I would not call it a "discovery". I'd call it an achievement. It's something they managed to do, it's not something that was out there waiting to be uncovered. Let's hope it can be scaled up immensely. Wonder if someone could make a hybrid tokamak with laser ignition.
Mmm yes and no its been thought of impossible If you discover what once was thought impossible made possible then it have discovered its possible. Going on your line of thought yes our achievement in using weapons as apes was still us discovering a new path
Youre explanations are straight forward and answer all the questions most people are looking for. Im no astronomer nor am I a physicist but its nice to stay updated with your content. More single serving videos is good as long as you keep your weekly bite sized breakdown of it all in one video a week
every video on fusion and quantum computers starts by explaining all the basics, i lost count how many times i've had to sit through people explaining the basics again and again. thank you so much for adding timestamps!
Short single topic videos means that you'll have more videos throughout the week. But it also means that you'll have a lot more work. Deep dives on complicated topics are good.
Yes, I really like that you take this topic out in a special video. I have seen and heard the news several times for the past two days, but no body care to explain how much is still ahead, before we can call it a success and harvest the fusion energy. So: thanks!
Yeah they literally have to levitate whatever fuel they choose to use. A large enough amount to say, power a city, would be monumentally difficult to levitate to prevent it touching the walls of the tanks. If the levitation ever were to fail, kaboom.
Very happy to see this short special edition. I'd been hoping ever since the announcement that you'd offer a more realistic perspective. I think the mainstream media have honorable intentions with regard to "breakthroughs" such as this, but almost without exception they over-simplify and lead a lot of readers/viewers to an unrealistic view of some tech/science developments. You can be pretty sure a large number of people think fusion power is almost on our doorstep.
I enjoyed this shorter, subject specific quick ish dive. It was a nice snippet that offered a summary, it’s potential, and info for further (personal) research. 👌🏽
I still feel the best summary of this nuclear fusion result is found by googling the words: "Sabine Hossenfelder How close is nuclear fusion power" and listening to that to the end. Nuclear Fusion researchers and much of the media that hypes this story is guilty of conflating Q-plasma with Q-total in order to make this seem bigger than it really is.
I really like this style of videos, that are more focused on a single scientific concept or event, it's a bit like the "guide to space" videos that you used to make and don't anymore.
Hi Fraser, of course, I enjoyed this; and would enjoy any short video on a specific topic. It's reminiscent of the good ol' guide to space. But love everything you do, whatever it is.
Hi fraser, really enjoyed the fusion review, the 10 minute slot seemed the right depth for me to engage with the topic. More like this please ,. regards Ray R
Really enjoyed the short video that focused on the one subject. Your explanation of the process etc, really help me understand what has been achieved. Excellent work thank you.
I'm pleased that you're excited about this, too. As I said earlier, it's been a Promethean week. This achievement is a good sign that all the world is not slaving away in vain. It can be done...kinda. I wonder what happened when the first hominids tried to make and control fire. Hope they didn't take out a whole forest, lol. Mahalo for the needed clarity; we burned an island the first time we tried fusion, lol.
What about Helion's approach to fusion? That eliminates many of the caveats outlined here. I think this achievement is exciting in and of itself, but it's the larger effort of fusion that is really exciting. So many approaches... so much science / engineering! Really excited about the future!! :D
Helion and General Fusion are a lot more exciting to me than ITER and LLNL. It sort of feels like the engineering net positive is first going to come through a VC startup of that sort. Enough of the science has been done that an iterative engineering approach is probably viable. People seem to forget that a lot of technology has historically gone through the engineering of "what works" before the science of how it works, or more precisely how it can be generalized, is done.
Until they finish their 7th generation machine and actually capture the energy output, we won’t know for sure. But even if it doesn’t pan out as an energy source, it’s a relatively easy way of making tritium and helium-3 for other reactors (such as this one) to use.
@@richardgonzales6289 My understanding is that depends on the exact definition of ignition used. Their method is a hybrid of inertial confinement and magnetic confinement and neither well accepted method of calculation cleanly applies to the design as far as I can tell. "Fusion Ignition" is really more of marketing term than a useful benchmark.
Proving something is possible is HUGE. Eventually we will find simple life on another planet that will prove what is POSSIBLE. Proving anything possible is HUGE
Very informative and to the point. Much appreciated, many thanks from myself and my eight year old son who watched it with me. He loves his space news.
@@frasercain Well, I know, but lots of people thought Fusion wasn't possible - know with this first step, theyve at least proved them wrong,. Things can only get better, to quote Brian Cox.
I think the fact that this happened is historic. Scientists managed a net gain of energy for the very first time, changing the question from if practical fusion energy could be achieved to when. This is massive. Now scientists finally have a pathway to practical fusion. This is certainly a baby step and we have kilometers to go before we reach our goal, but now it is finally something that has become a question of engineering and not one of plausibility.
