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Welcome to Sunday and the best of The Conversation.
Last week, a team at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility produced energy by fusing a few types of hydrogen together. It is the same kind of reaction that occurs on the Sun.
In one of this week’s reader favorites, Carolyn Kuranz, a nuclear engineering professor at the University of Michigan, writes about the experiment. Although the reaction lasted just billionths of a second, Kuranz believes it will be remembered as “a truly historic scientific breakthrough.”
Among editors’ picks, be sure to check out University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts anthropologist Elizabeth Keating’s suggestions for learning more about older family members’ childhoods and the development of their worldviews.
Since the pandemic taught us not to take our time together for granted, this year’s looser, more joyful holiday season seems like the perfect time to follow Keating’s tips and get past stale chitchat about the weather and the price of gas.
This week we’ll bring you stories about the African origins of mermaids, deep seabed mining and bittersweet Christmas songs.
One last note: We’re able to bring you these stories thanks to the support of readers like you. Thank you in advance for your support.
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