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China Just Made a Major Breakthrough In Nuclear Fusion Research (techienews.co.uk)

New submitter TechnoidNash writes: China announced last week a major breakthrough in the realm of nuclear fusion research. The Chinese Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), was able to heat hydrogen gas to a temperature of near 50 million degrees Celsius for an unprecedented 102 seconds. While this is nowhere near the hottest temperature that has ever been achieved in nuclear fusion research (that distinction belongs to the Large Hadron Collider which reached 4 trillion degrees Celsius), it is the longest amount of time one has been maintained.

339 comments

  1. title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Good job china.

    1. Re:title by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      But-but-but...we all know the Chinese just imitate the morally superior accomplishments of others, don't we?

    2. Re: title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Keep in mind this is China's news, the same ones who tell us Taiwan/Hong Kong/Tibet/South sea islands is belonged to China, nothing bad ever happen on Tiananmen square, there is no corruption in China (except a few to make example of, the rest of the world is polluted as bad as China (lol no) and countless other lies about their country to surpress to people/save face.

    3. Re:title by Joce640k · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Spending $20,000,000,000,000 (and counting...) on pointless war in the Middle East instead of energy research is really working out well for the USA.

      --
      No sig today...
    4. Re:title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's not all pointless. The nutjobs need to be dealt with. Look at Syria. The only one doing anything is Russia and they are doing it only for their own good and causing shitloads more suffering. Can't say what US has done is a mark of excellent, but it's all better than what Russia is ever capable of.

    5. Re:title by greenfruitsalad · · Score: 4, Funny

      did they use a thermometer from alibaba.com?

    6. Re:title by camperdave · · Score: 1

      Well... gas prices ARE down significantly from what they were a year or two ago.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    7. Re:title by Nyder · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It's not all pointless. The nutjobs need to be dealt with. Look at Syria. The only one doing anything is Russia and they are doing it only for their own good and causing shitloads more suffering. Can't say what US has done is a mark of excellent, but it's all better than what Russia is ever capable of.

      Considering our policies and actions of the last 50+ years led to what is happening in Syria, I'm going with the grandparent post and say it was pointless.

      --
      Be seeing you...
    8. Re:title by Viol8 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "It's not all pointless. The nutjobs need to be dealt with"

      Sorry, but the 2nd Iraq "war" was utterly pointless. It cost lives and money for what - to remove one psychopath under bogus pretenses who at least held the region together, and allow him to be replaced with 10s of thousands of psychopaths who have created anarchy in the whole region and europe. Way to go USA!

    9. Re: title by Viol8 · · Score: 0

      "False causation. "

      In your mind maybe. But a large proportion of the ISIS fighters come from groups that formed in Iraq in the chaos there.

    10. Re: title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      There are a lot of posts about how we can't trust China, but for any one who has followed fusion work, this should be no surprise. EAST has been one of the major research tokamaks in the world, and results like this are incremental results that were expected to come about. What is more interesting is how cheap EAST and some other Chinese fusion research facilities are, like KTX which I am more familiar with and has been both cheap and fast. Yet they still contribute new results and share info at conferences, so it is not like they are just a lagging copy of other countries.

    11. Re:title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      These announcements are like the overly enthusiastic Japanese space plans, how's that 1997 Space Hotel coming along?

      Oh, and it's 2016, how is Solaren's space-based solar power deal with PG&E coming along?

      The West has a weird space fetish, the Chinese have their gaudy preoccupations.

      Neither make any sense.

    12. Re: title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As opposed to American news, that tells us about how Evil Russia is expanding into Europe by invading Ukraine, how Evil Kaddafi had to be executed for daring to bomb his own people but it's ok when Ukraine and Turkey do it, how moderate terrorists need to be trained by American advisers and given American weapons and money to topple a sovereign nation's elected dictator who has a 70+% approval rating, and how Islam has nothing to do with terrorism despite almost all terrorist acts having being committed by muslims.

    13. Re:title by Dunbal · · Score: 1

      The "nutjobs" are in Washington. I hardly see how they are being "dealt with".