The Sun cheats by being huge and using quantum tunneling. So, that makes this even more impressive. Hopefully, the Tokamaks will reach this level soon. Thanks, Fraser!
No the sun does not cheat, there is not cheating. The sun FUNCTIONS in reality and only produces energy due to its huge mass. Without this mass, fusion will never work to produce energy. This is very basic science.
I really enjoyed the jump you made away from your normal schedule and genre of video. I would enjoy a monthly video from you somewhere close to the types of videos made by Isaac Arthur, but with your own style. Another caveat to that idea would be that the videos are base more on what could happen in the next 100 to 200 years as opposed to billions of years into the future or the end of the Universe. These videos could take the viewer from what we know today to some kind of more likely shorter term future scenarios that might seem more relatable than million or billion year scenarios.
Finely someone to to explaining the fusion breakthrough correctly. It’s more political at the moment. We are still many decades away from fusion being useful if every. Still it’s great new and hopefully breakthroughs come a little quicker.
I enjoy the short(er) format; especially for things I haven't had the chance to read up on yet on special topics. But I never mind the longer and other news mixed in format
Love the newsletter and space bites! This was also a welcome addition for the gravity of the discovery (see what I did there?!? I know you love a good dad joke!)
Great synopsis and summary of the experiment. You always do a great job of distilling information! Keep it up. I would appreciate some shorter single topic vids. Much easier to watch/listen in my busy life.
It's a Star in a bottle, honestly at great insight to what we are chasing would be to watch the Keanu Reeves movie 'Chain Reaction'. As the controlling resonance thereby perpetuating the magnetic bottle that would contain and compress(fuse) the fuels and allow for the precipitates(heavy metal & exotic matter) to be extracted and controlled. Yes, I have some insight, as I have worked on this project for decades. It will occur suddenly as the technology keep progressing, time, always more time, hopefully in my lifetime so I may see it . . .
Stop and use your brain to think about what you just said. 'star in a bottle'....this is impossible. For a star to work, it must have a huge mass which will never work at a small scale. The idea of nuclear fusion as a energy producer on Earth will never happen, this is a fantasy not based on science used by capitalists to fool the public on one of the biggest problems of the capitalist system, unplanned fossil fuel abuse. Geo-thermal energy is the only sustainable energy source on Earth but capitalism will never be able to unleash it. This video is passively promoting some of the lies around this fusion fantasy. But at least he does criticize the fantasy on some levels. "one day it might be the case"......WRONG.
One of the methods employed by the pioneer of modern science, Johannes Kepler, who changed the world of science in the early 17th Century, is a method he used in his book New Astronomy in which he begins with exploring the errors that have trapped astronomers for 17 centuries up to his time, into dead-end pursuit in the exploring the Universe, from Ptolemy to Copernicus. After his extensive refutation he presents how the Universe actually functions. With this method he set the stage for modern science, clearing away defective methods that had crippled science. In Kepler's case, the errors he exposed were based on false axiomatic assumption, typically derived from religious doctrines. In modern time cleverly crafted false axiomatic assumptions have been intentionally created by the masters of empire to achieve political objectives, such as driving science into the ground. The policy for driving science into a dead-end pursuit, to disable its natural effectiveness, reflects the core policy of Paolo Sarpi, the reformer of the Venetian Empire back in the 16th Century. Sarpi had recognized that the nature of science is deadly to the objectives of empire, but is also a natural force of humanity that it cannot be prevented. Thus he developed a policy to allow science to some degree, but to hinder it by all possible means, thereby grinding it into the ground. The policy of thus grinding society into the ground became later a core feature of the Fabian Society of the new empire in the north that had appropriately named itself, according to its core policy direction, after the Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus who gained his fame for his policy of not confronting a superior enemy, but grinding it into the ground by subversive means. Fabious had defeated the vastly superior forces of Hannibal that way. The famous author of the empire crowd, H. G. Wells, loved the Fabian's effort, except he thought it was not radical enough. The devolution of culture and science is still a key element in the political word that continues to be controlled by the masters of empire. Over the years the attempts to throttle scientific progress have become ever more exotic as means to hinder the natural unfolding of science. One of these pursuits is found in the arena of nuclear-fusion-power research. Nuclear fusion is an empty promise of a utopia in a power-starved world that can be used as a trap to prevent mankind from exploring the real nature of the Universe and mankind's power to develop with it according to its principles. One of the most basic principles that we see reflected everywhere in the physical universe is the Principle of Least Action. The physical universe (including the biological sphere and living processes) is organized in such a fashion that the least amount of action is required to produce a certain result. Unnatural research is of a type that defies this principle, resulting in an effective method to 'guide' mankind into tying itself into knots, which is the evident hallmark of nuclear-fusion-power research. Nuclear-fusion power has no role to play in a Universe that its self-expanding, self-powering, and self-developing. The nuclear-fusion powered Sun is a dream-construct located in the perception of a self-consuming, winding down, entropic Universe. The real Universe is anti-entropic, and electrically self-powered. 99.999% of the mass of the Universe exists in the plasma state that is electrically charged, facilitating vast electric currents in response to electromagnetic principles. Tons of evidence exists that shows plainly that vast electric currents flowing in plasma interconnect all the galaxies in the Universe -- in an Electric Universe -- and within the galaxies, power the stars -- on the Electric Sun principle -- and also power the galaxies themselves. It is not possible to acknowledge the Universe as being anti-entropic in nature, while recognizing every sun within it as a self-consuming nuclear-fusion furnace that is winding down its existence. This paradox does not exist in the Electric Universe -- the real Universe -- which thereby renders the pursuit of nuclear-fusion power, for which no requirement exists in the natural world, an unnatural pursuit, because nuclear-fusion simply doesn't power anything in the Universe. This is also the reason why nuclear fusion is failing, and the further reason why it is being promoted by the masters of empire as it exhibits all the hallmarks of a dead end pursuit where huge efforts can be consumed for unusable effects. Indeed why would nuclear-fusion-power be needed anyway, if the Universe itself is Power?
