Nuclear Fusion closer to becoming a reality?

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go birds
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Re: Nuclear Fusion closer to becoming a reality?

Post by go birds »

gdi where tf is jim

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Felix The Cat
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Re: Nuclear Fusion closer to becoming a reality?

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IMADreamer wrote:It all seems to good to be true. Some big corporation will come in and [expletive] it all up before we ever get to the point of "free energy" or whatever the pipe dream is. Back when they were building nuclear reactors it was said they would make energy so cheap it would be free. ha.
Wouldn't the big corporations _want_ this kind of breakthrough so they can make more profits off "cheaper" energy? It's not like fusion is going to allow some upstart company to compete with the big boys.

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Donnie Ebert
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Re: Nuclear Fusion closer to becoming a reality?

Post by Donnie Ebert »

If this means Jim has made it to the globally-warmed future, maybe he has left cryptic instructions on who wins the Series this year.

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heyzeus
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Re: Nuclear Fusion closer to becoming a reality?

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We could also use Swirls here. He's a nuclear thingamajigger.

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Re: Nuclear Fusion closer to becoming a reality?

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Image

what the [expletive] is that? shore is Purty.
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Schlich
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Re: Nuclear Fusion closer to becoming a reality?

Post by Schlich »

heyzeus wrote:
go birds wrote:
Scientists in California saednesday night that they have for the first time managed to release more energy from their nuclear fusion experiment than they put into it, which marks a critical threshold in eventually achieving the goal of a self-sustaining nuclear-fusion reaction.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/scien ... 24237.html
Doesn't that violate some law of thermodynamics?

I don't know [expletive] about [expletive]. We need Jim up in here. JIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIM. Answer this.
From what I understand, it doesn't violate laws of thermodynamics because the extra energy that is released comes from the internal energy of the molecules. Basically more energy is stored in two hydrogen molecules than in one helium molecule. If this energy released is greater than the energy it took to fuse the molecules, we have an efficient fusion reaction.

AWvsCBsteeeerike3
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Re: Nuclear Fusion closer to becoming a reality?

Post by AWvsCBsteeeerike3 »

iirc, it all has to do with entropy of the system. Maybe. Energy can change forms (ie, become heat) but entropy has to balance out or something like that.

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slide_into_first
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Re: Nuclear Fusion closer to becoming a reality?

Post by slide_into_first »

Conventional deuteron fusion is a two-step process, in which an unstable high energy intermediary is formed:
D + D → 4He * + 24 MeV
Experiments have observed only three decay pathways for this excited-state nucleus, with the branching ratio showing the probability that any given intermediate follows a particular pathway. The products formed via these decay pathways are:
4He* → n + 3He + 3.3 MeV (ratio=50%)
4He* → p + 3H + 4.0 MeV (ratio=50%)
4He* → 4He + γ + 24 MeV (ratio=10−6)

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Fat_Bulldog
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Re: Nuclear Fusion closer to becoming a reality?

Post by Fat_Bulldog »

slide_into_first wrote:Conventional deuteron fusion is a two-step process, in which an unstable high energy intermediary is formed:
D + D → 4He * + 24 MeV
Experiments have observed only three decay pathways for this excited-state nucleus, with the branching ratio showing the probability that any given intermediate follows a particular pathway. The products formed via these decay pathways are:
4He* → n + 3He + 3.3 MeV (ratio=50%)
4He* → p + 3H + 4.0 MeV (ratio=50%)
4He* → 4He + γ + 24 MeV (ratio=10−6)
Beat me to it.

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Re: Nuclear Fusion closer to becoming a reality?

Post by jim »

heyzeus wrote:
go birds wrote:
Scientists in California said on Wednesday night that they have for the first time managed to release more energy from their nuclear fusion experiment than they put into it, which marks a critical threshold in eventually achieving the goal of a self-sustaining nuclear-fusion reaction.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/scien ... 24237.html
Doesn't that violate some law of thermodynamics?

I don't know [expletive] about [expletive]. We need Jim up in here. JIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIM. Answer this.
What are you asking? About fusion violating some law of physics? Matter is converted to energy during the process of fusion, so it doesn't violate anything. They keep saying they are close, and it seems promising, but I'll kind of believe it when I see it. The process seems like it should be simpler than it is.

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