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olePigeon · Mar 11, 2009, 01:27 PM

https://lasers.llnl.gov/newsroom/pro...9/february.php

Mark today on your calendar. This is one of the most exciting breakthroughs in scientific history. The NIF (National Ignition Facility & Photon Science) is well on their way to being the first organization to create and sustain a fusion reaction. Today marks the official completion of the NIF facility with a successful test firing in late February.

All data was collected after the first test fire, and it is looking extremely promising! The goal, of course, is to create more energy than was used to start the fusion process in the first place.

They point 192 high powered lasers at a BB sized amount of hydrogen. The hydrogen atoms fuse, then release an immense amount of energy during the process... more energy than what was used to start the process. It will continue to fuse until the hydrogen runs out and, presumably, you end up with some iron.

olePigeon · Mar 11, 2009, 01:30 PM

You may notice they're ahead of schedule by about a year.

osiris · Mar 11, 2009, 01:37 PM

This is exciting news. A step towards self-sustaining energy without the risk/need of fission.

Dakar V · Mar 11, 2009, 01:49 PM

Finally, my gillette fusion can live up to its name.

olePigeon · Mar 11, 2009, 02:20 PM

Originally Posted by Dakar V

Finally, my gillette fusion can live up to its name.

It can never live up to its name, not against my Gillette Fusion Gamer.

Dakar V · Mar 11, 2009, 02:22 PM

I'm looking forward to the Gillette Large Hardon Collider

Edit: Ha, thought about purposely misspelling Hadron, decided against it, and then I do a typo. Fantastic.

Hawkeye_a · Mar 11, 2009, 02:34 PM

The next big thing ?

osiris · Mar 11, 2009, 02:43 PM

Originally Posted by Hawkeye_a

The next big thing ?

If viewed through a microscope.

mduell · Mar 11, 2009, 06:00 PM

Note NIF is under the auspices of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). NIF isn't about creating fusion power plants, it's about producing data (equation of state parameters, etc) to improve nuclear weapon modeling.

Chuckit · Mar 11, 2009, 06:23 PM

Originally Posted by mduell

Note NIF is under the auspices of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). NIF isn't about creating fusion power plants, it's about producing data (equation of state parameters, etc) to improve nuclear weapon modeling.

A lot of incredibly useful things began with military applications in mind. Fission was the same way.

nonhuman · Mar 11, 2009, 06:38 PM

Originally Posted by Chuckit

A lot of incredibly useful things began with military applications in mind. Fission was the same way.

Not to mention microwave ovens.

brassplayersrock² · Mar 11, 2009, 06:44 PM

and the internet

moonmonkey · Mar 12, 2009, 12:59 AM

and big bloody bombs.

turtle777 · Mar 12, 2009, 01:27 AM

Originally Posted by Hawkeye_a

The next big thing ?

Dakar's Hadron ?

Edit: Ha, thought about purposely misspelling Hardon, decided against it, and then I do a typo. Fantastic.

-t

Railroader · Mar 12, 2009, 07:36 AM

Originally Posted by Chuckit

A lot of incredibly useful things began with military applications in mind. Fission was the same way.

Originally Posted by nonhuman

Not to mention microwave ovens.

Originally Posted by brassplayersrock²

and the internet

Originally Posted by moonmonkey

and big bloody bombs.

And Silly Putty.

hookem2oo7 · Mar 12, 2009, 09:12 AM

Originally Posted by Railroader

And Silly Putty.

and duct tape.

Railroader · Mar 12, 2009, 12:30 PM

Originally Posted by hookem2oo7

and duct tape.

So who made this?

LegendaryPinkOx · Mar 12, 2009, 12:43 PM

Why little yellow ducks of course!

hyteckit · Mar 12, 2009, 12:59 PM

Fusion? What type of fusion?

Nuclear Fusion?
Cold Fusion?
Laser Fusion?

Wake me up when cold fusion is possible.

hyteckit · Mar 12, 2009, 01:05 PM

Wait. Does it mean be can now build a ship like the USS Enterprise on Star Trek?

nonhuman · Mar 12, 2009, 01:07 PM

Originally Posted by hyteckit

Wait. Does it mean be can now build a ship like the USS Enterprise on Star Trek?

No. The Enterprise was powered by an anti-matter reaction, completely different, and much more efficient.

