Damien Scott
1.5K posts
@damienscott
Resident @AsteraInstitute. https://t.co/Y0O7JMpa8w: mapping AI-accelerated paths to sub-1¢/kWh fusion.
Fusion headlines: record plasma temperatures, confinement milestones, Q > 1 What they skip: between the plasma and the grid lie three engineering problems that are largely unsolved and underinvested. New dispatch from Mallory Snowden, Systems Engineering Lead
Come be my colleague! Apply to the Astera Fellows program! You will get a great salary AND very generous resources to start your own independent research program. A core area of interest is neuroscience & AI. Please RT
Fusion at 1¢/kWh? Read how @AsteraInstitute Resident @damienscott is mapping what must be true to get there. substack.com/home/post/p-19…
New paper on the levelized cost of fusion neutrons (arxiv.org/abs/2603.00835) and big-picture explanation (jasonparisi.substack.com/p/paper-notes-…). I'm excited about this work - it provides a fundamental measure for progress in the fusion industry: how efficiently we can produce fusion neutrons
3/ We're also refocusing our residency program around these disciplines. Applications are now open for our Fall 2026 cohort. We're looking for ambitious projects in Neuro & AI, Life Sciences & Open Science, or other work aligned with Astera's mission. 12–18 months, fully funded, in-person in Emeryville. Apply by April 19th; link below.
We’re launching Astera Neuro, a new neuroscience research effort led by @doristsao as Chief Scientist. Our aim is to unravel a profound scientific mystery: how the brain transforms sensory inputs into conscious experience. Advancing this work could illuminate the computational principles that drive perception and cognition and inspire approaches for neuroscience-informed AI research, potentially generating new pathways to AGI. Astera will support this work with $600M+ over the next decade. Read more: astera.org/neuroscientist…
Fusion can be so polarizing. To some people it’s the obvious next civilizational milestone, limitless energy from seawater, mastering all four forces of nature, our only real hope for travel to deep space etc. To other people it’s pure hype and a bottomless money hole, the silliest possible way to boil water, energy much more expensive and less powerful than fission which society has rejected already, many billion $ and hundreds of promising careers immolated for a beautiful science idea that’s shown itself over and over as an engineering dead end. 1cFE is the perfect initiative to cut through the confusion and show us what it will take for fusion energy to give us the future we all want. Well grounded in what's been done and not afraid of outside-the-box approaches. Excited for someone as brilliant and grounded as Damien to show us the way!
