosions have crippled commercialization efforts. Researchers have hypothesized why the devices fail, but direct evidence has been sparse.

Now, the first nanoscale images ever taken inside intact, lithium-metal coin batteries (also called button cells or watch batteries) challenge prevailing theories and could help make future high-performance batteries, such as for electric vehicles, safer, more powerful and longer lasting.

"We're learning that we should be using separator materials tuned for lithium metal," said battery scientist Katie Harrison, who leads Sandia National Laboratories' team for improving the performance of lithium-metal batteries.

Sandia scientists, in collaboration with Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the University of Oregon and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, published the images recently in ACS Energy Letters. The research was funded by Sandia's Laboratory Directed Research and Development program and the Department of Energy.

Internal byproduct builds up, kills batteries

The team repeatedly charged and discharged lithium coin cells with the same high-intensity electric current that electric vehicles need to charge. Some cells went through a few cycles, while others went through more than a hundred cycles. Then, the cells were shipped to Thermo Fisher Scientific in Hillsboro, Oregon, for analysis.

When the team reviewed images of the batteries' insides, they expected to find needle-shaped deposits of lithium spanning the battery. Most battery researchers think that a lithium spike forms after repetitive cycling and that it punches through a plastic separator between the anode and the cathode, forming a bridge that causes a short. But lithium is a soft metal, so scientists have not understood how it could get through the separator.

Harrison's team found a surprising second culprit: a hard buildup formed as a byproduct of the battery's internal chemical reactions. Every time the battery recharged, the byproduct, called solid electrolyte interphase, grew. Capping the lithium, it tore holes in the separator, creating openings for metal deposits to spread and form a short. Together, the lithium deposits and the byproduct were much more destructive than previously believed, acting less like a needle and more like a snowplow.

"The separator is completely shredded," Harrison said, adding that this mechanism has only been observed under fast charging rates needed for electric vehicle technologies, but not slower charging rates.

As Sandia scientists think about how to modify separator materials, Harrison says that further research also will be needed to reduce the formation of byproducts.

Scientists pair lasers with cryogenics to take 'cool' images

Determining cause-of-death for a coin battery is surprisingly difficult. The trouble comes from its stainless-steel casing. The metal shell limits what diagnostics, like X-rays, can see from the outside, while removing parts of the cell for analysis rips apart the battery's layers and distorts whatever evidence might be inside.

"We have different tools that can study different components of a battery, but really we haven't had a tool that can resolve everything in one image," said Katie Jungjohann, a Sandia nanoscale imaging scientist at the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies. The center is a user facility jointly operated by Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories.

She and her collaborators used a microscope that has a laser to mill through a battery's outer casing. They paired it with a sample holder that keeps the cell's liquid electrolyte frozen at temperatures between minus 148 and minus 184 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 100 and minus 120 degrees Celsius, respectively). The laser creates an opening just large enough for a narrow electron beam to enter and bounce back onto a detector, delivering a high-resolution image of the battery's internal cross section with enough detail to distinguish the different materials.

The original demonstration instrument, which was the only such tool in the United States at the time, was built and still resides at a Thermo Fisher Scientific laboratory in Oregon. An updated duplicate now resides at Sandia. The tool will be used broadly across Sandia to help solve many materials and failure-analysis problems.

"This is what battery researchers have always wanted to see," Jungjohann said.

CAPTION

Sandia National Laboratories scientists Katie Harrison, left, and Katie Jungjohann have pioneered a new way to look inside batteries to learn how and why they fail.

CREDIT

Bret Latter, Sandia National Laboratories

Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration. Sandia Labs has major research and development responsibilities in nuclear deterrence, global security, defense, energy technologies and economic competitiveness, with main facilities in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Livermore, California.

 

Detecting wildlife illness and death with new early alert system

Network of wildlife rehabilitation organizations helps track emerging threats

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - DAVIS

Research News

IMAGE: WILDLIFE REHABILITATION SPECIALISTS FROM UC DAVIS OILED WILDLIFE CARE NETWORK AND INTERNATIONAL BIRD RESCUE TREAT A COMMON MURRE AT THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY OILED WILDLIFE CARE AND EDUCATION CENTER IN... view more 

CREDIT: GREGORY URQUIAGA/UC DAVIS

From domoic acid poisoning in seabirds to canine distemper in raccoons, wildlife face a variety of threats and illnesses. Some of those same diseases make their way to humans and domestic animals in our increasingly shared environment.

A new early detection surveillance system for wildlife helps identify unusual patterns of illness and death in near real-time by tapping into data from wildlife rehabilitation organizations across California. This system has the potential to expand nationally and globally. It was created by scientists at the University of California Davis' School of Veterinary Medicine with partners at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the nonprofit Wild Neighbors Database Project.

