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US lab behind fusion breakthrough reaches ignition again

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Re: US lab behind fusion breakthrough reaches ignition again

#11

Post by iancmceachern »

moomoo11 wrote: post #8

It would be kind of cool if by accident scientists can create some wormhole. We can dump all our trash through it into Saturn or something.

Totally, or something like infinite probability drive from Hitchhiker's that would just send our trash to random other universes and timelines.

Which makes me wonder, are other universes and timelines sending us stuff? Is that where platypus' come from?

P.S. I'm not trying to say platypus' are trash, just that the don't fit in with our indigenous fauna and maybe another timeline thought they were and sent them to us.

Re: US lab behind fusion breakthrough reaches ignition again

#12

Post by RF_Savage »

dotnet00 wrote: post #9
pstuart wrote: post #3

My understanding is that the NIF was primarily to explore weapons research in the guise of fusion research. We could use some nuclear miracles to help out with decarbonizing and it seems like we'd be better served investing in something that could possibly become viable (especially with the recent superconductor news).

Sure its primary purpose is to gather data on nuclear fusion to help ensure that the nuclear stockpile is reliable without having to test it, but it isn't like them probing the conditions and behaviors of fusion ignition isn't meaningful for fusion reactors as well.

Yep. There needs to be a way to verify that the simulations run on all of those Department of Energy supercomputers actually translate to reality.

Re: US lab behind fusion breakthrough reaches ignition again

#13

Post by adhesive_wombat »

iancmceachern wrote: post #11
moomoo11 wrote: post #8

It would be kind of cool if by accident scientists can create some wormhole. We can dump all our trash through it into Saturn or something.

Totally, or something like infinite probability drive from Hitchhiker's that would just send our trash to random other universes and timelines. Which makes me wonder, are other universes and timelines sending us stuff? Is that where platypus' come from? P.S. I'm not trying to say platypus' are trash, just that the don't fit in with our indigenous fauna and maybe another timeline thought they were and sent them to us.

Reminds me also of Aorist Rods.

The description of which in the book shows that not a lot has changed since Young Zaphod Plays It Safe was published in 1986.

https://alienencyclopedia.fandom.com/wiki/Aorist_Rod

Re: US lab behind fusion breakthrough reaches ignition again

#14

Post by fullspectrumdev »

aradox66 wrote: post #6
supertrope wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No fission primary stage.

Ah nice, then they'd be easy to build without detection, and proliferation treaties become unenforceable. What could go wrong? I think my mind just changed on whether fusion energy breakthroughs would end up as a net good.

Non proliferation treaties simply mean existing nuclear states can’t share with others.

They do exactly nothing, except apply a stigma/some worthless sanctions, in the event a state decides to fucking do it themselves. See: North Korea.

Re: US lab behind fusion breakthrough reaches ignition again

#16

Post by oceanplexian »

supertrope wrote: post #5
aradox66 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the weapons angle for sustained fusion research? We've had the tech to reliably turn heavy water into 100 million casualties per warhead for >50 years.

No fission primary stage.

Some of the implications, as far as I know:

1- A pure fusion weapon would be a "clean bomb", meaning it wouldn't emit long term radiation. Good, but bad because someone might be more willing to use it.

2- A pure fusion weapon wouldn't require a critical mass. In theory, the laws of physics don't preclude something that is really compact.

3- A pure fusion weapon would use deuterium, which is just a byproduct of heavy water. Anyone can get, or make the stuff inexpensively.

Granted, we're probably a century away from this kind of tech but if we keep getting superconductor and fusion breakthroughs it will come around sooner or later. Hopefully society will have advanced to a point where we are prepared to handle it.

Re: US lab behind fusion breakthrough reaches ignition again

#17

Post by rf15 »

oceanplexian wrote: post #16
supertrope wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No fission primary stage.

Some of the implications, as far as I know: 1- A pure fusion weapon would be a "clean bomb", meaning it wouldn't emit long term radiation. Good, but bad because someone might be more willing to use it. 2- A pure fusion weapon wouldn't require a critical mass. In theory, the laws of physics don't preclude something that is really compact. 3- A pure fusion weapon would use deuterium, which is just a byproduct of heavy…

point 1 is sadly wrong and I wish people would stop thinking that fusion doesn't cause radiation damage in all surrounding material.

Re: US lab behind fusion breakthrough reaches ignition again

#18

Post by function_seven »

user6723 wrote: post #15

I know the cognitive dissonance is a bit heavy for some people on this topic but we already have fusion. Safire plasma can run for days uninterrupted on less than 300 watts of continuous input. https://rumble.com/vbtfff-safire-project-update-2017-and-201...

This is crackpottery, right? All the links on that page point to other theories “debunking” general relativity and some “Electric Universe” fanfic.

Re: US lab behind fusion breakthrough reaches ignition again

#19

Post by Shawnj2 »

oceanplexian wrote: post #16
supertrope wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No fission primary stage.

Some of the implications, as far as I know: 1- A pure fusion weapon would be a "clean bomb", meaning it wouldn't emit long term radiation. Good, but bad because someone might be more willing to use it. 2- A pure fusion weapon wouldn't require a critical mass. In theory, the laws of physics don't preclude something that is really compact. 3- A pure fusion weapon would use deuterium, which is just a byproduct of heavy…

Would it really be that infesaible to have a fusion bomb started by a non nuclear reaction?

Re: US lab behind fusion breakthrough reaches ignition again

#20

Post by 3LazTjBv-f »

rf15 wrote: post #17
oceanplexian wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of the implications, as far as I know: 1- A pure fusion weapon would be a "clean bomb", meaning it wouldn't emit long term radiation. Good, but bad because someone might be more willing to use it. 2- A pure fusion weapon wouldn't require a critical mass. In theory, the laws of physics don't preclude something that is really compact. 3- A pure fusion weapon would use deuterium, which is just a byproduct of heavy…

point 1 is sadly wrong and I wish people would stop thinking that fusion doesn't cause radiation damage in all surrounding material.

The only thing I find more annoying that "fusion = totally 0 radiation" is the idea that it somehow will provide "free" energy. With any power plant, no matter the fuel, there will be cost of construction(with a limited lifespan) and maintenance. Same goes for distribution network.

It makes me wonder if we could improve fission reactors cost and safety, instead of performing biggest down scaling act in history of technology (700k kilometer Sun to mere meters)

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