QUESTION SUBMISSION 1: Hi Fraser. Way into the future, once we have established a significant civilisation on the moon, is there a limit to the amount of activity that we can perform until it starts to affect the stabilisation of the earth? Where is the tipping point from a combination of mining and building structures?
Helion (private company) has a variation in which they compress two plasma toruses inside a piston. They also have a solution to the starting deuterium and tritium issue.
Afternoon Fraser, you should have a look at what Helion is doing with their work on a clean energy. Watch "A New Way to Achieve Nuclear Fusion: Helion". You'll enjoy this and it answers some of your questions. Best wishes.
I prefer this over space bites. The more bites you take in one go, the more it becomes a meal. Short vids are perfest if you're interested but just want to get a quick update on a topic.
Glad you put it in this light, I've been very disappointed in the coverage so far. This was a major accomplishment to to sure, but it's NOT a huge breakthrough. This step is the "10 years away" from 50 years ago. We are finally making more progress though! Well done NIF!
@@frasercain Fanboy 😉 The huge accomplishment will be when they are able to generate more energy than is required to create the reaction. 300MJ to generate 3MJ of energy isn't exactly earth shattering. Amazing feat of engineering in the form of the pellet construction and timing of the lasers to be sure, though.
You should check the 7th generation reactor of Helion Energy being built now. Probably very close to real net power. And the 8th generation is actually planned to be a comercial prototype.
And with the 15th generation reactor the big breakthrough happens, that's when they finally understand why it's a lot harder than they thought. Then they diversify into solar panels and stuff and the next startup company comes along with their ambitious plans.
The sooner we the people issue our own currency, that we back by productivity, and make it illegal to gamble, the faster we will have FUSION IGNITION and infinite energy. It astonishes me that humans can be so brilliant regarding scientific exploration and technology while allowing a financial system that goes back thousands of years to hold us back. We have to change the system, and we will.
Once ignition is achieved, wouldn't the question be about building the chain reaction? I mean once you've poured a ton of energy into the system to produce ignition, I imagine the idea would be to channel that energy into the next reaction and have enough energy to keep power the next cycle while being able to extract enough energy to power something else. Kinda like using Jumper cables to start a car with a dead battery. Once the engine is running, you can remove the jumper cables, and the system should power itself as long as there's fuel. I guess that's where the engineering comes in to find a way to insert fuel to keep it going.
Thank you for putting it into context, explaining both the accomplishment and the limitations. But most of all thank you for making it clear that this technology will not be ready to help us decarbonize in time to fight climate change.
The real "the world has changed forever" meaning in this announcement is that Man now knows it is possible. Now, the astonishing forces of creativity and innovation will be unleashed on it. I hear people saying, "bah...it's just a very small step in what it will ultimately take for it to matter...that is still decades away." So what? We have just solved our energy and pollution problems....forever. It's set it motion. As soon as we knew flight was possible, look what happened. We went from a less than two minute flight, a few feet off the ground, to landing a man on the moon in 65 years. We went from slow moving, undependable "horseless carriages to basically self driving dream machines in a little over 100 years (and cars were wonderous machines barely 25 years after the invention of the combustible engine). We went from computers being room sized glorified calculators to the astonishing creations they are today, when coupled with the internet. No. It's over. The creative might and ingenuity will now be unleashed on the "fusion industry," and every invention and advancement we need, for it to be the world changing development it can be, WILL be created. The big event was the fact that we now know it is possible. Everything else will now absolutely positively flow out from that, now. All these "yeah, but we don't have....yeah, but we don't have a way to..." arguments are completely and totally 100% irrelevant. It's over. Fusion exists, and the world that means is now absolutely guaranteed.