The Wildlife Morbidity and Mortality Event Alert System is described in a study published today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

"Human-induced disturbances are contributing to a wide range of threats -- habitat loss, invasive species introductions, pollution, disease, wildfires," said co-lead author Terra Kelly, a wildlife epidemiologist at the UC Davis One Health Institute and its Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center within the School of Veterinary Medicine. "It speaks to the need for a system like this where we can better understand the threats facing wildlife populations and respond to them in a timely way so there's less harm to wildlife."

FRONT-LINE RESPONDERS FOR WILDLIFE

Wildlife rehabilitation workers are the front-line responders of the free-ranging animal world. They are the first to receive and tend to sick and injured wild animals. Their clinical reports carry a wealth of information that, when shared, can indicate broader patterns.

Until recently, such clinical reports were stored primarily on paper or isolated computer files. In 2012, Wild Neighbors Database Project co-founders Devin Dombrowski and Rachel Avilla created the Wildlife Rehabilitation Medical Database, or WRMD, a free online tool now used by more than 950 rehabilitation organizations across 48 states and 19 countries to monitor patient care.

Dombrowski and Avilla brought the tool to CDFW, which connected with long-standing partners at UC Davis to pilot an alert system using the database as its foundation.

"I'm thrilled that WRMD is not only useful for thousands of wildlife rehabilitators but that the data collected by them is used for morbidity and mortality monitoring," co-author Dombrowski said. "To witness the WMME Alert System identifying data anomalies and alerting investigators is incredible."

The CDFW is using the system to help identify and prioritize wildlife needs and conservation efforts.

"The near real-time information this system provides has allowed us to quickly follow up with diagnostic testing to identify the problem," said Krysta Rogers, senior environmental scientist at the CDFW's Wildlife Health Laboratory. "This system also has been instrumental in determining the geographic range and severity of the threat."

CAPTION

Figure 1 from the study indicates locations of cases (small blue dots) in California presenting to wildlife rehabilitation organizations (bigger blue dots) participating in the Wildlife Mortality and Mortality Event Alert System from 2013-2018. Red areas indicate a high kernel density of cases.

CREDIT

UC Davis/Proceedings from the Royal Society B)

HOW IT WORKS

To test the system, the scientists analyzed 220,000 case records collected between early 2013 to late 2018 to establish thresholds for triggering alerts. The dataset included records from 453 different species, from the common to the rare.

The authors emphasize the alert system is pre-diagnostic. It alerts agencies to unusual patterns that may warrant further investigation to determine specific health threats.

The system detected several key events, including large admissions of:

• Marine birds along the central and southern California coast in late spring 2016. Post-mortem examinations confirmed they were starving.
• Marine birds in April 2017. Domoic acid toxicity was later confirmed as the cause of death.
• Invasive Eurasian collared doves in 2016 with encephalitis and kidney disease. Investigations revealed pigeon paramyxovirus-1 as the cause of the event. This was the first detection of the virus emerging in Eurasian collared doves in this region of California.
• Rock pigeons in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2017 with an emerging parasite.
• Finches in 2016 and 2017 with seasonal conjunctivitis due to infection with Mycoplasma bacteria.

HUMAN CONNECTIONS

Kelly notes that being able to monitor and rapidly detect such events is important for all species, humans included. For example, domoic acid intoxication is caused by harmful algal blooms, which are increasing in coastal and freshwater systems and threaten both wildlife and human health. Another example is West Nile virus, where bird deaths can serve as a sensitive indicator for risk to domestic animals and people.

The alert system is a complementary, inexpensive and efficient tool to add to state wildlife agencies' toolbox of surveillance efforts. It combines machine-learning algorithms, natural language processing, and statistical methods used for classifying cases and establishing thresholds for alerts with the ecology and distribution of wildlife within California, said co-leading author Pranav Pandit, a researcher in the UC Davis One Health Institute and its EpiCenter for Disease Dynamics.

"The wildlife rehabilitation organizations' data is making such valuable contributions," Pandit said. "That's all coming together in this highly adaptable surveillance system."

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Additional partners and co-authors on the study include Christine Kreuder Johnson and Michael Ziccardi of UC Davis; Nicole Carion, Stella McMillin, and Deana L. Clifford of the CDFW Wildlife Health Laboratory; Anthony Riberi of web development company Y3TI; and Erica Donnelly-Greenan of Moss Landing Marine Laboratories and the BeachCOMBERS Program.

The study was funded by a State Wildlife Grant from CDFW.

