Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2022 2:39 pm Post subject: U.S. Scientists to Announce Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough
Apparently, scientists have produced the first nuclear fusion reaction that created a net energy gain. They should be making the official announcement tomorrow.
Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2022 8:39 am Post subject: Re: U.S. Scientists to Announce Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough
LongBeachPoly wrote:
Amazing. Wonder where this will lead to.
Warp engines and faster than light travel. _________________ On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".
Joined: 17 Nov 2007 Posts: 67614 Location: In a world where admitting to not knowing something is considered a great way to learn.
Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2022 8:48 am Post subject:
I'm afraid of anything nuclear. Meltdowns can be devastating. _________________ Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
The fact that to achieve a fusion reaction requires 150 million degrees celsius to create the plasma will probably render this outside the realm of practicality anytime soon.
(Bill Nye explains why nuclear fusion breakthrough is a big deal)
Quote:
For the first time in history, US scientists at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California successfully produced a nuclear fusion reaction resulting in a net energy gain. Science educator Bill Nye explains why this is such a big breakthrough.
Joined: 02 May 2005 Posts: 90305 Location: Formerly Known As 24
Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2022 12:47 pm Post subject:
We should fund the research heavily and then turn it over to private industry to profit from, just like we do energy and pharma and a lot of tech. _________________ “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ― Elie Wiesel
Joined: 17 Nov 2007 Posts: 67614 Location: In a world where admitting to not knowing something is considered a great way to learn.
Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2022 6:06 pm Post subject:
LarryCoon wrote:
jodeke wrote:
I'm afraid of anything nuclear. Meltdowns can be devastating.
This is true -- it could release a lot of helium, and then we'd all talk funny for ten minutes or so.
Obviously, I know nothing about nuclear fusion. _________________ Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
I'm afraid of anything nuclear. Meltdowns can be devastating.
This is true -- it could release a lot of helium, and then we'd all talk funny for ten minutes or so.
Obviously, I know nothing about nuclear fusion.
Short answer:
Fission = Take heavy elements and split them apart
Fusion = Take light elements and fuse them together
Both fission and fusion release large amounts of excess energy, which is why both are suitable as a power source.
Fission requires certain heavy elements, like isotopes of Uranium or Plutonium. Both are very radioactive, and so are the resulting waste products.
Fusion requires the lightest elements, like isotopes of Hydrogen or Helium. Neither is inherently dangerous (of course, you wouldn't want to load a blimp full of hydrogen and set off a big spark). All of the resulting waste products are also safe -- Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, etc.
Fission reactions get started when enough of the radioactive material is in a closely confined space, so that radiation from one atom hits the nucleus of other atoms, which hit the nuclei of even more atoms, etc. etc. Once it gets started, the challenge is controlling it -- and if uncontrolled, you get things like meltdowns and atomic bombs.
With fusion, once it gets started the challenge is keeping it going. If the temperature or pressure drops, the reaction stops. (That's not to say that you can't also control it in such a way as to create a bomb.)
And since fusion requires a lot of temperature and pressure, it's also a big challenge to get started. Typically the way you get a fusion reaction started is to take a lot of hydrogen and leave it in one place in space. It's own gravity will pull it all together into a sphere, and gravity will continue pulling itself inward. Eventually the temperatures and pressures at the middle are enough to start a fusion reaction. You've seen these reactors plenty of times -- they're the sun and stars.
Creating the temperatures and pressures to start a fusion reaction without gathering the mass of a sun in one place has been a challenge, as has sustaining it once it does get started. That's why this week's news is such a big deal. It's a big milestone.
Joined: 17 Nov 2007 Posts: 67614 Location: In a world where admitting to not knowing something is considered a great way to learn.
Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2022 10:08 am Post subject:
LarryCoon wrote:
jodeke wrote:
LarryCoon wrote:
jodeke wrote:
I'm afraid of anything nuclear. Meltdowns can be devastating.
This is true -- it could release a lot of helium, and then we'd all talk funny for ten minutes or so.
Obviously, I know nothing about nuclear fusion.
Short answer:
Fission = Take heavy elements and split them apart
Fusion = Take light elements and fuse them together
Both fission and fusion release large amounts of excess energy, which is why both are suitable as a power source.
Fission requires certain heavy elements, like isotopes of Uranium or Plutonium. Both are very radioactive, and so are the resulting waste products.
Fusion requires the lightest elements, like isotopes of Hydrogen or Helium. Neither is inherently dangerous (of course, you wouldn't want to load a blimp full of hydrogen and set off a big spark). All of the resulting waste products are also safe -- Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, etc.
Fission reactions get started when enough of the radioactive material is in a closely confined space, so that radiation from one atom hits the nucleus of other atoms, which hit the nuclei of even more atoms, etc. etc. Once it gets started, the challenge is controlling it -- and if uncontrolled, you get things like meltdowns and atomic bombs.
With fusion, once it gets started the challenge is keeping it going. If the temperature or pressure drops, the reaction stops. (That's not to say that you can't also control it in such a way as to create a bomb.)
And since fusion requires a lot of temperature and pressure, it's also a big challenge to get started. Typically the way you get a fusion reaction started is to take a lot of hydrogen and leave it in one place in space. It's own gravity will pull it all together into a sphere, and gravity will continue pulling itself inward. Eventually the temperatures and pressures at the middle are enough to start a fusion reaction. You've seen these reactors plenty of times -- they're the sun and stars.
Creating the temperatures and pressures to start a fusion reaction without gathering the mass of a sun in one place has been a challenge, as has sustaining it once it does get started. That's why this week's news is such a big deal. It's a big milestone.
Thanks LC. I'm still in the dark but I read your post and eventually will absorb enough to not worry about a meltdown. Fusion powered the Starship Enterprise. Radiation from the warp drive killed Mr. Spock. _________________ Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
There's no way to generate the energy to do deep space exploration within the span of a human life without developing nuclear fusion propulsion systems.
Similarly, reaching mother Earth's energy needs in the next 50 years will require something other than burning carbon - and the planet needs a break from hydrocarbons. _________________ On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".
Also ask Larry if fusion is possible w/ a near-empty Miller Genuine and a banana peel.
One uranium fuel pellet is equivalent to 120-150 gallons of crude according to source and a ton of coal. _________________ GOAT MAGIC REEL SEDALE TRIBUTE EDDIE DONX!
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