British Researchers Say Fusion Is Close

sh00z writes: "The article quotes a leading scientist saying that Fusion power is 'within reach' in the next decade, with commercial plants to follow within another 10 or so years. Shhhh. Don't tell anyone at Texas A&M. They might just jump the starting gun again."

Comments

ten years == we don't really know

[byoung]

I think that fusion research is great and all, and I do think that it has potential. But I'm tired of hearing scientists say, "we're only a decade away!"

Note to future readers of ambitious scientists: ten years means, "we don't really have any idea where we are, but we're getting really close!"

I guess that I kind of feel for them (the scientists), since the public is really unwilling to fund "blue sky" research, but to keep prognosticating like this is irresponsible. Predicting timelines is best left to engineers.

Re:Definition of "Real Soon"

[s390]

Sure, science welfare pork barrel dollars are somehow worth more than a canal, a dam, a highway, some Federal facility? It's arguable that many of those other projects have real utility, as opposed to the billions poured into not-much-to-show "science" garbage. My point was that we shouldn't be funding wildly, outrageously expensive welfare projects for politically connected grant-mavens chasing a holy grail that's provably out of reach with our current understanding of more basic science. We need to do the more basic science first, rather than chase pie-in-the-sky home runs that never happen.