Fraser, have you seen Real Engineering's video at Helion? They're not using a tokamak or lasers. And their reactors are way smaller and use a different method which smashes two rings of plasma into each other. They're achieving ignition several times a day, apparently, unless I misunderstood the video. They also said they won't need to use steam. They'll be able to extract electricity from the system directly using electromagnetism. They're also not using rare fuel. They're using helium 4 and deuterium.
I loved this single story ‘dive’ into reactor ignition. It’s a lovely accompaniment to the ‘bite-sized’ news updates. May I wish everyone who helps out making Universe Today a must-watch for empirical space news. And a big hello to all the people watching who add their constructive comments, happy holidays all! 😊
The joke I know about nuclear fusion from my younger years goes like this: "Nuclear Fusion is 30 years away, *and always will be*" You missed the kick line.
By the time someone finally develops a workable fusion power plant design the whole world will already be getting 100% of its' energy from wind/solar/hydro/geo/batteries. The window of opportunity for fusion (and new fission) power is already closed because it will never be able to compete on cost. But I'm still hoping for a fusion rocket engine.
I think you explained it very well you did a very good job so far all of the other videos that I've watched we're quite confusing you taking the confusion out a little bit thank you very much great job
So. We start up a warp drive, wait an hour for the hour to generate, make a warp bubble, travel to another star. So, Alpha Centari in 10 years. Wooohoo!
From what I can tell, Helion is the company to beat. Go lookup their 30 min video from this past week. Their design seems to be extremely simple compared to others, especially in terms of producing electricity directly from the core without having to heat steam that runs through traditional turbines. And, they have a viable plan to create Helium-3 without having to go to the moon.
energy used also needs be considered . Its the entire system that should produce more energy than the input energy. Hope all that has been taken into account . Otherwise ignition would still be 50 years away . But we should not give up on this ray of hope . Nature has taken billions of years to produce a sun or a star . Humans can speed it up not to tens of years but may be thousands of years . But still we should doggedly pursue the potential avenue vigorously. So, good work. Keep it up .
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 80 | คู่เอก "รักษ์ vs ยอดนำชัย"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ckLMRorsMeY/mqdefault.jpg)
I would not call it a "discovery". I'd call it an achievement. It's something they managed to do, it's not something that was out there waiting to be uncovered. Let's hope it can be scaled up immensely. Wonder if someone could make a hybrid tokamak with laser ignition.
Had exactly the same thought .
I'd agree with this.
Look up the Australian company _HB11 Energy_
wonder what else lasers can do????
Mmm yes and no its been thought of impossible If you discover what once was thought impossible made possible then it have discovered its possible. Going on your line of thought yes our achievement in using weapons as apes was still us discovering a new path
Youre explanations are straight forward and answer all the questions most people are looking for. Im no astronomer nor am I a physicist but its nice to stay updated with your content. More single serving videos is good as long as you keep your weekly bite sized breakdown of it all in one video a week
every video on fusion and quantum computers starts by explaining all the basics, i lost count how many times i've had to sit through people explaining the basics again and again. thank you so much for adding timestamps!
Short single topic videos means that you'll have more videos throughout the week.
But it also means that you'll have a lot more work.
Deep dives on complicated topics are good.
They would be half the length if he didnt use SO many unnecessary words.
Yes, I really like that you take this topic out in a special video. I have seen and heard the news several times for the past two days, but no body care to explain how much is still ahead, before we can call it a success and harvest the fusion energy. So: thanks!
Yeah they literally have to levitate whatever fuel they choose to use. A large enough amount to say, power a city, would be monumentally difficult to levitate to prevent it touching the walls of the tanks. If the levitation ever were to fail, kaboom.
In my busy world, sometimes the shorter videos are great. I also love the longer form episodes as well, just brilliant!
This is the only comprehensive breakdown of this story I’ve seen anywhere. Greatly appreciated
Also check out, John Michael Godier's channel for a similar review
I have seen many videos on this breakthrough, but you are the one who also explained the limitations. You are awesome.
Oh thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
I love the single topic video about this topic because there’s lots of conflicting news out there.
Thank you for clearing that up for me! I’m cautiously optimistic 🙌
Awesome! Fusion is now 49 years away 😕
The countdown is on.
Guys!!! This is such an important moment in history!
It's a pretty big accomplishment.
Very happy to see this short special edition. I'd been hoping ever since the announcement that you'd offer a more realistic perspective. I think the mainstream media have honorable intentions with regard to "breakthroughs" such as this, but almost without exception they over-simplify and lead a lot of readers/viewers to an unrealistic view of some tech/science developments. You can be pretty sure a large number of people think fusion power is almost on our doorstep.
Yep its a tiny step presented like Fusion is 2 years away, when in realty we are only a little bit closer.
