The Holy Grail

kom526

They call me ... Sarcasmo
of clean energy could be a reality within the next two years.

Scientists take another stab at nuclear fusion

Good bye "carbon footprint" mumbo jumbo and cap and trade. Sounds like someone could lose a confiscatory revenue source (us) if this is successful. I just heard an interview with the lead scientist on this project and he says that they are VERY optimistic that this will be successful and the first tests should be ramping up by June 2010. How many of you have heard anything about this project before now? All the gov't wants you to hear is windmills and sunlight, but here is something that looks like a viable long term solution to our energy concerns.

This is the kind of stuff that freaking thrills me, SCIENCE and human ingenuity (without gov't interference) working to solve a problem.
 

Vince

......
Yeah, saw this on the news this morning. Lasers and hydrogen isotopes. Hope it works. Would definitely solve the energy problem.
 
Last edited:

glhs837

Power with Control
of clean energy could be a reality within the next two years.

Scientists take another stab at nuclear fusion

Good bye "carbon footprint" mumbo jumbo and cap and trade. Sounds like someone could lose a confiscatory revenue source (us) if this is successful. I just heard an interview with the lead scientist on this project and he says that they are VERY optimistic that this will be successful and the first tests should be ramping up by June 2010. How many of you have heard anything about this project before now? All the gov't wants you to hear is windmills and sunlight, but here is something that looks like a viable long term solution to our energy concerns.

This is the kind of stuff that freaking thrills me, SCIENCE and human ingenuity (without gov't interference) working to solve a problem.



AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NUCLEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALL GONNA DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:cds::cds::cds:


KILL IT!!!!!!!! NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :cds::cds::cds:



There ya go, media reaction preset and ready for publication. Hope like hell they can pull this, would certainly be fantastic.
 

Xbox360

Major Nelson is my hero
Fusion is the ultimate power. I can't wait until they have fusion engines in spaceships. Just think of all of the other galaxies we could travel to.
 

glhs837

Power with Control
Galaxies still a bit out of reach. No matter how good your engines, still taking thousands of years to get to one, if not millions. Stars? Yep, given the ability to make ships that can last decades, and crews willing to man them or some form of long sleep. Dont get me wrong, we'll make the stars someday, but its going to take a while til that happens. Barring, of course, some sort of breakthrough that allows us to bend the laws.
 

SamSpade

Well-Known Member
I was reading about this the other day, on the heels of the recent breakthrough on cold fusion, on the near 20th anniversary of Pons-Fleischmann.

I did some very minimal work on the subject - basically, briefly a lab assistant - and even the guys there didn't think nuclear fusion could ever, ever be a commercially viable solution to the world's power. They just liked the idea of actually accomplishing it.

I think I read that this laser would consume FAR more energy than any fusion reaction it would foster. So even if successful, it doesn't prove anything.

I find it ironic, however, that the actual experiment could conceivably coincide with the end of the Mayan calendar - in which case, the calendar correctly predicted the end of the world.

Along a similar note - I also read this week about a fusion/fission hybrid model for reactors, where the radioactive sludge is safely "burned" to 1% of its volume - thereby making nuclear power close to waste-free.
 

glhs837

Power with Control
I think you may have misunderstood. The "Ignition" referred to in the name means that they will have gotten more energy out of the reaction than they used to start it.

https://lasers.llnl.gov/education/faqs.php#ignition

Q. What is ignition?

A. The common definition is that ignition is obtained when the fusion target produces more energy than the laser energy required to heat it. Inertial confinement fusion works by the burning of deuterium-tritium fuel. Energy production occurs when the energy produced by thermonuclear reactions heats more fuel, causing it to burn

Its like a proof of concept, kinda thing, to show it can be done, and allow further study of fusion reactions. Still 20 years, if not more, before we se nay power generated this way, but you have to start somewhere.
 

Xbox360

Major Nelson is my hero
I find it ironic, however, that the actual experiment could conceivably coincide with the end of the Mayan calendar - in which case, the calendar correctly predicted the end of the world.

Some people said the same thing when they made the artificial black hole a couple months ago. They believed that it would suck the entire planet up. But that obviously never happened.
 

kom526

They call me ... Sarcasmo
I thought they shut down the super collider due to some glitches before doing a full test?
 

Xbox360

Major Nelson is my hero
I thought they shut down the super collider due to some glitches before doing a full test?

Yea the Large Hadron Collider had a problem with some of the magnets in an early test. They were able to circulate proton beams, but couldn't do a full test due to the damaged magnets.

I think they expect to have the repairs made for a full test by the end of the year.
 
Top