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    14. Re:title by MaxSmoke · · Score: 1

      Spending $20,000,000,000,000 (and counting...) on pointless war in the Middle East instead of energy research is really working out well for the USA.

      I think the military expenses are actually the point, and the current weapon rattling a way to raise those worldwide.

    15. Re:title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Spending $20,000,000,000,000 (and counting...) on pointless war in the Middle East instead of energy research is really working out well for the USA.

      Most of the US economy is based around manufacturing for defense. You can't just "get rid of the defense budget" without making 8/10 Americans homeless.

    16. Re:title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hindsight is great, isn't it. Since you knew all along this would happen, maybe you can make some predictions for us.

    17. Re:title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well... gas prices ARE down significantly from what they were a year or two ago.

      And I'm sure the decision of the Sauds to flood the market with cheap oil in order to knock out U.S. producers had NOTHING to do with that.

    18. Re:title by Eloking · · Score: 0

      "It's not all pointless. The nutjobs need to be dealt with"

      Sorry, but the 2nd Iraq "war" was utterly pointless. It cost lives and money for what - to remove one psychopath under bogus pretenses who at least held the region together, and allow him to be replaced with 10s of thousands of psychopaths who have created anarchy in the whole region and europe. Way to go USA!

      First, no a major war is "not" pointless. It have major repercussion on the country and it's neighbourhood. A war made things better or worse but it's certainly not "pointless".

      Now, to make a decision if the war was a mistake or not, you have to make the delicate study on how Iraq would have been after 2003 if the US kept they ball in their pants. I would love to have the answer of that one but my field isn't cultural story of the Middle East. But,judging from the story of Iraq pre-2003, I guess it's safe to say that it wasn't going to get any better.

      On a USA point of view though, it seem clear that it was a major economic mistake with over 2 trillion$ spending so far.

      --
      Elok
    19. Re:title by Viol8 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There's a difference between not being able to exactly predict the future and being willfully purblind in a moronic effort to get back at someone after 9/11 regardless of whether they were responsible. George W Bush was an arrogant fool and a liar.

    20. Re:title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just FYI: We've been bombing ISIS in Iraq and Syria for over a year now.
      Russia is hardly the only one doing anything.

    21. Re: title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Go home Vladimir, you're drunk.

    22. Re: title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A nutjob dictator who would happily gas dissenters is a good start in keeping disperse minorities under control.

    23. Re: title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, I think they actually used an American thermomerer by accident. That 50 million Fahrenheit would in fact convert to around 24 Celsius.

    24. Re:title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's due to fracking. The US started producing more oil, and OPEC didn't like losing market share, so they lowered their price.

    25. Re:title by Viol8 · · Score: 1

      "I guess it's safe to say that it wasn't going to get any better."

      Probably not. But now its a damn site worse.

    26. Re:title by LifesABeach · · Score: 1

      Yes! Here's your participation award.

    27. Re: title by LifesABeach · · Score: 1

      Poor A/C, tired of the gun shots? Stop firing.

    28. Re: title by LifesABeach · · Score: 1

      again

    29. Re: title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually it's the other way around. The Saudis kept producing while the US has flooded the market with oil from fracking.

    30. Re: title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's stupid. The money would be spent elsewhere, expanding other markets exponentially. The transition would suck for career military, but every other industry touched by 20 TRILLION dollars would see some pretty serious growth.

      The money is gonna get spent either way, ultimately circulating back into the economy (except for those who prefer to sit on how cash reserves - but that's for another day). I'd much prefer to see that infusion go toward ANYTHING other than terrifying the rest of the world.

    31. Re: title by StrangeBrew · · Score: 2

      Who has more incentive to create a clean source of power than the Chinese? Massive pollution, reliance on coal fired power plants, and no scruples when it comes to stealing technology to get on par with other nations. Combine all this with a government that can dictate where the most brilliant minds focus their talents and unlimited funding and you'll see major advancements. I can't stand our Canadian Prime Minister, but one thing he said that was taken out of context was how he admired the Chinese government. This advancement is what he was talking about, not their human rights record.