Yeah, it's definitely going to be fun to follow this subject! 😊
Thanks, Fraser!
Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
😍
I enjoyed this shorter, subject specific quick ish dive. It was a nice snippet that offered a summary, it’s potential, and info for further (personal) research. 👌🏽
I enjoyed this shorter show. I would appreciate more videos like this. Great work!
I still feel the best summary of this nuclear fusion result is found by googling the words: "Sabine Hossenfelder How close is nuclear fusion power" and listening to that to the end.
Nuclear Fusion researchers and much of the media that hypes this story is guilty of conflating Q-plasma with Q-total in order to make this seem bigger than it really is.
I've been hearing bits about this all week didn't really know what it meant until now thank you for making it easier to understand
I really like this style of videos, that are more focused on a single scientific concept or event, it's a bit like the "guide to space" videos that you used to make and don't anymore.
This was great. I didn’t understand what the excitement was about. Thank you.
I love all the videos you put out. No matter the length, the content is always excellent. Thank you and your team for the great work.
Hi Fraser, of course, I enjoyed this; and would enjoy any short video on a specific topic. It's reminiscent of the good ol' guide to space. But love everything you do, whatever it is.
Yes, Fraser, I would very much like to see videos of this sort. Short and focused on one topic.
"Practical fusion power is always 50 years away."
I know this is true, having been a physics grad student 50 years ago, when that was being said.
Fred
My thoughts exactly! Perhaps you will also remember the other promise that was being made; "So cheap, you will not even need a meter on your house."
@@timothykieper That was a repeat of the same promise made in the 50's-early 60's about fission power: "It will be too cheap to meter!"
Hi fraser, really enjoyed the fusion review, the 10 minute slot seemed the right depth for me to engage with the topic. More like this please ,. regards Ray R
Glad you enjoyed it!
I loved it. This was an important enough story to make this explainer/recap and put it in its own video. Thank you.
🥰
Really enjoyed the short video that focused on the one subject. Your explanation of the process etc, really help me understand what has been achieved. Excellent work thank you.
Glad it was helpful!
I'm pleased that you're excited about this, too. As I said earlier, it's been a Promethean week. This achievement is a good sign that all the world is not slaving away in vain. It can be done...kinda. I wonder what happened when the first hominids tried to make and control fire. Hope they didn't take out a whole forest, lol. Mahalo for the needed clarity; we burned an island the first time we tried fusion, lol.
When the sound of Fraser’s voice is musical enough and you can’t deal with that background music
This is awesome. I finally understand what that experiment was all about. Thank you for that. Please, do more of those specific topics.
What about Helion's approach to fusion? That eliminates many of the caveats outlined here. I think this achievement is exciting in and of itself, but it's the larger effort of fusion that is really exciting. So many approaches... so much science / engineering! Really excited about the future!! :D
Helion and General Fusion are a lot more exciting to me than ITER and LLNL. It sort of feels like the engineering net positive is first going to come through a VC startup of that sort.
Enough of the science has been done that an iterative engineering approach is probably viable. People seem to forget that a lot of technology has historically gone through the engineering of "what works" before the science of how it works, or more precisely how it can be generalized, is done.
The bottom line is that Helion's design is revolutionary in multiple ways and far superior than NIF or ITER's designs.
Until they finish their 7th generation machine and actually capture the energy output, we won’t know for sure. But even if it doesn’t pan out as an energy source, it’s a relatively easy way of making tritium and helium-3 for other reactors (such as this one) to use.
But helion still hasn’t gained fusion ignition tho?
@@richardgonzales6289 My understanding is that depends on the exact definition of ignition used. Their method is a hybrid of inertial confinement and magnetic confinement and neither well accepted method of calculation cleanly applies to the design as far as I can tell.
"Fusion Ignition" is really more of marketing term than a useful benchmark.
I do like these occasional short, specific stories. Bring them on!
As always, thanks much for sharing.
Steve
I definitely prefer videos like this. This was succinct and to the point and I knew what I was getting into when I started the video. 10/10
Proving something is possible is HUGE. Eventually we will find simple life on another planet that will prove what is POSSIBLE. Proving anything possible is HUGE
Very informative and to the point. Much appreciated, many thanks from myself and my eight year old son who watched it with me. He loves his space news.
Congratulations to the scientists envolved. Step one towards the nesxt stage of energy production complete!
It's still a long road ahead, but a promising first step.
@@frasercain Well, I know, but lots of people thought Fusion wasn't possible - know with this first step, theyve at least proved them wrong,. Things can only get better, to quote Brian Cox.
Nice selection of graphics to portray the topics at hand.
Thanks!
I think the fact that this happened is historic. Scientists managed a net gain of energy for the very first time, changing the question from if practical fusion energy could be achieved to when. This is massive. Now scientists finally have a pathway to practical fusion. This is certainly a baby step and we have kilometers to go before we reach our goal, but now it is finally something that has become a question of engineering and not one of plausibility.
