this post was submitted on 06 Apr 2024
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48 seconds. I predict a glut of helium. balloons for everyone

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[–] [email protected] 218 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (7 children)

Hotter than the surface of the sun by a factor of ~18000.

Hotter than the suns core by a factor of ~7.

https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/temperatures-across-our-solar-system/#hds-sidebar-nav-1

People talk about Icarus flying too close to the sun. Motherfuckers are recreating it in labs πŸ˜‚

[–] [email protected] 36 points 7 months ago (1 children)

If Icarus won't come to the sun, the sun will come to Icarus.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 7 months ago

In case the reference is lost, there's a famous Muslim proverb: if the mountain won't come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain. A flipped version of this proverb has somehow also become commonly known, perhaps surpassing the correct version (in my culture at least): if Muhammad won't go to the mountain, then the mountain will come to Muhammad.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Hotter than yo mama …. Wait a minute

[–] [email protected] 16 points 7 months ago

Just barely though...

[–] [email protected] 20 points 7 months ago (1 children)

People talk about Icarus flying too close to the sun. Motherfuckers are recreating it in labs

This!

That's definitely some next-gen level magic being scienced/engineered.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I just want to know what kind of thermometer they put into the plasma to measure the temperature. It must have been made of ice or something to not burn up.

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[–] [email protected] 163 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

Is… is that good?

Edit: it is!

[–] [email protected] 101 points 7 months ago (1 children)

From what absolutely little I know, yes. Sustaining the reaction at such high temps for long is, as of now, difficult.

[–] [email protected] 73 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, I decided to actually bother and read the article. That’s why I made my edit. This sounds like a very important technical milestone for the development of fusion reactors. Hooray!

[–] Dudewitbow 31 points 7 months ago (23 children)

when talking about fusion, just think the conditions of stars/the sun. In order to function correctly, it has to be ridiculously hot.

The race for fusion is how to maintain it, and eventually have a net positive transaction of energy out, to energy in ratio.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 7 months ago (2 children)

just think the conditions of stars/the sun

Hotter than the sun. The sun has an enormous gravity pushing things along. To compensate we use more heat.

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[–] [email protected] 132 points 7 months ago (17 children)

I'd love to see an operating fusion reactor in my lifetime. Real sci-fi technology

[–] [email protected] 102 points 7 months ago (8 children)

Currently reading news and communicating with people around the world from the privacy of my toilet using my hand terminal. It can also understand what I am saying and excecute my spoken commands (to some extent at least). That's some Sci fi shit right there. Pun intended

[–] [email protected] 23 points 7 months ago (11 children)

It's seriously insane growing up on star trek and then seeing it come to life.

Still holding out for flying cars.

And warp drive!

[–] [email protected] 40 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I don't want flying cars because I don't want 95% of the people around me to be driving regular cars. Can't even use a turn signal and now they have carte blanche to drive over houses and shit?

The answer is mass transit. Mag-rail, not personal aviation.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 7 months ago

Yeah, motherfuckers can't even drive in two dimensions. Adding a third would be a clusterfuck of galactic proportions.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Nice. Let's use it for shit posting and spreading misinformation

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[–] [email protected] 68 points 7 months ago (19 children)

48 seconds at those temperatures is no joke, that is pretty amazing. I didn’t see the article elaborate on what the current limiting factors are for pushing beyond 48 seconds. Like I wonder if it’s a hard wall, a new engineering challenge, a tweak needed, etc. this is the reactor that set the last record so they are doing something really right.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 7 months ago (7 children)

(The article touches on this bit a little) I was watching something about fusion the other day and it seems that it is super tricky to keep the magnetic field balanced in a way that keeps the plasma in a proper toroid. Not only does it need to keep the correct strength, it has to fight against random turbulence. This is critical to start the reaction, but also to maintain it.

Also, they gave some other physical limitations in the article as well:

To extend their plasma's burning time from the previous record-breaking run, the scientists tweaked aspects of their reactor's design, including replacing carbon with tungsten to improve the efficiency of the tokamak’s "divertors," which extract heat and ash from the reactor.

Basically, it's the container that has limitations as containing a pseudo-sun probably isn't easy.

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 7 months ago (3 children)

Last one I read about is just constantly and very quickly (far quicker than human abilities) adjust the magnetic field around the plasma in order to keep it stable and in place. They've been (or at least one team was) using AI to go over data and control and predict the field adjustments, because only reacting after the plasma starts to move hasn't been quick enough.

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[–] [email protected] 57 points 7 months ago (16 children)

I can't wait for the billionaires to increase our power bills for this.

Yes yes I know it would be cheaper, but billionaires are going to charge more money even though it's costing them less.

[–] [email protected] 124 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (27 children)

I can’t wait for the billionaires to increase our power bills for this.

Yes yes I know it would be cheaper, but billionaires are going to charge more money even though it’s costing them less.

You know, not everything has to be "eat the rich".

This could just be a really neat science article/discussion about a fusion test, and have no need to bring up Capitalism.

The constant complaining just gets old after a while. Be focused, if you want to be listen to, and taken seriously.

[–] [email protected] 53 points 7 months ago (7 children)

Seriously, can't we just be happy about something for a few minutes?

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago (4 children)

Cheaper than renewables? 100 million degrees doesn't sound cheap, and frankly fusion power has been "coming in the next 10 years" at least since I was at school and I'm in my mid-forties.

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[–] [email protected] 41 points 7 months ago (8 children)

Hot damn! Limitless fusion power is only thirty years away!

[–] [email protected] 28 points 7 months ago (3 children)

Like it has been for the past 30 years (which, I assume, was the joke here.)

If fusion research was funded adequately we'd probably have it by now, but I don't know if it's the energy lobby or what that means that it's chronically underfunded. An actually working fusion reactor design would bring about such an upheaval in the energy markets that I wouldn't be surprised if plutocrats had a hand in making sure the research receives orders of magnitude less money than it should.

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Almost as hot as the temperature my wife leaves the shower at.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 7 months ago (6 children)

Unfortunately the amount of helium made in fusion is so small as to be useless for anything humans need. Fusion is just that efficient.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 7 months ago (11 children)

sick. cool. So uh. How long until power generation happens now?

Ah who am i kidding, it'll be at least a decade, probably more like two. Three including manufacturing and building all the plants.

[–] [email protected] 81 points 7 months ago (6 children)

Well according to the 1993 classic, "SimCity 2000," fusion power becomes available to build in the year 2050. Since I have no other source that provides an exact date of viability, this remians the most reliable prediction we have.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 7 months ago (3 children)

Ah who am i kidding, it’ll be at least a decade, probably more like two.

To be fair, they're trying to create a miniature star and keep it controlled/contained, to use its energy. That's some next-gen level stuff.

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