    32. Re:title by Dragon+Bait · · Score: 1

      "It's not all pointless. The nutjobs need to be dealt with"

      Sorry, but the 2nd Iraq "war" was utterly pointless. It cost lives and money for what - to remove one psychopath under bogus pretenses who at least held the region together, and allow him to be replaced with 10s of thousands of psychopaths who have created anarchy in the whole region and europe. Way to go USA!

      This.

      And not just Iraq. You would think that a person running for president would have learned that lesson from Iraq, but we have a person running who was actively involved in making the exact same mistake in Libya.

      Is it still our policy to have regime change in Syria?

      These people shouldn't have to learn from history -- these are recent events that they all lived through.

    33. Re: title by Gr8Apes · · Score: 1

      Generally you can't admire governments, and certainly not repressive dictatorial ones. Do you admire the ancient pharaohs or do you admire the pyramids and possibly Imhotep? You can admire individuals and teams that accomplish something great.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    34. Re: title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you talking about Overlord Trump?

    35. Re:title by painandgreed · · Score: 1

      It's not all pointless. The nutjobs need to be dealt with. Look at Syria.

      I think you misspelled "It's not pointless. The USA needed to go in and establish gunboat diplomacy in the Middle East to gain control of the oil market, keep oil prices high, and flow money into our economic sponsors through government contracts."

    36. Re:title by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      Whoever modded this flamebait needs to look up the word "sarcasm" in his dictionary. If he can read.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    37. Re:title by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      What I also see in here is also a lot of free-floating hatred of China which really should be directed at those forces here at home that are preventing us from regaining the leadership we once had in technologies like this. I don't like the idea of our spending the rest of our lives as kids with our noses flattened against China's showroom window, waiting awestruck for the next miracle to be rolled out any more than you do, but that is our own fault, not that of China.

    38. Re: title by laie_techie · · Score: 1

      Keep in mind this is China's news, the same ones who tell us Taiwan/Hong Kong/Tibet/South sea islands is belonged to China.

      I hate to burst your bubble, but Hong Kong does belong to China since 1 July 1997. One could argue that at least the New Territories always belonged to China and were just leased to the UK.

    39. Re: title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, but how to get them all in one place?

    40. Re: title by Phil-14 · · Score: 1

      Hell, they're all groups Assad was arming when they were fighting us.

      --
      (currently testing something about signatures here)
    41. Re: title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey now, any PR is good PR right? So what if it only cost 20 trillion USD to let the world know that America wouldn't play their games on a field of their choosing.

    42. Re:title by laie_techie · · Score: 1

      Well... gas prices ARE down significantly from what they were a year or two ago.

      I live in Utah where our gas prices are down about 5-7 cents per gallon from a year ago, not what I would call SIGNIFICANT.

    43. Re:title by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      Do you have links to any statement of GWB indicating any causal relationship between 9/11 and Iraq?

      Everything I recall hearing was about WMD, and Saddam claiming he had them...which turned out to be bluster as the only WMD he had were Chemical and Biological weapons and rockets/mortars to deliver them with. Incidentally, these ARE WMD, and were found in Iraq, but they were not the ones that GWB or Saddam were claiming existed in Iraq.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    44. Re: title by iONiUM · · Score: 1

      I'm sure the Chinese say the same about western media. When we do something on Mars, it's all "don't forget, these are the same guys that say Snowden is a criminal and that they invaded Iraq to help them, not for oil."

      We talk about bias on Slashdot a lot, yet we all blatantly use it against foreign nations (often rightly so) while always trusting our own scientific break-throughs (even if they are indeed more trustworthy).

    45. Re:title by Koreantoast · · Score: 1

      Spending $20,000,000,000,000 (and counting...) on pointless war in the Middle East instead of energy research is really working out well for the USA.

      The fallacy of these kind of comments is the assumption that all, or even a part, of that money would have ever gone to energy R&D. It would have been given back as a tax break, used to build another bridge to nowhere, or maybe just not borrowed to begin with.