I hope we get some decent fusion power plants sooner rather than later.
That would be amazing.
I enjoy this style of short, specific video
The Sun cheats by being huge and using quantum tunneling. So, that makes this even more impressive. Hopefully, the Tokamaks will reach this level soon. Thanks, Fraser!
No the sun does not cheat, there is not cheating. The sun FUNCTIONS in reality and only produces energy due to its huge mass. Without this mass, fusion will never work to produce energy. This is very basic science.
I really enjoyed the jump you made away from your normal schedule and genre of video. I would enjoy a monthly video from you somewhere close to the types of videos made by Isaac Arthur, but with your own style. Another caveat to that idea would be that the videos are base more on what could happen in the next 100 to 200 years as opposed to billions of years into the future or the end of the Universe. These videos could take the viewer from what we know today to some kind of more likely shorter term future scenarios that might seem more relatable than million or billion year scenarios.
Finely someone to to explaining the fusion breakthrough correctly. It’s more political at the moment. We are still many decades away from fusion being useful if every. Still it’s great new and hopefully breakthroughs come a little quicker.
You are ridiculously good at this
This was great! Keep them coming!
Let's get back to the fusion ASAP in 2023!
Very interesting video and well explained. Thank you
Thanks a lot! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Thank you Fraser.
8:00 ~ Perfect explanation.
I'm a huge fan of these reasonable length deep dives.
I enjoy the short(er) format; especially for things I haven't had the chance to read up on yet on special topics. But I never mind the longer and other news mixed in format
Thanks!
Only 20 more Years AWAY !! YAYYY
I said 49 years away, but I guess you can be optimistic.
@@frasercain haa ... nice ;) well played
Enjoyed the deep dive Fraser.
We achieved fusion power, time to get the welcome mat ready for when the Vulcan's arrive and first contact.
Thank you, yes, liked the shorter format focused on one big news item!
Proof of concept. A good start.
Good step. Cant wait for improvements. Fission will have to hold us for the near future. Anyway you look at it, advancements are good.
Love the newsletter and space bites! This was also a welcome addition for the gravity of the discovery (see what I did there?!? I know you love a good dad joke!)
I like every video you do, and I think these shorter focused ones sometimes are really great.
Thanks!
like the format and of course the content as usual
i really like the "short single topic" videos. its what brought me to your channel in the rirst place
Great synopsis and summary of the experiment. You always do a great job of distilling information! Keep it up. I would appreciate some shorter single topic vids. Much easier to watch/listen in my busy life.
It's a Star in a bottle, honestly at great insight to what we are chasing would be to watch the Keanu Reeves movie 'Chain Reaction'. As the controlling resonance thereby perpetuating the magnetic bottle that would contain and compress(fuse) the fuels and allow for the precipitates(heavy metal & exotic matter) to be extracted and controlled. Yes, I have some insight, as I have worked on this project for decades. It will occur suddenly as the technology keep progressing, time, always more time, hopefully in my lifetime so I may see it . . .
Stop and use your brain to think about what you just said. 'star in a bottle'....this is impossible. For a star to work, it must have a huge mass which will never work at a small scale. The idea of nuclear fusion as a energy producer on Earth will never happen, this is a fantasy not based on science used by capitalists to fool the public on one of the biggest problems of the capitalist system, unplanned fossil fuel abuse. Geo-thermal energy is the only sustainable energy source on Earth but capitalism will never be able to unleash it. This video is passively promoting some of the lies around this fusion fantasy. But at least he does criticize the fantasy on some levels. "one day it might be the case"......WRONG.
In simple words, fusion is 30 years away.
One of the methods employed by the pioneer of modern science, Johannes Kepler, who changed the world of
science in the early 17th Century, is a method he used in his book New Astronomy in which he begins with exploring the errors that have trapped astronomers for 17 centuries up to his time, into dead-end pursuit in the exploring the Universe, from Ptolemy to Copernicus. After his extensive refutation he presents how the Universe actually functions. With this method he set the stage for modern science, clearing away defective methods that had crippled science. In Kepler's case, the errors he exposed were based on false axiomatic assumption, typically derived from religious doctrines. In modern time cleverly crafted false axiomatic assumptions have been intentionally created by the masters of empire to achieve political objectives, such as driving science into the ground.
The policy for driving science into a dead-end pursuit, to disable its natural effectiveness, reflects the core
policy of Paolo Sarpi, the reformer of the Venetian Empire back in the 16th Century. Sarpi had recognized
that the nature of science is deadly to the objectives of empire, but is also a natural force of humanity that
it cannot be prevented. Thus he developed a policy to allow science to some degree, but to hinder it by all
possible means, thereby grinding it into the ground.