$HOCK THERAPY

Electroconvulsive therapy linked to longer hospital stays, increased costs

PENN STATE

Research News

HERSHEY, Pa. -- Electroconvulsive therapy, which may be effective at lowering long-term risks of suicide and death among patients with certain mood disorders, may result in longer hospital stays and increased health care costs, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers. They said delivering the therapy in outpatient settings may make the treatment more cost-effective.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) -- which involves passing small electric currents through the brain to trigger brief seizures while a patient is under anesthesia -- is seldom utilized in the U.S. due to high costs, low insurance coverage, lack of medical training and long-term side effects. The researchers conducted a study, which published June 5 in Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, examining privately insured adults hospitalized for major depression or bipolar disorder. They found that those who received ECT were hospitalized twice as long and had more than double the total health care costs compared to patients receiving standard care.

"Although ECT is an effective therapy for treatment-resistant depression, its high cost is a deterrent," said author Edeanya Agbese, research project manager in the Department of Public Health Sciences and the Center for Applied Studies in Health Economics. "If this therapy were delivered in an outpatient setting, it's possible that the potential of reduced cost burdens to patients and insurers could increase utilization of ECT in the U.S."

The investigators used a private insurance database to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of ECT compared to standard care. They examined several factors including patient characteristics, length of hospitalization and treatments received. Analyzing the associated costs before, during and after hospitalization, the researchers were able to derive patients' total health care costs during the three periods.

The findings revealed that depending on the number of treatments, those receiving ECT were hospitalized four to 29 days longer and incurred an additional $5,700 to $52,700 more than patients who did not receive this treatment. Furthermore, patients who received ECT continued to have higher health care costs even after hospitalization.

According to the researchers, it may be beneficial and more cost-effective for patients if ECT treatments could be offered in outpatient settings when possible depending on illness severity. Because this study focused on privately insured individuals, it did not explore the financial implications and out-of-pocket expenses for ECT patients without health care insurance or those on Medicare and Medicaid.

Douglas Leslie and Djibril Ba both from the Center for Applied Studies in Health Economics and Penn State College of Medicine; Robert Rosenheck from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine also contributed to this research. The researchers declare no conflicts of interest or specific funding for this research.

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Trust me, I'm a chatbot

Göttingen University researchers investigate effect of non-human conversation partners in customer services

UNIVERSITY OF GÖTTINGEN

Research News

IMAGE: IN THIS RESEARCH STUDY, THE TEST SUBJECTS CHATTED WITH A CHATBOT - BUT ONLY HALF OF THEM KNEW THAT IT WAS A NON-HUMAN CONVERSATION PARTNER. view more 

CREDIT: MOZAFARI

More and more companies are using chatbots in customer services. Due to advances in artificial intelligence and natural language processing, chatbots are often indistinguishable from humans when it comes to communication. But should companies let their customers know that they are communicating with machines and not with humans? Researchers at the University of Göttingen investigated. Their research found that consumers tend to react negatively when they learn that the person they are talking to is, in fact, a chatbot. However, if the chatbot makes mistakes and cannot solve a customer's problem, the disclosure triggers a positive reaction. The results of the study were published in the Journal of Service Management.

Previous studies have shown that consumers have a negative reaction when they learn that they are communicating with chatbots - it seems that consumers are inherently averse to the technology. In two experimental studies, the Göttingen University team investigated whether this is always the case. Each study had 200 participants, each of whom was put into the scenario where they had to contact their energy provider via online chat to update their address on their electricity contract following a move. In the chat, they encountered a chatbot - but only half of them were informed that they were chatting online with a non-human contact. The first study investigated the impact of making this disclosure depending on how important the customer perceives the resolution of their service query to be. In a second study, the team investigated the impact of making this disclosure depending on whether the chatbot was able to resolve the customer's query or not. To investigate the effects, the team used statistical analyses such as covariance and mediation analysis.

The result: most noticeably, if service issues are perceived as particularly important or critical, there is a negative reaction when it is revealed that the conversation partner is a chatbot. This scenario weakens customer trust. Interestingly, however, the results also show that disclosing that the contact was a chatbot leads to positive customer reactions in cases where the chatbot cannot resolve the customer's issue. "If their issue isn't resolved, disclosing that they were talking with a chatbot, makes it easier for the consumer to understand the root cause of the error," says first author Nika Mozafari from the University of Göttingen. "A chatbot is more likely to be forgiven for making a mistake than a human." In this scenario, customer loyalty can even improve.

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Original publication: Mozafari, Nika, Weiger, Welf H. and Hammerschmidt, Maik (2021), "Trust me, I'm a bot - repercussions of chatbot disclosure in different service frontline settings", Journal of Service Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-10-2020-0380