Nuclear fusion is going to be ... 1 year away!

[Cogman]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8485669.stm

Wow, not the standard "10 years from now" answer that we've been receiving since the 80's. an actual sustained/controlled fusion reaction may be happening THIS year!

Of course, commercial reactors are probably 10 years away

 

[IceBergSLiM]

of course, commercial reactors are probably 10 years away

nimby!

 

[apac]

when do we get naquadah reactors?

 

[So]

Anyone else find it amusing that this:

looks like this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_gadget

 

[Anubis]

lol yea i thought the same thing.

but its cool tech and will be amazing if it works

 

[rasczak]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8485669.stm

Wow, not the standard "10 years from now" answer that we've been receiving since the 80's. an actual sustained/controlled fusion reaction may be happening THIS year!

Of course, commercial reactors are probably 10 years away

i'm booking the first flight to the moon. I'll just laugh when i see the earth turn into the sun.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Anyone else find it amusing that this:

...

looks like this:

...

my first thought as well.

this year, heh? sounds like someone is trying to secure some more funding.

 

[MrPickins]

Anyone else find it amusing that this:

looks like this:
..snip..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_gadget

I think it looks more like this:

 

[MrPickins]

i'm booking the first flight to the moon. I'll just laugh when i see the earth turn into the sun.

LOL

You realize we've already initiated fusion reactions on earth, right? (and uncontrolled ones, at that.)

 

[techs]

Well, its reported by the BBC....the same company that brought you a film shot entirely by chimps.......

 

[BW86]

sweet

 

[SearchMaster]

Well, its reported by the BBC....the same company that brought you a film shot entirely by chimps.......

Yeah but if an infinite number of chimps shot an infinite number of films, we'd have the greatest film every created.

 

[Fritzo]

my first thought as well.

this year, heh? sounds like someone is trying to secure some more funding.

They had some breakthrough discoveries last year and basically figured out why it didn't work the last time they tried this process back in the early 90's.

Essentially, they figured out that they need to make the lasers that are compressing the fusion material (I think they're using a sphere of beryllium for the test) apply perfectly even pressure, otherwise the plasma leaks out the sides (think like squeezing one of those squishy stress reliever dolls where the eyes bulge out).

The technology to perfectly control such high powered lasers this precisely didn't exist until recently. This is actually pretty exciting because this is the first time we're pretty sure we can get this to work.

 

[Fritzo]

LOL

You realize we've already initiated fusion reactions on earth, right? (and uncontrolled ones, at that.)

Funny story about that---when the first H Bomb was tested, physicists on the project could give no guarantee that the fusion reaction would not keep burning after ignition. Acording to their then knowledge of fusion, there was a chance that they could have ignited a permanent 20 mile wide radioactive fireball, but went ahead with it anyway. Today, people freak out about a 1 in 10 trillion chance black hole disaster at the LHC.

Times have changed.

 

[Fritzo]

I think it looks more like this:

Actually here's a recent picture of the research facility:

 

[cutenfit]

Actually here's a recent picture of the research facility:

HA!

 

[GlacierFreeze]

i'm booking the first flight to the moon. I'll just laugh when i see the earth turn into the sun.

That's dumb. The new Earth turned sun would then burn up the moon. Nice try.

 

[rasczak]

That's dumb. The new Earth turned sun would then burn up the moon. Nice try.

Don't spoil it for me. I just thought that the moon had some nice real estate to watch the earth burn from.

 

[MrPickins]

Funny story about that---when the first H Bomb was tested, physicists on the project could give no guarantee that the fusion reaction would not keep burning after ignition. Acording to their then knowledge of fusion, there was a chance that they could have ignited a permanent 20 mile wide radioactive fireball, but went ahead with it anyway. Today, people freak out about a 1 in 10 trillion chance black hole disaster at the LHC.

Times have changed.

Meh, they couldn't prove that it wouldn't happen, but none of the experts thought that it was at all likely.

Teller also raised the speculative possibility that an atomic bomb might "ignite" the atmosphere because of a hypothetical fusion reaction of nitrogen nuclei.[citation needed] Bethe calculated, according to Serber, that it could not happen.[23] However, a report co-authored by Teller showed that ignition of the atmosphere was not impossible, just unlikely.[24] In Serber's account, Oppenheimer mentioned it to Arthur Compton, who "didn't have enough sense to shut up about it. It somehow got into a document that went to Washington" which led to the question being "never laid to rest".[25]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Project

 

[Number1]

About the laser used for the experiment

"it would boil the contents of more than 50 Olympic-sized swimming pools in a second"

Now that's a powerful laser!

 

[HannibalX]

Once we get this working the only thing left is the replicator, then war can pretty much end on Earth... that is unless someone else attacks from another world.

People only really fight over resource control. If everyone has abundant power and food what is there to fight over?

 

[bignateyk]

Once we get this working the only thing left is the replicator, then war can pretty much end war on Earth... that is unless someone else attacks from another world.

People only really fight over resource control. If everyone has abundant power and food what is there to fight over?

Religion?

 

[HannibalX]

Religion?

It might take another 500 years but religion will start to fade quickly if the entire population of the planet gets essentially unlimited power and food.

Most major religions started as a method of resource control and law enforcement. In a society with essentially unlimited power and food the core premise of religion basically falls away for the most part.

 

[syrillus]

Once we get this working the only thing left is the replicator, then war can pretty much end on Earth... that is unless someone else attacks from another world.

People only really fight over resource control. If everyone has abundant power and food what is there to fight over?

wealth, religion

 

[HannibalX]

wealth, religion

People in the US fight with each other right now over things but we haven't been to war with each other since 1865. Why? Well, typically everyone in this country has access to a reasonable supply of power and food. Most of the places in the world which undergo constant war do not.

Consider, if everyone in the world gains access to basically unlimited power and food supplies. Tell me again, what is there to go to war about? Religion? If that were the case North America would be at war with itself right now over religion, but it isn't.