    46. Re: title by Khashishi · · Score: 5, Informative

      You seem to not be aware that fusion research is an open and collaborative project between all nations. We share data, equipment, tokamak run-time, and scientists. Your partisan suspicion is understandable for someone not in the know, but it's totally wrong. The fusion scientific community is well aware of what is going on at EAST (and all other major collaborative facilities), when the machine turns on, when it turns off, when there is a leak, when a diagnostic malfunctions, and when things go well.

      At DIII-D (USA), we have built a "remote control room" for EAST and KSTAR so that researchers in US can operate EAST on the third shift when our colleagues in China are sleeping. Control parameters will be transferred to Hefei over the internet and diagnostics will be fed back to the monitors in almost real time.

      BTW, I am a fusion research scientist based in US, but I do do some work on EAST as well as other machines.

    47. Re: title by cyber-vandal · · Score: 1

      A lot of people did say that but the warmongers and profiteers didn't want to know.

    48. Re: title by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      Do you have some kind of citation for this bit of wisdom?

      https://www.google.com/search?...

      As it appears that CNN, Fox, Fortune, Forbes, and many others disagree with you, I would love to see where you get that idea. The US fracking has pretty much shut down while Saudi Arabia is flooding the market to try and cause all the fracking companies to go out of business, we will see if it works.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    49. Re:title by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      In Maryland, our gas is down to $1.65, this is lower than when I started driving, if your prices haven't dropped below $2 a gallon, then I would look at why if I were you. At the height of the gas prices in the last 5 years, MD gas was $5, so it isn't like ours is somehow artificially low in some way.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    50. Re:title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And all we had to do to achieve that was to allow Iran to develop nukes and dump their cheap oil on the global market, with predictable results.

    51. Re:title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ahhh...Monday morning quarterbacks and their 20/20 hindsight. Virtually all our allies agreed that Iraq had WMDs. But don't let that keep you from taking your cheap shots at Bush.

    52. Re:title by tnk1 · · Score: 1

      Here's the thing. It's not always a matter of do A or B.

      Regime change in Syria on one level, is exactly the right thing to do. The problem is that it creates complications based on how it is executed.

      Assad, like his father, is a psychopathic dictator willing to do anything to stay in power. His people are better off without him. They know this, and that is why they were asking for reforms and are now in rebellion.

      However, if the means by which the regime is changed is careless or not properly executed, then yes, things can certainly get worse than Assad. That does *not* mean that removing Assad is the wrong decision. It means that there is a risk to doing so that needs to be planned for and addressed.

      Our attempt to push regime change in Syria, while remaining "hands off" because the Obama Administration did not want to get too involved was definitely the wrong decision. That does not mean that the choice was always "keep Assad or create ISIS". Obama did not want to create the complication for himself, so he offered lukewarm support to the rebels. That lack of support prevented the rebels from getting the upper hand and it turned into chaos.

      The one thing I have learned is that wishy washy "solutions" often make the problems they were intended to solve worse. We took a side against Assad, and we should have fully committed to what it takes to make that happen. Maybe not troops on the ground, but we certainly could have taken stronger more decisive steps than we did to support the rebels.

    53. Re:title by laie_techie · · Score: 1

      In Maryland, our gas is down to $1.65, this is lower than when I started driving, if your prices haven't dropped below $2 a gallon, then I would look at why if I were you. At the height of the gas prices in the last 5 years, MD gas was $5, so it isn't like ours is somehow artificially low in some way.

      Utah's average for 85 octane gasoline is $1.80 / gallon right now. There is no reason for it to be so expensive, especially considering we have 5 refineries in state, and gasoline refined in Utah costs LESS in Idaho. Admittedly, a 5 cent tax increase went into effect January 1.

    54. Re: title by mrchaotica · · Score: 1

      What is more interesting is how cheap EAST and some other Chinese fusion research facilities are

      Does "cheap" mean the same thing in a command economy?

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    55. Re:title by camperdave · · Score: 1

      We were at $1.30/l and now we're at $0.87/l. That's a drop of well nigh a third of the price. I'd call that significant.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    56. Re:title by JazzLad · · Score: 1

      I, for one, am disappointed APK is only replying twice to each of your posts these days. Some day he may not bother to reply at all and you'll have to find yourself a new online stalker.

