The Conversation Weekly24 Helmi 2022

Nuclear fusion record broken – what will it take to start generating electricity?

Scientists at a nuclear fusion lab in the UK just broke the world record for the amount of energy produced in a single fusion reaction. In this episode, we ask two nuclear experts what this means, and how long it’ll take before we can switch on the world’s first nuclear fusion power plant.

Featuring Livia Casali, assistant professor in nuclear engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in the US and Angel Ibarra Sanchez, a research professor in fusion technology at the Center for Energy, Environmental and Technological Research in Madrid, Spain.

And in our second story, we explore why living in a country that scores highly on global happiness rankings might not be all that it's cracked up to be. Brock Bastian, a professor of psychological sciences at the University of Melbourne in Australia, talks to us about his new research on the social pressure some people feel to be happy.

And Eric Smalley, science and technology editor at The Conversation in Boston, recommends some recent analysis on the cybersecurity and technology dimensions of the unfolding Ukraine war.

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading

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Loonies and bins: Britain's long love affair with novelty politics

It's pretty grim when your main political opponent is a man with a bin for a head.That's the situation that's faced Nigel Farage in the Clacton byelection in the UK.Count Binface has pledged to nation...

13 Elo 23min

The soviet origins of shadow libraries

Balázs Bödö's first interaction with a shadow library was when, as a young professor at university in Budapest, he was faced with a dilemma: what should he teach his students? "Do I condemn my student...

6 Elo 20min

A window into the murky world of peptides

Timothy Piatkowki was scrolling when a targeted ad landed in his feed. Cheap peptides! Straight from the factory! Naturally, he started a chat with the dealer and found himself deep in the world of a ...

30 Heinä 18min

Save our brains: how dangerous is sport?

With growing evidence about concussion, repetitive head impacts and long-term brain disease, have we underestimated the risks of sport all along? How did we get here, what do we really know about head...

23 Heinä 16min

How Manchester shaped Andy Burnham, the UK's incoming prime minister

Three months ago, Andy Burnham’s desk was filled with the business of running Greater Manchester. Buses. Housing. Policing. This mayoral region in the north of England is home to 3 million people and ...

16 Heinä 27min

How celebrities like Taylor Swift are fighting back against AI deepfakes

When Taylor Swift launched her latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, in October 2025, she recorded two short clips to promote it. One for Amazon Music began with “Hey, it’s Taylor Swift”. Another, for...

9 Heinä 25min

The anatomy of a super El Niño

El Niño has begun and forecasters predict a more than 60% chance that the naturally occurring phenomenon could become a very strong, or super El Niño later in 2026.El Niño begins with warmer water in ...

2 Heinä 21min

Cockroach party hits nerve with angry young Indians

A new youth protest movement in India that started as online satire is now staging an ongoing sit-in in New Delhi calling for the resignation of India’s education minister.The Cockroach Janta Party (C...

25 Kesä 25min