Germany Fires up Stellarator- Nuclear Fusion Machine

[ReplayRandall]

In Germany, on Thursday Dec. 10, the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics fired up a monster machine that they hope will change the world:

http://www.businessinsider.com/germany-turned-on-its-monster-stellarator-2015-10

[Tom]

Germans and super ovens.
This is not a good thing.

[Augenj]

In Germany, on Thursday Dec. 10, the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics fired up a monster machine that they hope will change the world:

http://www.businessinsider.com/germany-turned-on-its-monster-stellarator-2015-10
It's a step in the right direction. Nuclear fusion doesn't have the nuclear waste issues of nuclear fision.

[davew]

I hope it can save the world from the climate apocalypse rapidly approaching from rampant over-use of fossil fuels.

[ReplayRandall]

It's a step in the right direction. Nuclear fusion doesn't have the nuclear waste issues of nuclear fision.

One word of warning....If ever the super-cooling system on the stellarator fails, there will be a catastrophe of epic proportions that the world has never seen....That goes for the Large Hadron Collider as well.

[Augenj]

One word of warning....If ever the super-cooling system on the stellarator fails, there will be a catastrophe of epic proportions that the world has never seen....That goes for the Large Hadron Collider as well.
Can't wait to descend into a black hole and emerge into another universe.... vaporized. :lol:

[Dave Schwartz]

One word of warning....If ever the super-cooling system on the stellarator fails, there will be a catastrophe of epic proportions that the world has never seen....That goes for the Large Hadron Collider as well.

Truthfully, the idea of an experiment such as that one has always made me acutely aware of how the fate of our world lies in the hand of a few people.

Builds a case for apathy. :bang:

[PaceAdvantage]

Wow, does that thing look like a huge mess. But I guess they know what they're doing... :lol:

[hcap]

One word of warning....If ever the super-cooling system on the stellarator fails, there will be a catastrophe of epic proportions that the world has never seen....That goes for the Large Hadron Collider as well.I hope it can save the world from the climate apocalypse rapidly approaching from rampant over-use of fossil fuels.Donald Trump is not the only contestant performing on the right wing fact-free version of The Gong Show :lol:

[woodtoo]

Donald Trump is not the only contestant performing on the right wing fact-free version of The Gong Show :lol:
Trumpnado, even you cant stop yourself. :lol:

[hcap]

Trumpnado, even you cant stop yourself. :lol:Speaking of an "catastrophe of epic proportions"

Here's Donald's first State of the Union.

/AoFfLvy3quA

[ReplayRandall]

In Germany, on Thursday Dec. 10, the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics fired up a monster machine that they hope will change the world:

http://www.businessinsider.com/germany-turned-on-its-monster-stellarator-2015-10
A year has passed since this post, here is the latest news on the stellerator:

http://www.space.com/34960-star-in-a-jar-fusion-reactor-works.html

[ebcorde]

In Germany, on Thursday Dec. 10, the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics fired up a monster machine that they hope will change the world:

http://www.businessinsider.com/germany-turned-on-its-monster-stellarator-2015-10

they run the Princeton Plasma Physics lab for years. I did a summer Internship there ages ago. I went to HS just down the road.

[HalvOnHorseracing]

The march away from fossil fuels is inexorable, albeit not in the immediate future. I'm thinking most of us here will be pushing up daisies before there is a significant transition. Maybe in the 2040 range. At the end of the day, when it comes to the generation of electricity, people only care that the lights come on when they flip the switch. They don't care in the least whether it comes from coal or natural gas or some nuclear technology. Eventually electric vehicle technology will make vehicles comparable to the current fleet of gasoline powered vehicles. If you ever get to drive a Tesla, don't pass it up. They are very cool vehicles. I'm not sure we'd want to shift away from natural gas for home heating. New furnaces are 95% efficient. The issue of greenhouse gases eventually resolves itself, and the market will cooperate in making the transition.

[boxcar]

Wow, does that thing look like a huge mess. But I guess they know what they're doing... :lol:

Of course, they do. What could possibly go wrong? Besides that little baby is the deluxe model and comes equipped with a kill switch. :lol: :lol:

[Actor]

Can't wait to descend into a black hole and emerge into another universe.... vaporized. :lol:You won't come out as a vapor. A vapor still retains molecular composition. A trip through a wormhole will rip your quarks apart. You'll be pure energy. :bang:

[boxcar]

You won't come out as a vapor. A vapor still retains molecular composition. A trip through a wormhole will rip your quarks apart. You'll be pure energy. :bang:

Will the whole world, then, be able to run off of him? :lol:

[Actor]

Truthfully, the idea of an experiment such as that one has always made me acutely aware of how the fate of our world lies in the hand of a few people.

Builds a case for apathy. :bang:When they set the first A-bomb off at the Trinity site the scientists were making bets on whether the thing would set the atmosphere on fire thus making the earth one huge H-bomb. :cool:

[Actor]

Will the whole world, then, be able to run off of him? :lol:You mean the whole world that got sucked into the hole with him?

[elysiantraveller]

When they set the first A-bomb off at the Trinity site the scientists were making bets on whether the thing would set the atmosphere on fire thus making the earth one huge H-bomb. :cool:

Hard to collect if it did.

[rastajenk]

Can't wait to descend into a black hole and emerge into another universe.... vaporized. :lol:
Wear a Go-Pro and send back a full report. :cool:

[Actor]

Hard to collect if it did.Betting it won't is the obvious overlay.

[Jess Hawsen Arown]

A year has passed since this post, here is the latest news on the stellerator:

http://www.space.com/34960-star-in-a-jar-fusion-reactor-works.html

Of course the concern is if something goes wrong with the coils holding in the heat of the sun. Those left on Earth...

[Parkview_Pirate]

A year has passed since this post, here is the latest news on the stellerator:

http://www.space.com/34960-star-in-a-jar-fusion-reactor-works.html

In terms of the big-picture goal, Gates said that nuclear fusion reactors, if properly developed and deployed, would provide the planet with safe, clean and virtually inexhaustible energy.

"The fuel source is found in seawater in quantities sufficient to last tens of thousands of years," he said. "The waste product is helium, an inert gas. A viable fusion reactor would provide a secure, plentiful and environmentally benign energy resource to all nations."

That last part is critical. Gates said he's encouraged by fact that the W7-X project, and nuclear fusion research in general, is the result of close collaboration among scientists from around the world.

'Fusion is a problem best solved by the peoples of all nations working together, since the entire world will benefit from it."

This article, along with working fusion reactors, is short on technical achievements, and long on political overtones. I've got a contact who worked in the field for 10 years before changing careers, in part due to lack of feasibility and in part due to the efforts to keep research grants coming in.

Perhaps the technology will actually work some day, but so far it appears the real challenge will be if it can ever be economically viable.