New Fusion Record!

[Mike]

A great step forward in nuclear fusion! Too bad it's the Chinese making these giant steps. Of course, it could just be propaganda. Who knows with them? Then again, the article is in the Smithsonian Magazine which should be trustworthy.

In a new world record, China's "artificial sun" project has sustained a nuclear fusion reaction for more than 17 minutes, reports Anthony Cuthbertson for the Independent. In the latest experiment, superheated plasma reached 126 million degrees Fahrenheit—that's roughly five times hotter than the sun, which radiates a scorching 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit at the surface and about 27 million degrees Fahrenheit at its core.

Light It Up HERE

[Dave Grubb]

I would prefer our flag on top of that reactor---but I am encouraged that we are coming close to a breakthrough on this dream.

From you link:

In theory, deuterium can be obtained from Earth's oceans; one liter of seawater is estimated to have enough fusion material to produce energy equivalent to 300 liters of gasoline, Newsweek reports.

Currently, China's EAST reactor is being used to test technology for an even bigger tokamak reactor under construction in France. In a collaboration between 35 countries, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) will be the world's largest nuclear reactor. The United States, the United Kingdom, China, India, and all states in the European Union are involved in the project, Live Science reports. The reactor, expected to begin working in 2025, also has the world's most powerful magnetic field, which is 280,000 times as strong as Earth's own.

[Mike]

I'm impressed by the 17 minutes of fusion. That is a lifetime compared to past experiments.

I still wonder when our experiments will ignite the Earth and make a mini-Sun.

[Dave Grubb]

I still wonder when our experiments will ignite the Earth and make a mini-Sun.

With a little planning and a bit of luck we might skip that phase

[Mike]

The thought caused great concerns during the Manhattan Project. They were still not certain what would happen when they detonated the first nuclear test bomb. The scientists were making bets on whether the atmosphere would ignite! I guess that was a sure way to end the war...........

Early on in the Manhattan Project, the scientists taking part knew that they were pursuing a weapon that could give humankind the unprecedented ability to destroy itself. What they didn't know, however, was how this destruction might occur.

In 1942, Hungarian-American physicist Edward Teller, known now as "the father of the hydrogen bomb," entertained a devastating nightmare scenario: that an atomic bomb could ignite the atmosphere and the oceans. He reasoned that a nuclear fission bomb might create temperatures so extreme that it would cause the hydrogen atoms in the air and water to fuse together into helium, just like in our sun, generating a runaway reaction that would eventually engulf the globe, extinguishing all life and turning the Earth into a miniature star.


When Teller informed some of his colleagues of this possibility, he was greeted with both skepticism and fear. Hans Bethe immediately dismissed the idea, but according to author Pearl Buck, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Arthur Compton was so concerned that he told Robert Oppenheimer that if there were even the slightest chance of this "ultimate catastrophe" playing out, all work on the bomb should stop.


So a study was commissioned to explore the matter in detail, and six months before the Trinity test, the very first detonation of nuclear device, Edward Teller and Emil Konopinski announced their findings in a report with the ominous title "Ignition of the Atmosphere With Nuclear Bombs."


"It is shown that, whatever the temperature to which a section of the atmosphere may be heated, no self-propagating chain of nuclear reactions is likely to be started. The energy losses to radiation always overcompensate the gains due to the reactions."


As we've thankfully witnessed after more than 2,000 nuclear detonations, Teller and Konopinski's conclusion appears to be correct.

SOURCE

[Honda]

I have always thought that nuclear energy was the most cost-effective and environmentally positive source. Why we let anti-nuke wackos stop our progress is beyond me.

[Dave Grubb]

From your last post:

When Teller informed some of his colleagues of this possibility, he was greeted with both skepticism and fear. Hans Bethe immediately dismissed the idea, but according to author Pearl Buck, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Arthur Compton was so concerned that he told Robert Oppenheimer that if there were even the slightest chance of this "ultimate catastrophe" playing out, all work on the bomb should stop.

The inclusion of Pearl Buck---also a Nobel Prize winner tripped a curiosity in me since I am a long time fan of her life and writings and she lived only a few miles from me. How she might have been involved with Arthur Compton was an entirely different area of her interest---but should not have been a surprise.

It did not take long to ferret out that connection.

Fascinating

[UTAH]

It's always good to see progress made in this area (even if our enemies are doing it).

Utah 1989: Fleischmann and Pons fraudulently claimed they'd engineered cold fusion - still a stain on our history.

Hunter

[TriGuy]

I have always thought that nuclear energy was the most cost-effective and environmentally positive source. Why we let anti-nuke wackos stop our progress is beyond me.

because of the waste products of Fission. Only toxic for 10-30,000 years with no place to store them. and then you have accidents like Chernoble and Fukishima. Fusion promises to eliminate that

[Honda]

because of the waste products of Fission. Only toxic for 10-30,000 years with no place to store them. and then you have accidents like Chernoble and Fukishima. Fusion promises to eliminate that

Is still nuclear energy so my response remains the same.

[UTAH]

Yeah, if creating energy from nuclear energy is done right, I'm all for it too.

Hunter