Nuclear Fusion is a Real Possibility, New Models Suggest

We are not talking Cold Fusion either so calm down all you debunkers.
>>If new computer simulations pan out in the real world, nuclear fusion, the power source that makes stars shine, may be a practical possibility here on Earth, scientists say.

Also a method of testing effects of nuclear weopons in the lab.

Simulations at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico revealed a fusion reactor that surpasses the "break-even" point of energy input versus energy output, indicating a self-sustaining fusion reaction. (This doesn't break any laws of physics for the same reason that starting a fire with a match doesn't).


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The article doesn't mention containment which has been a more than trivial issue. Besides we know how it got Doc Ock into trouble in the Spiderman movie.
For more reading ..

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Call me retardedly ignorant on the subject, but wouldn't it be cause for concern to start the process of creating a star right here on earth? what would make the fusion process stop or contain itself in a nice lil box?

Bit like experimenting with black holes on earth...sounds highly risky...whats the worst case senario for attempting solar nuclear fusion on earth?

Models? The boys at Livermore don't need no stinking models.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Originally posted by SaturnFX
Call me retardedly ignorant on the subject, but wouldn't it be cause for concern to start the process of creating a star right here on earth? what would make the fusion process stop or contain itself in a nice lil box?

Bit like experimenting with black holes on earth...sounds highly risky...whats the worst case senario for attempting solar nuclear fusion on earth?

They contain it using massive electromagnetic fields (it's an ultra hot plasma) and the fusion stops as soon as you stop adding fuel and it finishes burning up it's current fuel (which doesn't last long).

Nah, the experiments with LHC and the possibility of miniature black holes on earth aren't as dangerous as they sound. Speculations about microscopic black holes at the LHC refer to particles produced in the collisions of pairs of protons, each of which has an energy comparable to that of a mosquito in flight. Astronomical black holes are much heavier than anything that could be produced at the LHC. Your talking microscopic black holes and the particles creating them would disintegrate immediately. Black holes, therefore, would have no time to start accreting matter and to cause macroscopic effects. Remember all we're doing is smashing together high energy particles, the same thing the universe as a whole does tens of millions of times per day (Cosmic Rays).

Originally posted by SaturnFX
Call me retardedly ignorant on the subject, but wouldn't it be cause for concern to start the process of creating a star right here on earth? what would make the fusion process stop or contain itself in a nice lil box?

Bit like experimenting with black holes on earth...sounds highly risky...whats the worst case senario for attempting solar nuclear fusion on earth?

It's actually not solar nuclear fusion, either. The process that takes place on the sun is pretty darned complex and takes a comparative lot of time, pressure, and temperature. What these guys are modeling is D-T fusion, which is the easiest one to reach and has a nice energy output, plus you can easily get your hands on both.

If you were fairly handy in the machine shop, had lots of time and/or money and liked physics, you could build a real live D-D fusion reactor at home. People have done it. It won't have anywhere near breakeven, but it'll definitely fuse, and if you did your work well, it could put out enough neutrons to give you long term health issues. Heck, you could even run D-T in it if you had the tritium.

If you were amazingly handy and had connections to get the technical documents, had a high vacuum chamber about 10 meters across and a few million bucks, you MIGHT be able to reach breakeven. Only the Navy knows for sure.

edit to add:

Is it time for a "ez-home fusion" thread? It's physically dangerous to do yourself, I tend not to post that sort of thing here.

The story is fraught with weird twists and turns, back stabs, papers vanishing in the night, thefts of patents, dogs eating homework, people being figuratively tossed under buses, things becoming classified, becoming unclassified, being discontinued but still funded as classified under another name and place with different people on the project unbeknownst to the original company, people presenting technology that doesn't match the original design as being what was done, the Navy, the USAF, George Bush making weird statements during SOTU addresses instead of the disclosure we were told would occur, projects reaching fruition and being scrapped that day for no good reason and deaths of scientists. As always, I tend to think you guys know this stuff so I don't bother posting it, for all I know it's been done to death.