Slashdot Mirror
Lightning Fusion And Other Hot News
DumbSwede writes "PhysOrg.com reports that according to calculations by B.M. Kuzhevsky, the head of the neutron research lab at Moscow State University, neutron levels far above normal background levels exist during lightning strikes. While only a small percentage of rainwater contains atoms of deuterium, the lightning still provides enough energy to create fusion events. Frequent Slashdot readers no doubt remember recent articles on Fusion induced by sonic compression and more recently by pyroelectric effect. Perhaps more controversially, and yet to be discussed on Slashdot, the NIF has possible plans for a hybrid fusion approach that uses not only deuterium and tritium, but uranium and plutonium as well in what amounts to a miniaturized version of how thermonuclear weapons achieve fusion. Fears are that this could lead directly to micro-H-bombs. This year has also seen the final selection of France for the ITER experimental Fusion Reactor site. With all the recent discoveries and developments in fusion research, my question for Slashdotters - are we on the verge of something big that will make fusion a practical reality in a much shorter time frame than the often quoted '30 years away, and always will be'?"
If we were supposed to have invented a good process for fusion reactors, Doc would have showed up by now and shown us his MrFusion plans!
"Why, yes, we are on the verge of something big that will make fusion a practical reality in a much shorter time frame than the often quoted '30 years away, and always will be', and we always will be!"
From now on, whenever there is a thunderstorm; I am going to refer to it as a neutron storm. That just sounds so cool.
Real_men_don't_need_spacebars.
Dr. Emmett Brown: No no no, this sucker's electrical, but it requires a nuclear reaction to generate the 1.21 gigawatts of electricity I need.
So... what the article is saying is that Dr. Brown used the electricity from the lightning strike, instead of plutonium, to generate the nuclear reaction to generate the electricity to power the fluxcapacitor?
It all makes sense now?
Now 'ol george is gonna commit to a war against the wheather
*Now* I understand why we needed to steal Plutonium from the Libyans...
And my answer for you, Zonk, as it frequently is for giant world-changing questions like these, is, "How the hell should I know? I'm a freakin' sysadmin."
Causation can cause correlation
Hardware: Lightning Fusion And Other Hot News
Since when is lightning hardware?
Frequent Slashdot readers no doubt remember recent articles on Fusion induced by sonic compression and more recently by pyroelectric effect.
This obviously excludes the editors.
Isn't asking about nuclear fusion on an IT site kind of like asking for formula one driving tips on, well, an IT site? The only correct answer you'll get is "I have no goddam idea."
Yes, from now on it will only (perpetually) be 20 years away...