The policy of thus grinding society into the ground became later a core feature of the Fabian Society of the
new empire in the north that had appropriately named itself, according to its core policy direction, after the
Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus who gained his fame for his policy of not confronting a superior
enemy, but grinding it into the ground by subversive means. Fabious had defeated the vastly superior forces
of Hannibal that way. The famous author of the empire crowd, H. G. Wells, loved the Fabian's effort, except
he thought it was not radical enough.
The devolution of culture and science is still a key element in the political word that continues to be controlled by the masters of empire. Over the years the attempts to throttle scientific progress have become ever more exotic as means to hinder the natural unfolding of science. One of these pursuits is found in the arena of nuclear-fusion-power research. Nuclear fusion is an empty promise of a utopia in a power-starved world that can be used as a trap to prevent mankind from exploring the real nature of the Universe and mankind's power to develop with it according to its principles.
One of the most basic principles that we see reflected everywhere in the physical universe is the Principle of
Least Action. The physical universe (including the biological sphere and living processes) is organized in such a
fashion that the least amount of action is required to produce a certain result. Unnatural research is of a type that defies this principle, resulting in an effective method to 'guide' mankind into tying itself into knots, which is the evident hallmark of nuclear-fusion-power research.
Nuclear-fusion power has no role to play in a Universe that its self-expanding, self-powering, and self-developing. The nuclear-fusion powered Sun is a dream-construct located in the perception of a self-consuming, winding down, entropic Universe. The real Universe is anti-entropic, and electrically self-powered.
99.999% of the mass of the Universe exists in the plasma state that is electrically charged, facilitating vast electric currents in response to electromagnetic principles. Tons of evidence exists that shows plainly that vast electric currents flowing in plasma interconnect all the galaxies in the Universe -- in an Electric Universe -- and within the galaxies, power the stars -- on the Electric Sun principle -- and also power the galaxies themselves.
It is not possible to acknowledge the Universe as being anti-entropic in nature, while recognizing every sun
within it as a self-consuming nuclear-fusion furnace that is winding down its existence. This paradox does not
exist in the Electric Universe -- the real Universe -- which thereby renders the pursuit of nuclear-fusion power, for which no requirement exists in the natural world, an unnatural pursuit, because nuclear-fusion simply doesn't power anything in the Universe. This is also the reason why nuclear fusion is failing, and the further reason why it is being promoted by the masters of empire as it exhibits all the hallmarks of a dead end pursuit where huge efforts can be consumed for unusable effects.
Indeed why would nuclear-fusion-power be needed anyway, if the Universe itself is Power?
Because you need a way to extract that power.
QUESTION SUBMISSION 1: Hi Fraser. Way into the future, once we have established a significant civilisation on the moon, is there a limit to the amount of activity that we can perform until it starts to affect the stabilisation of the earth? Where is the tipping point from a combination of mining and building structures?
Nice little Bitesized chunk of information, I personally like these smaller videos, a little easier to retain information.
Thanks again, #FraserCain
Helion (private company) has a variation in which they compress two plasma toruses inside a piston. They also have a solution to the starting deuterium and tritium issue.
Yeah, I saw the Real Engineering video about their work. I look forward to their upcoming trials.
Succinct single topic videos are most welcome when produced like this one. Thanks.
We have a successful experiment and decades more research is needed.
Afternoon Fraser, you should have a look at what Helion is doing with their work on a clean energy. Watch "A New Way to Achieve Nuclear Fusion: Helion". You'll enjoy this and it answers some of your questions. Best wishes.
I prefer this over space bites. The more bites you take in one go, the more it becomes a meal. Short vids are perfest if you're interested but just want to get a quick update on a topic.
Glad you put it in this light, I've been very disappointed in the coverage so far. This was a major accomplishment to to sure, but it's NOT a huge breakthrough. This step is the "10 years away" from 50 years ago. We are finally making more progress though! Well done NIF!
It's both a huge breakthrough and the beginning of a long journey.
@@frasercain Fanboy 😉 The huge accomplishment will be when they are able to generate more energy than is required to create the reaction. 300MJ to generate 3MJ of energy isn't exactly earth shattering. Amazing feat of engineering in the form of the pellet construction and timing of the lasers to be sure, though.
You should check the 7th generation reactor of Helion Energy being built now. Probably very close to real net power. And the 8th generation is actually planned to be a comercial prototype.
And with the 15th generation reactor the big breakthrough happens, that's when they finally understand why it's a lot harder than they thought. Then they diversify into solar panels and stuff and the next startup company comes along with their ambitious plans.
@@Kalumbatsch and fusion always still 30 years away
The sooner we the people issue our own currency, that we back by productivity, and make it illegal to gamble, the faster we will have FUSION IGNITION and infinite energy. It astonishes me that humans can be so brilliant regarding scientific exploration and technology while allowing a financial system that goes back thousands of years to hold us back. We have to change the system, and we will.
