Germany is turning on its monster stellarator • Hacker News Board

Re: Germany is turning on its monster stellarator

#41

Post by balabaster » Mon, Nov 02, 2015, 12:51 PM UTC

adrianN wrote: post #23

jakeogh wrote: post #11

Wendelstein 7-X - from concept to reality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyqt6u5_sHA Im Zeitraffer: Zusammenbau von Wendelstein 7-X: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJpSrqitSMQ (best @ 0.56x) Previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10437075 More: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAx243-m51RI-k_4lsAqidA/fee...

I find watching the assembly of these ultra-high tech machines to be super inspiring. It gives me all kinds of warm fuzzies to see what we're able to do if we put our mind to it.

Mostly it's inspiring because most people sit back and say "It can't be done, it's impossible" or "wow, they must have had a shit ton of luck to get this out of the door" instead of looking for solutions or ways to circumvent or exploit the million little problems along the way that seek to obstruct the endgame.

Kudos to these guys for sticking at it long enough and persevering to achieve their vision.

Re: Germany is turning on its monster stellarator

#42

Post by deweller » Mon, Nov 02, 2015, 12:58 PM UTC

penetrarthur wrote: post #40

When exactly is it turned on?

That was not reported. This is what was reported on Oct. 23rd by sciencemag.org:

"Approval to go ahead is expected from Germany's nuclear regulators by the end of this month"

Re: Germany is turning on its monster stellarator

#43

Post by flexie » Mon, Nov 02, 2015, 1:03 PM UTC

insulanian wrote: post #22

That's how Germans do it - they keep quiet and just do it. Respect!

Sometimes they keep it very quiet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_emissions_scandal

No, seriously. All these statements about German character or German mentality should stop. If the last few months haven't taught us anything else, at least it should have taught us that. First, Germans and the German government were praised as reliable in connection with the Grexit (as opposed to the Greeks), then a few months later, a German government owned car producers is caught in what might be the biggest corporate fraud ever.

I wonder if mentality and national traits even exist.

Re: Germany is turning on its monster stellarator

#44

Post by prodmerc » Mon, Nov 02, 2015, 1:07 PM UTC

creshal wrote: post #29

prodmerc wrote: post #26

"Designed in Hell" - really? Goddamn, I hate modern media outlets...

Hell, CA; Hell, MI; Hell, AZ; Hell, Norway; or Hell, Netherlands?

Hell, the Devil's playground... because it looks strange.

What kind of association does that make in people's minds, they already think nuclear = death...

Re: Germany is turning on its monster stellarator

#45

Post by nanofortnight » Mon, Nov 02, 2015, 1:21 PM UTC

flexie wrote: post #43

insulanian wrote: post #22

That's how Germans do it - they keep quiet and just do it. Respect!

Sometimes they keep it very quiet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_emissions_scandal No, seriously. All these statements about German character or German mentality should stop. If the last few months haven't taught us anything else, at least it should have taught us that. First, Germans and the German government were praised as reliable in connection with the Grexit (as opposed to the Greeks), then a few mon…

They do, but they're merely tendencies: You get a wide range of things in any country, unfortunately the world isn't black and white.

Re: Germany is turning on its monster stellarator

#46

Post by zamalek » Mon, Nov 02, 2015, 1:24 PM UTC

ThePhysicist wrote: post #38

I once did an internship at the MPI in Garching and had the opportunity to visit the Stellarator. Although it looks much less spectacular with all the coils hidden in their housing it is still an incredibly impressive machine with an audacious design. Today the numerical effort required for realizing it might seem not very impressive given the technological capabilities that we have, but you have to take into account…

I have no doubt that a design that goes with the physics (instead of going against it like Tokamaks do) is going to yield great results, however I hope something comes out if it that will also allow for viable Tokamaks. Stellarators are hellishly complex and expensive.

Re: Germany is turning on its monster stellarator

#47

Post by mdellabitta » Mon, Nov 02, 2015, 1:26 PM UTC

> The key to a successful nuclear reactor of any kind is to generate, confine, and control a blob of super-heated matter, called a plasma — a gas that has reached temperatures of more than 180 million degrees Fahrenheit.

Um, what? I'm about to pass a nuclear fission plant on my way to work, and I surely hope there are no plasmas in that.

AKA, they mean fusion reactor.

Re: Germany is turning on its monster stellarator

#48

Post by kuschku » Mon, Nov 02, 2015, 1:37 PM UTC

flexie wrote: post #43

insulanian wrote: post #22

That's how Germans do it - they keep quiet and just do it. Respect!

Sometimes they keep it very quiet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_emissions_scandal No, seriously. All these statements about German character or German mentality should stop. If the last few months haven't taught us anything else, at least it should have taught us that. First, Germans and the German government were praised as reliable in connection with the Grexit (as opposed to the Greeks), then a few mon…

And how did VW handle it?

CEO resigned, 10 board members suspended, all non-management employees (engineers, programmers, etc) have full immunity, even if they worked on the defeat device.

That’s the most honorable reaction one could expect, and it allows to get rid of the issue.

Re: Germany is turning on its monster stellarator

#49

Post by XorNot » Mon, Nov 02, 2015, 1:38 PM UTC

mdellabitta wrote: post #47

> The key to a successful nuclear reactor of any kind is to generate, confine, and control a blob of super-heated matter, called a plasma — a gas that has reached temperatures of more than 180 million degrees Fahrenheit. Um, what? I'm about to pass a nuclear fission plant on my way to work, and I surely hope there are no plasmas in that . AKA, they mean fusion reactor.

Nucleons are reacting. It's most definitely a nuclear reactor of some type.

Re: Germany is turning on its monster stellarator

#50

Post by kohanz » Mon, Nov 02, 2015, 1:42 PM UTC

XorNot wrote: post #49

mdellabitta wrote: post #47

> The key to a successful nuclear reactor of any kind is to generate, confine, and control a blob of super-heated matter, called a plasma — a gas that has reached temperatures of more than 180 million degrees Fahrenheit. Um, what? I'm about to pass a nuclear fission plant on my way to work, and I surely hope there are no plasmas in that . AKA, they mean fusion reactor.

Nucleons are reacting. It's most definitely a nuclear reactor of some type.

nuclear reactor of any kind

They're not disputing the nuclear term, but fission vs. fusion.