In 1966 Kenneth Greisen, Vadim Kuzmin and Georgiy Zatsepin showed that high-energy charged particles (cosmic rays are mostly atomic nuclei, and thus positively charged) should be slowed by collisions with the photons of the cosmic microwave background (radiation left over from the Big Bang that permeates all space).

ECONOMIST: Cosmic rays: They came from outer space | The

Solid-fuel reactors are atomic pressure cookers, with the constant danger of high-pressure ruptures, meltdowns, and the forceful ejection of radioactive material into the environment.

FORBES: UK Parliament Group to Study Thorium Reactors

Mr. Robinson notes that despite these dangers, Russian support for the project remains high, especially from Viktor Mikhailov, head of the Ministry of Atomic Energy (MinAtom) and a holdover from the old Soviet era.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: A Chernobyl reminder just off our shores

Minister Mikhailov of the Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy has not been reluctant to proclaim what these high-performance computers will be used for, and he said in a speech in January they will be used to simulate nuclear explosions, and that the computers are, in his words, '10 times faster than any previously available in Russia.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy

Ordinary, not-marching-in-step atomic beams are already used in precision clocks, and to etch some high-performance computer chips.

ECONOMIST: A new way has been devised to make a peculiar form of matter