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Thermonuclear Reactor To Use Coconut Shells

Posted by samzenpus on from the Gilligan-approved dept.

destinyland writes "A key component of a $10 billion nuclear fusion plant is vintage 2002 Indonesian coconut-shell charcoal. After a 20-year search, German researchers discovered that the coconut-shell charcoal is the best medium for 'adsorbing' waste byproducts sucked out of the thermonuclear reactor's vacuum chamber. In what will be the first fusion power facility that's commercially viable, magnetic fields will heat hydrogen isotopes to over 150 million degrees Centigrade. (Essentially, the super-hot plasma creates artificial stars.) As the article points out, 'It's not quite a Starship warp drive, but it does harness the power of the sun.'"

17 of 251 comments (clear)

  1. In related news... by syrinx · · Score: 5, Funny

    The head of the project, a former professor, was heard mumbling "Gilligan won't mess it up this time."

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    1. Re:In related news... by d3ac0n · · Score: 3, Funny

      Wasn't that the same movie where The Professor was bringing out all of his various inventions he thought of while on the island...

      and every one of them was something that had already been invented?

      I think that was the same episode where Ginger was trying to get back into movies, but the kept getting offered adult movie roles. if I remember correctly, she was about to accept one because she thought that was the only kind of movies left, when Gilligan convinced her not to because he had just seen Star Wars.

      Don't ask me why I remember that.

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  2. Yeah, I saw this episode by thomasdz · · Score: 4, Funny

    I remember this one. The professor made the Thermonuclear reactor with a bunch of coconuts, financed, of course, by the Howell's... but then Gilligan saw Ginger...got all flustered and tripped over the whole thing causing a meltdown and the Skipper's hair to glow... yeah, that's a classic episode indeed

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    1. Re:Yeah, I saw this episode by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Funny

      It was Maryann that always made my coconuts radioactive. Those shorts!!!!

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      Table-ized A.I.
    2. Re:Yeah, I saw this episode by dpilot · · Score: 4, Funny

      They once interviewed Russell Johnson, and he had quite the succinct answer : "If you were trapped on a desert island with Ginger and Mary Ann, and your male competition was Gilligan and the Skipper, would you want to get rescued?"

      --
      The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
  3. Re:That's not a horse! by grayshirtninja · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's not the power of the sun, you're just bangin' two coconuts together!

    Fixed that for ya

  4. Harnessing the power of the sun. by Spykk · · Score: 4, Funny

    My vintage Casio calculator harnessed the power of the sun. This, not so much.

  5. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 3, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  6. Re:Use Coconut Shells? by Adriax · · Score: 3, Funny

    Heavily laden hopefully.

    --
    I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!
  7. Re:Nuclear Waste? by Zenaku · · Score: 2, Funny

    It says the fuel is deuterium and tritium, how hazardous are those?

    Oh, EXTREMELY hazardous. Both substances have similar properties to a highly volatile chemical that has in past resulted in some spectacular explosions. OH THE HUMANITY! ;)

    --
    If fate makes you a motorcycle, you become a motorcycle.
  8. Re:Power of the sun? Artificial stars? by batquux · · Score: 4, Funny

    Fusion reactor? You've got two empty halves of a coconut and you're bangin' em together!

  9. It's Just Activated Carbon... by clone53421 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Boooooooring!

    So they found the best activated carbon for their particular use comes from coconut shells. Why is this news?

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    Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
  10. Re:I just want to say... by kyouteki · · Score: 2, Funny

    Cool is, perhaps, the wrong word.

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  11. Re:Nuclear Waste? by Registered+Coward+v2 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Since the by-product is helium, a reactor leak would only mean that any nearby residents would talk like Mickey Mouse for a little while. Which is better than radiation sickness.

    Until you get sued by Disney for trademark infringement...

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    I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
  12. Re:Thanks for finding me a tech website to ignore by Rogerborg · · Score: 2, Funny

    You'd like that, wouldn't you? No chance, buddy. You're going to get at least 50 identical "absorb != adsorb" replies, each one more original than the last.

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  13. I found a radioactive waste "neutralizer." by bwogowly · · Score: 2, Funny

    I don't know if fusion has radioactive waste since it deals with light elements, but, I found a business (watertorch.com) that says its product neutralizes radioactive waste. Why would we want to turn Hydrogen into Helium anyway, we can't remake it because it takes too high of temperatures. Therefore, we should stick with fission and neutralize the radioactive waste with the Water Torch.

  14. Re:Nuclear Waste? by element-o.p. · · Score: 4, Funny

    Well, at least TSA isn't letting you carry it through security anymore...

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