China to Build World's First "Artificial Sun"

cletuii writes to tell us the People's Daily Online is reporting that China is planning on building the world's first "artificial sun" device. From the article: "The project, dubbed EAST (experimental advanced superconducting Tokamak), is being undertaken by the Hefei-based Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It will require a total investment of nearly 300 million yuan (37 million U.S. dollars), only one fifteenth to one twentieth the cost of similar devices being developed in the other parts of the world."

Comments

Sun Tzu

[dotslashdot]

I see the light in Sun Tzu's the Art of War!

Re:Sun Tzu

[CDMA_Demo]

Is China getting a civilization advance for this, or can they update all energy units for half the cost once this is complete? Mr. Chairman! We have completed a great wonder...Artifical Sun

Re:Sun Tzu

[dotslashdot]

We can finally outsource global warming!

Re:Sun Tzu

[hoborocks]

Well, what it does is this - it removes the fog of war completely. That sounds good, but keep in mind that EVERYONE loses it, so now those #*^&%! Zulus can see all of your units, and Diploblitz you at the proper time...

It's made obsolete with the advancement of Electricity, though. Years after the sun is created, it's discovered that it's not serving enough of a purpose.

Gasp

[Beren87]

But Japan is land of the rising sun!

Re:Gasp

[biocute]

Relax! Japan is still the land of the rising sun, except this sun is made in China.

Re:Cheap labor?

[Anonymous Coward]

Isn't this how it works in the US too?

-Disgruntled Grad Student

Obligatory cliche

[xiphoris]

"What could possibly go wrong?"

In Other News....

[carterhawk001]

Dr. Otto Octavius recently filed suit against the government of China, damn USPTO lets you patent anything these days....

yay

[jibjibjib]

I, for one, welcome our new chinese plasma physics overlords

KaBOOM !

[Redshift]

The article says that the reactor "aims to generate infinite, clean nuclear-fusion-based energy".

Infinite energy?

Uh .. anyone else a tinsy little bit worried about that word "infinite"?!

Re:KaBOOM !

[CDMA_Demo]

The article says that the reactor "aims to generate infinite, clean nuclear-fusion-based energy". Infinite energy?

Anything that outlives you can be considered infinite. For example, my honda CRX is infinite.

Good thing too

[MutantHamster]

I don't know how much longer the real sun's going to last. I mean these days it seems like half the time it's not even up there.

uh

[lamp540]

we have these already, they're called LIGHTBULBS.

Re:How far off is fusion power?

[Guppy06]

When your dad was a kid the Soviets were still offering free delivery of their fusion devices to US cities. Nowadays fusion isn't as big a deal at the DoD, which means fewer resources and slipping goals.

Re:*sigh*

[dfenstrate]

You're the asshole who starts talking politics in the middle of every discussion, aren't you?

Example from your life:
Coworker: So I started talking to this hot babe at the bar yesterday, and we were really hitting it off...

You, interupting: Bush wants to take away her voting rights and chain her to the stove!

Re:loss of containment

[bar-agent]

Disclaimer: I am a plasma physicist working in the magnetic fusion arena.

I do not think this word means what you think it means.

"Disclaimer" here means "take this with a grain of salt; I might be biased." Now, if you weren't actually a plasma physicist--say, if you were a gardener--I could see adding a disclaimer. But since you are a plasma physicist...