Dakar V · Mar 12, 2009, 01:09 PM

Originally Posted by nonhuman

No. The Enterprise was powered by an anti-matter reaction, completely different, and much more efficient.

To be fair, their secondary form of power generation was Fusion Reactors.

turtle777 · Mar 12, 2009, 01:50 PM

Originally Posted by Railroader

So who made this?

A German company called Henkel.

You better be glad it's not called Enten Band

-t

hyteckit · Mar 12, 2009, 01:52 PM

Originally Posted by nonhuman

No. The Enterprise was powered by an anti-matter reaction, completely different, and much more efficient.

You mean it's powered by a black hole?

olePigeon · Mar 12, 2009, 01:53 PM

Originally Posted by hyteckit

Fusion? What type of fusion?

Nuclear Fusion?
Cold Fusion?
Laser Fusion?

Wake me up when cold fusion is possible.

Since they fired 192 lasers at it, I would assume laser fusion. Cold fusion is way less likely than a normal heated, but controlled fusion reaction.

nonhuman · 05:17 PM

Originally Posted by hyteckit

You mean it's powered by a black hole?

No, it's powered by matter and anti-matter being combined and annihilating. A process which released a tremendous amount of energy (specifically the mass of the reactants times the square of the speed of light).

hyteckit · Mar 12, 2009, 02:04 PM

Originally Posted by nonhuman

No, it's powered by matter and anti-matter being combined and annihilating. A process which released a tremendous amount of energy (specifically the square of the mass of the reactants times the speed of light).

And where would the anti-matter be collected from?

Chuckit · Mar 12, 2009, 02:26 PM

Originally Posted by hyteckit

And where would the anti-matter be collected from?

We don't know all the ways that antimatter comes to be in the universe. But they obviously have a way of containing antimatter without spectacularly blowing up, so they wouldn't need to carry around something that produces it — they'd just need to refuel occasionally. Maybe Starfleet located some antimatter clouds that it harvests like we do oil.

nonhuman · Mar 12, 2009, 02:38 PM

Originally Posted by hyteckit

And where would the anti-matter be collected from?

As used aboard the USS Enterprise, antimatter is first generated at major Starfleet fueling facilities by combined solar-fusion charge reversal devices, which process proton and neutron beams into antideuterons, and are joined by a positron beam accelerator to produce antihydrogen

Did you really want to know?

Big Mac · Mar 12, 2009, 02:54 PM

Sounds Futurama-y. Are we sure we're not going to screw up the fabric of space and time doing this?

olePigeon · Mar 12, 2009, 04:37 PM

Current methods makes harvesting antimatter extremely expensive. Matter/antimatter power plant would be way too cost prohibitive.

Originally Posted by Big Mac

Sounds Futurama-y. Are we sure we're not going to screw up the fabric of space and time doing this?

By doing fusion? No. By exploding matter & antimatter, not in any meaningful way.

Laminar · Mar 12, 2009, 05:05 PM

Originally Posted by hyteckit

And where would the anti-matter be collected from?

They found a species of small animals that poop it out.

Spheric Harlot · Mar 12, 2009, 05:14 PM

Originally Posted by nonhuman

No, it's powered by matter and anti-matter being combined and annihilating. A process which released a tremendous amount of energy (specifically the square of the mass of the reactants times the speed of light).

I'm WAY out of my depth here, but shouldn't it be the square of the speed of light time the mass?

nonhuman · Mar 12, 2009, 05:17 PM

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot

I'm WAY out of my depth here, but shouldn't it be the square of the speed of light time the mass?

Damnit, I was trying to phrase it in an unambiguous way and managed to screw it all up...

mduell · Mar 12, 2009, 07:26 PM

Originally Posted by hyteckit

Fusion? What type of fusion?

Nuclear Fusion?
Cold Fusion?
Laser Fusion?

Wake me up when cold fusion is possible.

Inertial confinement fusion.

Dakar V · Mar 12, 2009, 07:28 PM

Con fusion.

Stogieman · Mar 13, 2009, 02:22 AM

1.21 swindle watts!

Demonhood · Mar 13, 2009, 03:11 AM

Originally Posted by Stogieman

1.21 swindle watts!

1.21 gigawhuts?

Railroader · Mar 14, 2009, 06:19 PM

You can only get that from a lighting bolt

Railroader · Mar 14, 2009, 06:19 PM

Laminar · Apr 1, 2009, 10:28 AM