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News & ArtsFriday, May 22, 2009
Science A Star on Earth
Posted by Charles Mudede on Fri, May 22, 2009 at 3:53 PM
When the world's most powerful laser facility flicks the switch on its first full-scale experiments later this month, a tiny star will be born on Earth.
The National Ignition Facility (NIF) in California aims to demonstrate the feasibility of nuclear fusion, the reaction at the heart of the Sun and a potentially abundant, clean energy source for the planet.
The future, the future, the future is here.
(This post owes everything to Aaron.)
1
There is no such thing as a "clean" energy source.
Energy always has some negative impacts, whether in mining and disposal (nuclear fission), operation (hydroelectricity, tidal, and wind), or manufacturing (solar).
That said, commercial fusion power generation has always been 20 years off since the 1950s, so I wouldn't hold your breath.
Energy always has some negative impacts, whether in mining and disposal (nuclear fission), operation (hydroelectricity, tidal, and wind), or manufacturing (solar).
That said, commercial fusion power generation has always been 20 years off since the 1950s, so I wouldn't hold your breath.
2
That would be so cool. Actualy also, at least in theory, there could be a completly efficent means of energy production.
3
I thought they have been failing at fusion power with lasers for years. Have they made a significant advancement so it will work this time? Even if we can reliably do this with lasers, for it to work as a power plant we would need to do this several times a minute. We already have 'created stars' with fusion power with other techniques (even besides nuclear fission bombs as the catalyst). This as an energy source is a very long way away from happening. This crisis is here and now. It is important to work on things such as this but we have more pressing matters.
Science in the news always fails.
Science in the news always fails.
4
@naysayers:
So you ask for research into alternative energy sources, and then pooh-pooh research that doesn't measure up.
Science actually doesn't work very well when it is goal oriented. Most great discoveries are accidental. Carl Sagan used a great analogy of imagining a government wanting researchers to come up with some means of instant remote video and audio communication over the air in 1890. So many then unknown pieces of technology to make what we know as television work have their own disciplines today, and many of them stumbled upon by accident.
You can't prioritize things and say "we have more pressing matters" on X when we want Y, because science doesn't always adhere to that agenda.
I think this is potentially exciting and important research. Maybe it will directly help solve pressing issues, or maybe not. Most likely, combined with all the other experiments done in physics large and small alike, it will help us understand the physical world.
Without that, finding solutions to immediate, serious and pressing issues are harder without the increased understanding of the problem.
So you ask for research into alternative energy sources, and then pooh-pooh research that doesn't measure up.
Science actually doesn't work very well when it is goal oriented. Most great discoveries are accidental. Carl Sagan used a great analogy of imagining a government wanting researchers to come up with some means of instant remote video and audio communication over the air in 1890. So many then unknown pieces of technology to make what we know as television work have their own disciplines today, and many of them stumbled upon by accident.
You can't prioritize things and say "we have more pressing matters" on X when we want Y, because science doesn't always adhere to that agenda.
I think this is potentially exciting and important research. Maybe it will directly help solve pressing issues, or maybe not. Most likely, combined with all the other experiments done in physics large and small alike, it will help us understand the physical world.
Without that, finding solutions to immediate, serious and pressing issues are harder without the increased understanding of the problem.
5
right, that's why saying we will be on the moon in ten years was such a failure.
that's why development of V2 rockets and better radar and huge atom bomb due to WW@ needs didn't work and failed so miserably.
That's why we had to invade the Japanese homeland and lose 1,000,000 of our troops, remember?
etc.
that's why development of V2 rockets and better radar and huge atom bomb due to WW@ needs didn't work and failed so miserably.
That's why we had to invade the Japanese homeland and lose 1,000,000 of our troops, remember?
etc.
7
Fusion will work, the physics behind it is all sound. the only question is whether we figure it out in 20 years 0r 100 years.
8
The FRENCH lead the world in this research. Last I checked, Germany and France are both heavily invested in atomic projects and research, not to mention Japan and India.
It will happen.
The unwashed masses really have no brains, but they sure bray a lot on blogs.
Thanks for the post.
It will happen.
The unwashed masses really have no brains, but they sure bray a lot on blogs.
Thanks for the post.
9
@4 Paul F - I agree completely with what you are saying. I just don't think people should look at this as a get out of jail free card when it comes to energy/pollution crisis.
@8 - There is a large Polywell fusion system being built in France but I don't know if I would say they lead the world. The one they are building is a culmination of a world wide effort. I think the current best Polywell is in South Korea. I agree with #6 M. Simon that it is currently the best system.
@8 - There is a large Polywell fusion system being built in France but I don't know if I would say they lead the world. The one they are building is a culmination of a world wide effort. I think the current best Polywell is in South Korea. I agree with #6 M. Simon that it is currently the best system.
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