daily mail Have British scientists cracked nuclear fusion?

[Avacado]

Quote

It has long been an elusive dream for scientists seeking to solve the world’s energy problems.

But while nuclear fusion offers an environmentally friendly way of producing power, attempts to harness it have so far stumbled.

Quote

But now UK scientists have found a way of dealing with these exhaust gases, cooling them from an extraordinary 150million Celsius to just a few hundred degrees, temperatures similar to that of a car engine.

 

 

Source

[steakikan]

if the byproduct is really helium, that also killing 2 bird with 1 stone with Helium scarcity we're facing/wasting right now.

[J7SC_Orion]

43 minutes ago, steakikan said:

if the byproduct is really helium, that also killing 2 bird with 1 stone with Helium scarcity we're facing/wasting right now.

 

..exciting - other than 'Daily Mail' as the source ?

 

I think I'll be burning reindeer poop for a little while longer

[EHW Ai]

Establishing a new source for helium could have all kinds of other benefits as well:

 

Similar effect, but not quite helium:

 

Edited May 28, 2021 by iamjanco
Had a blast picking out some of the better ones.

[GanjaSMK]

Fingers crossed that technology does not get stifled in a way that the industrialists and bankers/robber barons stifled. 

 

Please please please!

[UltraMega]

150 million degrees to just a few hundred degrees is a pretty big improvement. 

 

I grew up near the Lawrence Livermore Lab. For anyone unaware, that lab has a giant laser that's supposed to be aimed at starting a fusion reaction. The hurdle they face is that, while we can create fusion now, we can't get the process started without using more energy to start the reaction than the reaction puts out. This problem has yet to be solved, or even close but progress is being made on that front, as well as many others.  

 

The giant laser at the Livermore Labs was also used as the set for the 2009 star trek movie's warp core scene. The laser machine is the warp core. 

 

Star Trek 2009: 

 

Livermore Lab: 

 

It was news in my home town when Chris Pine stayed at the Rose Hotel in my hometown during filming. The Rose Hotel is a very ritzy hotel owned by John Madden who lives in my hometown. 

Edited May 31, 2021 by UltraMega

[UltraMega]

On 28/05/2021 at 08:33, GanjaSMK said:

Fingers crossed that technology does not get stifled in a way that the industrialists and bankers/robber barons stifled. 

 

Please please please!

A lot of people think that there's a conspiracy to hide nuclear power generating tech (not suggesting you are one of them) but I had a friend who was really into this conspiracy and so I looked into it a lot to disprove him and it turns out the physics, science, and engineering needed to make this work is just really hard (shocking). 

 

Part of the reason for the conspiracy is that a lot of the physics was known long before the engineering was anywhere near capable of carrying out the theories but now we're just starting to see the engineering catch up to the science. Some people took this as some kind of cover-up but in reality its just a really complex problem yet to be solved. 

 

There are major economic incentives behind next gen nuclear energy and nothing is going to get in the way of progress. The economy wants cheaper energy as much as anyone does. The patent shelving mega-corps cant shelve a project this large. 

Edited May 31, 2021 by UltraMega

[ENTERPRISE]

4 hours ago, UltraMega said:

150 million degrees to just a few hundred degrees is a pretty big improvement. 

 

I grew up near the Lawrence Livermore Lab. For anyone unaware, that lab has a giant laser that's supposed to be aimed at starting a fusion reaction. The hurdle they face is that, while we can create fusion now, we can't get the process started without using more energy to start the reaction than the reaction puts out. This problem has yet to be solved, or even close but progress is being made on that front, as well as many others.  

 

The giant laser at the Livermore Labs was also used as the set for the 2009 star trek movie's warp core scene. The laser machine is the warp core. 

 

Star Trek 2009: 

 

Livermore Lab: 

 

It was news in my home town when Chris Pine stayed at the Rose Hotel in my hometown during filming. The Rose Hotel is a very ritzy hotel owned by John Madden who lives in my hometown. 

 

3 hours ago, UltraMega said:

A lot of people think that there's a conspiracy to hide nuclear power generating tech (not suggesting you are one of them) but I had a friend who was really into this conspiracy and so I looked into it a lot to disprove him and it turns out the physics, science, and engineering needed to make this work is just really hard (shocking). 

 

Part of the reason for the conspiracy is that a lot of the physics was known long before the engineering was anywhere near capable of carrying out the theories but now were just starting to see the engineering catch up to the science. Some people took this as some kind of cover-up but in reality its just a really complex problem yet to be solved. 

 

There are major economic incentives behind next gen nuclear energy and nothing is going to get in the way of progress. The economy wants cheaper energy as much as anyone does. 

 I feel I have learned something today

[UltraMega]

16 minutes ago, ENTERPRISE said:

 

 I feel I have learned something today

Here is a more in depth and modern summary of this problem: 

 

[EHW Ai]

58 minutes ago, UltraMega said:

Here is a more in depth and modern summary of this problem: 

 

Stellarator (it was mentioned toward the end of the video)? Sounds a lot like Chrysler's Turbo Encabulator to me.

 

 

[UltraMega]

9 minutes ago, iamjanco said:

Stellarator (it was mentioned toward the end of the video)? Sounds a lot like Chrysler's Turbo Encabulator to me.

 

 

Quote

Four thousand seconds of operation 

 

Edited May 31, 2021 by UltraMega

[EHW Ai]

Yeah, marketing can be a wonderful thing, can't it?

 

Reminds me of The Expert...

 

 

 

Then there's Steve Martin's Langstrom seven inch gangly wrench, which is rumored to have been used by Chrysler technicians to tighten up the play in the Turbo Encabulator's reciprocating dingle arm when nothing else would work:

 

 

 

Edited May 31, 2021 by iamjanco

[J7SC_Orion]

8 hours ago, ENTERPRISE said:

 

 I feel I have learned something today

 

...since the rest of the universe seems to run mostly on fusion energy since 'the beginning', it must be a pretty good solution !  

 

...but management of those temps on earth remains a big issue. Per below, lots of current news stories re. advances by various countries on fusion advances and 'breakthroughs', but commercial apps still seem a long way out. That said, commercial applications are only one part of the equation (ie. for large scale energy production), the other part concerns the general 'hydrogen  economy', including powering our cars, trucks, trains and planes...

 

...contrary to what people think, hydrogen does work in regular combustion engines with only a few minor changes, but hydrogen refueling and storage remains a big problem. Thus the focus on fuel cells that use methanol which is a great and relatively clean carrier of hydrogen that also gets the much ballyhooed fuel density per cubic centimetre of hydrogen up. Other recent advances have a hydrogen-magnesium paste that looks promising.