      --
      "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear." - Every fascist, ever
    57. Re: title by LunaticTippy · · Score: 1

      US production is a bit off its peak, but it is still at very high levels historically, and has been increasing in the last few weeks

      New wells are way down, but production continues to be high and increasing. Continued low prices will eventually result in lower domestic production, but it hasn't begun to happen yet.

      --
      Man, you really need that seminar!
    58. Re: title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Funny you should say that, or actually.. Believe that. Who told you so? Been there lately?
      Yes, the Chinese government is setting some examples about corrupt mid level guys. Basically that's an effective way to reduce it. Do you really think they would start by firing themselves? These days, about everybody in China knows that they have a huge pollution problem and that the rest of the world is way ahead of them. Also, they know lots of politicians are corrupt and that they are being lied to when it comes to topics like Tien An Min Square.

    59. Re:title by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Sunni/shia war is 1000 years old and will go on for another 1000. The Brits stopped it for a century by drawing arbitrary lines, but now that's fading from significance they are back at it.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    60. Re:title by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Not anarchy, stalemate between two of the USA's enemies. Better yet one of the enemies (Saudi) claims they are friends, so this kind of Machiavellian trickery is the only attack on them open to us.

      Way to go USA indeed.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    61. Re: title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Chinese law doesn't apply in HK. HK has its own border, passport, security, police, pplitics, driving, language, educatiin system. HK has uncensored internetz freedom of speech, free elections, freedom of religion, freedom of travel (no Hukou bullshit, and the passport isn't worthless), freedom of the press, right to protest, right to criticize the government, fsir trials when charged with a crime, no black jails or anything of that matter, must I go on?

      It may "officially" be China's in name, but calling it China and treating it like every other part of the corrupt communist shithole is wrong. And that's what China tells its peoole, censoring heavily tbings like the Umbrella Revolution because shit will go down if people know that kind of protest could happen in "China".

    62. Re:title by zwarte+piet · · Score: 1

      That's about what it costs per liter in Europe.

    63. Re:title by zwarte+piet · · Score: 1

      85 octane... weird, haven't seen anything but 95 and 98 in France... well and diesel. Everyone drives a diesel.

    64. Re: title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have been reading a lot of negative comments about the experiment, from confusion between fission and fusion to political posturing to outright ignorance. It was a relief to read something positive from someone who actually knows what they are talking about. I am not a scientist or any kind of academic but I am interested in physics and I have been following the efforts to harness nuclear fusion since the early 80's. I wish you all good luck in your efforts for now and the future. Keep up the good work.

    65. Re: title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought fracking was for gas (butane, propane etc)?

    66. Re:title by zwarte+piet · · Score: 1

      Burning oil and spending ammo is the whole point of war so wouldn't make sense to find an alternative to oil products for the military.

    67. Re: title by Bengie · · Score: 1

      The real value that money is supposed to represent is man hours of work. If China can get the same amount of work done in fewer total man hours, then they can do it more cheaply. But I'm not saying that they can, but that's how you'd compare apples to apples.

    68. Re: title by laie_techie · · Score: 1

      Chinese law doesn't apply in HK. HK has its own border, passport, security, police, pplitics, driving, language, educatiin system. HK has uncensored internetz freedom of speech, free elections, freedom of religion, freedom of travel (no Hukou bullshit, and the passport isn't worthless), freedom of the press, right to protest, right to criticize the government, fsir trials when charged with a crime, no black jails or anything of that matter, must I go on?

      It may "officially" be China's in name, but calling it China and treating it like every other part of the corrupt communist shithole is wrong. And that's what China tells its peoole, censoring heavily tbings like the Umbrella Revolution because shit will go down if people know that kind of protest could happen in "China".

