The discussion revolves around the recent confirmation of a nuclear fusion breakthrough by a California team, specifically the achievement of ignition. Participants explore the significance of this milestone and its potential implications for energy transformation, while questioning the practical applications of the technology.
Participants exhibit disagreement regarding the significance and implications of the nuclear fusion breakthrough, with multiple competing views on its potential for practical energy transformation and the motivations behind the research.
Limitations include uncertainty about the reproducibility of results and the dependence on the definitions of "success" in the context of nuclear fusion research.
I would not chacterize ignition as an arbitrary milestone. One the other hand, I am not selling my oil stocks.hutchphd said:It is an incremental improvement past an arbitrary "milestone". Don't count your neutrons before they hatch.
Of course the National Ignition Facility is going to claim achieving ignition is a big success since it's in the name but the reality is a sport-stadium size laser is not going to bring about an era of cheap fusion. The main purpose of the NIF is nuclear weapons research, not practical fusion.kyphysics said:Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough Confirmed: California Team Achieved Ignition
BY JESS THOMSON ON 8/12/22 AT 9:20 AM EDT
https://www.newsweek.com/nuclear-fusion-energy-milestone-ignition-confirmed-california-1733238
For those of us not literate in the field, how significant is this and what are the prospects for a true energy transformation from here?