Z Machine Makes Progress Toward Nuclear Fusion

sciencehabit writes Scientists are reporting a significant advance in the quest to develop an alternative approach to nuclear fusion. Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, using the lab's Z machine, a colossal electric pulse generator capable of producing currents of tens of millions of amperes, say they have detected significant numbers of neutrons — byproducts of fusion reactions — coming from the experiment. This, they say, demonstrates the viability of their approach and marks progress toward the ultimate goal of producing more energy than the fusion device takes in.

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Stop reporting this nonsense

[seven of five]

Get real. These multibillion dollar projects like ITER, Livermore (discontinued), etc are boondogles. They give grad students and postdocs experience and papers to write, and they're fodder for breathless popsci reporting but they'll never put a single fucking watt on the grid.