      My brother has lived in Hong Kong since before it was returned to China. Mainland China is slow to make changes in HK because they don't want a revolt. If you look up a few posts, Hong Kong was placed in the same list as Taiwan, Tibet, and the islands in the South Sea. Of these, Hong Kong officially belongs to China; the others are disputed. If you go to the Wikipedia article I referenced, there is a nice table of what's changed and what remained the same since 1 July 1997.

    69. Re: title by lsatenstein · · Score: 1

      Keep in mind this is China's news, the same ones who tell us Taiwan/Hong Kong/Tibet/South sea islands is belonged to China, nothing bad ever happen on Tiananmen square, there is no corruption in China (except a few to make example of, the rest of the world is polluted as bad as China (lol no) and countless other lies about their country to surpress to people/save face.

      But they have a better education system than most G7 countries. And very smart people too.

      --
      Leslie Satenstein Montreal Quebec Canada
    70. Re: title by lucien86 · · Score: 1

      Yep anonymous. Got to be a Neo Soviet infiltrator. Who else would sing the praises of the butcher Assad.

      --
      Below the speed of light Special Relativity is one of the most accurate theories in physics - above the speed of light..
    71. Re: title by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      I hate to burst your bubble, but Hong Kong does belong to China [wikipedia.org] since 1 July 1997.

      Hong Kong was LEASED to the UK as part of war reparations after the British government sent it's army in to support their drug-running citizens.

      The Chinese refused Britain's requests to extend the lease when it expired. As was their right, under the contract they agreed to - at gunboat point - 150 years previously. They were under no obligation to take Britain's opinion into account, or any opinions of the inhabitants.

      Did people not READ the fucking contract, or delude themselves into believing that the state of the world was different to what they wanted to believe it was?

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
    72. Re: title by cthulhu11 · · Score: 1

      Don't forget faking fossils.

    73. Re: title by toddestan · · Score: 1

      So what are you saying? That the Iraq war wouldn't have been pointless if the Syrian war was inevitable and that Daesh would have formed anyway? You're argument is complete nonsense.

    74. Re:title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are more than one way to measure octane rating, and the resulting numbers vary by a couple points. Where I live in the US, we have a choice between 87, 90, and 93, which is the AKI octane rating, and average of RON and MON. I think France just uses RON, and these grades would be about 92, 95, and 98 on that scale.

    75. Re: title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry KASHISHI, but we have the full Universal History to tells us ANY but European Humans are very bad scientists, if at all, so if you say you are here or there it DOES NOT MEAN _MY_ best scientists will not get differential treatment if they go to China or elsewhere, or no one will try to pass as its their achievements.

    76. Re: title by ananamouse · · Score: 1

      >Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
      Actually, not really, before the angiosperms fucked up the atmosphere after the big impact it was very different in O2 content and the big sauropods had very different lung setup.

    77. Re: title by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      Actually, not really, before the angiosperms fucked up the atmosphere after the big impact it was very different in O2 content and the big sauropods had very different lung setup.

      Sauropods were indeed dinosaurs which are not particularly closely related to birds - at least, not compared to theropod dinosaurs. However, avian dinosaurs and sauropod dinosaurs are more closely related to each other than either are to mammals, turtles, crocodiles, lizards, snakes, any of the amphibians, and let's use lungfish as an outgroup.

      I forget what the character count allowed in the "signature line" is, but it's not really designed for detailed phylogenetic discussions.

      I've been using this signature for years - maybe approaching a decade - and you're the first person who knows their dinosaurs well enough to call me on that point.

      Ummm, why are you blaming the angiosperms for a change in the atmosphere composition. They were doing their big spread in the early- to mid-Cretaceous (when there was a modest increase in oxygenation, which is probably associated with the "KL oscillations" that you'll see in your well library; particularly clearly on resistivity logs), but the much larger change in oxygenation at the K-Pg boundary wasn't associated with any particularly marked changes in terrestrial plants. There were big changes in the marine life, including plants ; but none of them were angiosperms. any atmospheric changes down to angiosperms were 30 or 40 million years before the Chixulub impact (and it remains an open question whether that had any great impact on the life of the time).

