Slashdot Mirror
Nuclear Fusion Real Soon Now
Mr. A. Coward writes "Researchers at the
National Ignition Facility are attempting to produce nuclear fusion. They'll focus 192 amplified lasers on a pellet of frozen hydrogen. 'NIF experiments will be the first to create fusion that gives off more energy than it takes in.' That will have to be quite a bit, since it will take 500 trillion watts to ignite the pellet in the first place. The facility has been plagued with delays, and so far only 4 of the 192 lasers have been completed. Researchers believe they will first achieve fusion sometime around 2014."
SimCity said they should be avaliable around 2020, right? I love games that tell the future
In 1960 we where gong to have fusion in 1980.
In 1980 we where going to have fusion in 2000.
In 2004 we'll have it in 2014.
Things are starting to look optimistic!
Sounds like an arsonists' boot camp :S
There's supposed to be an earth shattering kaboom!
When Redmond announced Longhorn.
Researchers believe they will first achieve fusion sometime around 2014.
What about my flying cars? I was promised flying cars!
A programmer is a machine for converting coffee into code.
sale of foil hats will be at an all time high
We'll certainly need the power of fusion for it.
Let's see, we get fusion in abou 10 years. That's 2014. Maybe 10 years later, we have a terrible disaster. That's 2024. So in 2044, I'm predicting we get a slashdot story about a cute biker chick riding around "ghost town," or what used to be Livermore, California.
April 1st isn't until Thursday.
This announcement was supposed to come out simultaneously with the "verified" claim to have found Methane on Mars, and with Condoleeza Rice's hillarious admission of guilt before the 9/11 commission, all on Thursday. Now you've ruined it.
The good and new comes from no quarter where it is looked for, and is always something different from what is expected.
Yeah, but at least this way, you won't have to wait for your coffee! I knew our tax dollars wouldn't be wasted!
Date an English major.
I'd rather not. I never went for the Army type.
go easy on him--if he's a real /. geek he hasn't seen the sun in a while
Sorry, I couldn't resist...
Case 1:
Article: "When all 192 lasers in the NIF are operating, they'll focus 500 trillion watts (everything after this point is non-existent) - more than 1,000 times the power generated in the United States - on their target, albeit only for a few billionths of a second."
Slashdotter: "500 trillion watts?! You gotta be fuckin' kidding! You're gonna blow up California!"
Case 2:
Article: "When all 192 lasers in the NIF are operating, they'll focus a few kilojoules worth of energy on a hydrogen pellet..."
Slashdotter: "WTF is this all about? Is this good? Or is it whack?"
Case 3:
Article: "With this (Dr. Evil style)LA-SER device, we're gonna get FU-SION using less energy then what your Prescott has consumed while you're reading this piece of crap!"
Slashdotter: "I, for one, welcomes our new fusion power overlord! l33t!!!!"
Perhaps we should send a couple of settlers to the capitol and use them to help finish this Great Wonder!
*Points at big glowing spherical fusion plant in the sky*
;).
In 4 billion years when that sucker goes red-giant we'll see what it can't meltdown
I like my Earth's extra-crispy.
Yes, a world of happiness and leisure... for everyone except the poor sucker who has to keep pushing the frozen hydrogen pellets into the lasers.
Hope he's got real thick gloves.
One god, one market, one truth, one consumer.
Besides, making this big ungainly beast is an important step towards getting a Mr. Fusion power supply for a DeLorean, a critical part of our future economy.
Don't you mean our past economy?
I am the hub of Jack's digital lifestyle.
Whadaya mean "need a fusion reactor"? Our design plan is that the CPU will be so hot and so compressed that it will serve as its own fusion reactor! Intel and AMD are already on board with this. If it weren't for Transmeta, we'd have a perfect plan for world domination! (Think of the games, too! Microsoft Reactor Simulator 2000 Rad...)
Think of the games, too! Microsoft Reactor Simulator 2000
And when it crashes?! Symantec Anti-Rad... Now with CoolCore(r) Technology
In related news, NIF has ordered 192 sharks.
Boss: When do you expect to finish the project?
Me: Hmmm, lemme see, I think I'll finish it by year 2014, and then it may not work.
Boss: OK, here's your paycheck. By the way, we've approved that $20M yearly budget increase.
Boy, wouldn't that be sweet? Software industry is a wrong domain to work in right now. Those bloodsucking PHBs demand results every freaking week.
any physicist worth his salt knows this one..
"plasma fusion is 20 years away. and it will always be."
notice how grammer is not a necessary component of a physicists salt content ^_^
A hundred years from now I'd just like to be alive...
No problem. Just found the EIAA (Energy Industry Association of America), and outlaw all competitors, and artifically limit the supply. It works for other industries too, why not for energy. It's not as if the energy industry is missing the cash to buy quality congress critters, after all!