Once ignition is achieved, wouldn't the question be about building the chain reaction? I mean once you've poured a ton of energy into the system to produce ignition, I imagine the idea would be to channel that energy into the next reaction and have enough energy to keep power the next cycle while being able to extract enough energy to power something else.
Kinda like using Jumper cables to start a car with a dead battery. Once the engine is running, you can remove the jumper cables, and the system should power itself as long as there's fuel. I guess that's where the engineering comes in to find a way to insert fuel to keep it going.
Fusion via this method is now "an engineering problem". yay!
It's a great step on a long journey.
Thank you for putting it into context, explaining both the accomplishment and the limitations. But most of all thank you for making it clear that this technology will not be ready to help us decarbonize in time to fight climate change.
Please DO offer more of this length of presentation.
such a great, yet simple breakdown.. thanks!
Never thought I'd live to see it
The real "the world has changed forever" meaning in this announcement is that Man now knows it is possible. Now, the astonishing forces of creativity and innovation will be unleashed on it. I hear people saying, "bah...it's just a very small step in what it will ultimately take for it to matter...that is still decades away." So what? We have just solved our energy and pollution problems....forever. It's set it motion. As soon as we knew flight was possible, look what happened. We went from a less than two minute flight, a few feet off the ground, to landing a man on the moon in 65 years. We went from slow moving, undependable "horseless carriages to basically self driving dream machines in a little over 100 years (and cars were wonderous machines barely 25 years after the invention of the combustible engine). We went from computers being room sized glorified calculators to the astonishing creations they are today, when coupled with the internet. No. It's over. The creative might and ingenuity will now be unleashed on the "fusion industry," and every invention and advancement we need, for it to be the world changing development it can be, WILL be created. The big event was the fact that we now know it is possible. Everything else will now absolutely positively flow out from that, now. All these "yeah, but we don't have....yeah, but we don't have a way to..." arguments are completely and totally 100% irrelevant. It's over. Fusion exists, and the world that means is now absolutely guaranteed.
"*but there's a catch" Indeed. There always is.
Fraser, have you seen Real Engineering's video at Helion? They're not using a tokamak or lasers. And their reactors are way smaller and use a different method which smashes two rings of plasma into each other. They're achieving ignition several times a day, apparently, unless I misunderstood the video. They also said they won't need to use steam. They'll be able to extract electricity from the system directly using electromagnetism. They're also not using rare fuel. They're using helium 4 and deuterium.
I loved this single story ‘dive’ into reactor ignition. It’s a lovely accompaniment to the ‘bite-sized’ news updates. May I wish everyone who helps out making Universe Today a must-watch for empirical space news. And a big hello to all the people watching who add their constructive comments, happy holidays all! 😊
The joke I know about nuclear fusion from my younger years goes like this: "Nuclear Fusion is 30 years away, *and always will be*"
You missed the kick line.
By the time someone finally develops a workable fusion power plant design the whole world will already be getting 100% of its' energy from wind/solar/hydro/geo/batteries. The window of opportunity for fusion (and new fission) power is already closed because it will never be able to compete on cost. But I'm still hoping for a fusion rocket engine.
I like this individual more in depth video type
I think you explained it very well you did a very good job so far all of the other videos that I've watched we're quite confusing you taking the confusion out a little bit thank you very much great job
I was always under the impression it’s not usable fusion unless it is sustainable indefinitely! Give us a ring when you achieve that!
Ask the Aliens.
It's an important first step, but it's still a long journey until it becomes a commercially available source of power generation.
So. We start up a warp drive, wait an hour for the hour to generate, make a warp bubble, travel to another star. So, Alpha Centari in 10 years. Wooohoo!
Totes enjoy and learn from you and your channel. Especially, my favorite about electromagnetic sails (and related playlists).
From what I can tell, Helion is the company to beat. Go lookup their 30 min video from this past week. Their design seems to be extremely simple compared to others, especially in terms of producing electricity directly from the core without having to heat steam that runs through traditional turbines. And, they have a viable plan to create Helium-3 without having to go to the moon.
Their design is decades behind other reactors. Just because they have a well funded PR team, it doesn’t mean their approach is any good.
Yes. Shorter and more specific is better. Maybe you could do more of these and name the series something like...I don't know... "Guide to Space"? 😀
That's a catchy name, I'll consider it.
Yes, more please! Next one on Lagrange point 👍
Thank you
Yes. More short videos on a specific topic please!
energy used also needs be considered . Its the entire system that should produce more energy than the input energy. Hope all that has been taken into account . Otherwise ignition would still be 50 years away . But we should not give up on this ray of hope . Nature has taken billions of years to produce a sun or a star . Humans can speed it up not to tens of years but may be thousands of years . But still we should doggedly pursue the potential avenue vigorously. So, good work. Keep it up .
Unlimited powah, everyone will be walking around w/ Force Lightening 😎
This episode is good :)