Mayonnaise, often known as ‘mayo’, is a thick, creamy sauce created by combining oil, egg yolks, lemon juice or vinegar, and seasonings such as salt, mustard, and pepper. It can be used as a base for creamy salads and dips, as a meat tenderiser, or even as a hidden ingredient to add moisture and richness to baked goods like cakes and cookies. But did you know, the mayonnaise you spread on your bread can be an important factor in achieving nuclear fusion? It won’t make sense to us when we see mayo and this scientific reaction together in one line, but a team of scientists has shown they are related.
Scientists at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, are investigating the potential of mayonnaise to revolutionise nuclear fusion research. The condiment, famed for its creamy smoothness and numerous culinary applications, is being utilised as an unexpected model to study the complex behaviour of plasma in fusion reactors.
“We’re still working on the same problem, which is the structural integrity of fusion capsules used in inertial confinement fusion, and Hellmann’s Real Mayonnaise is still helping us in the search for solutions,” said Arindam Banerjee, Lehigh University’s Paul B. Reinhold Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics and Chair of the MEM department at the PC Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science.
The team of researchers has found mayonnaise, which is normally thought of as a solid, can behave more like a fluid under certain pressure circumstances. This behaviour is quite similar to that of plasma, which is the superheated state of matter required for nuclear fusion.
According to a Lehigh University press release, fusion reactions are what powers the sun. Scientists believe that if the process could be harnessed on Earth, humanity may get access to a nearly endless and clean energy source. However, simulating the sun’s harsh conditions is a highly hard task. Researchers from several science and engineering disciplines, including Arindam Banerjee and his team, are looking at the challenge from a variety of perspectives.
Capsules containing fuel—in this example, hydrogen isotopes—are compressed and heated quickly to start nuclear fusion reactions through the method of inertial confinement fusion. These capsules melt in the presence of high pressure and temperatures, forming plasma—a charged state of matter capable of producing energy.
Reportedly, the team’s earlier study, published in 2019, also used mayonnaise to investigate the underlying physics of fusion. This current research is a fresh approach to one of the most pressing issues in energy science.
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