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
  2. I am not a physicist but... by damn_registrars · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There have been some "big announcements" in other hard science fields from China in the past decade or two that have turned out to be bogus. Can someone comment on the likelihood of this being real?

    --
    Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
    1. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Harlequin80 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      It is the second Tokamak reactor that China has built and it has been around for about 10 years. There is no inherent reason to disbelieve them. They have come a long way from 20 years ago.

      From what I have read China are claiming a significantly lower temperature than the recent German test, approx 30 million degrees K lower, but a much longer duration. The Germans also believe that their system will comfortably run for much longer, the recent operation was just a test so potentially we are seeing a point where engineering capabilities can produce the accuracy of design needed for tokamaks to work.

    2. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm definetely buying solar panels. Does using solar panels contribute to greenhouse effect on earth? ...

      (earth! lol wherelse would I put solar panels :)

    3. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      *slow clap*

      Now back under your rock - you're overdue for your little red pills.

    4. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The likelihood is pretty high - higher than that of the USA, for example. The "big announcements that turned out to be bogus" are not exclusively observed in China, despite what western media portrays.

    5. Re:I am not a physicist but... by sunderland56 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      There have been some "big announcements" in other hard science fields from China in the past decade or two that have turned out to be bogus.

      Why pick on China? Every country on the planet has been guilty of this. Until a scientific finding has been peer reviewed, and hopefully duplicated, it's just cold fusion all over again.

    6. Re:I am not a physicist but... by aaronb1138 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Probably reliable that they pulled it off. I just wonder how rough it was on the ablative neutron shielding. The current favorite is Boron alloys, but I have yet to hear anything remotely hopeful about long term containment of fast neutrons.

    7. Re: I am not a physicist but... by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 5, Interesting

      An interesting trend to watch, even if this one doesn't turn out to be verified, is that China is where most of the the significant energy research is happening.

      The US will be buying most of its advanced energy tech from China in just a couple decades. A couple decades ago that would have seemed unconscionable.

      Say what you want about the relative historical value of the two governments, but one stymies progress with fear-based regulations and denial and the other takes the engineering approach to solving problems. Only one of those can drive prosperity - the leads to despair.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    8. Re: I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can't believe some of the fear-based nonsense over there, like the Great Firewall of China, one child policy, or the 10-cent party's participation in online propaganda and censorship.

      I'm grateful for the sensible engineering and safety regulations in this country that prevent us from seeing horrible things like this:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO1q3HwB0y0

    9. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Snotnose · · Score: 4, Interesting

      There is no inherent reason to disbelieve them.

      Their currency is manipulated. Their stock market has 2 books, one set you can see, the other you can't. They sell pet food that poisons pets. They sell baby formula that harms babies. They have no respect for IP property. They're poisoning their environment such that you can't see across the street due to air pollution, and can't drink the water because of some mining company upstream. The news media is censored so that non of their citizens know any of this, except what they can see with their own 2 eyes.

      I tend to disbelieve them until shown proof.

    10. Re:I am not a physicist but... by dsmatthews9379 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It is not hard to do, if you have the equipment, but doing it without wrecking it is another matter. So why did they only do it once, and does their machine still work or did they burn out the liner and need to fix it?

      There is a hint in this article that the previous time limit was safety related, http://www.scmp.com/tech/scien...

      I guess if you are in a race you sometimes have to take risks to get ahead of the pack, even at the risk of a wipe-out.

      Totally worth it if they learned anything useful.

    11. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Harlequin80 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Their currency is manipulated - as is the US currency it's called Quantative Easing.
      They sell pet food that poisons pets. They sell baby formula that harms babies. - Private companies that have been prosecuted, there are heaps of US equivalents. Asbestos is one of the biggest.
        They have no respect for IP property. Why should they? They don't produce large amounts of IP so it makes sense for them to ignore IP law.
      They're poisoning their environment such that you can't see across the street due to air pollution, and can't drink the water because of some mining company upstream. - No question it is bad currently, but again every developed economy went through the period of trashing their environment. Not saying it's right but it's pretty much pot meet kettle.
      The news media is censored so that non of their citizens know any of this, except what they can see with their own 2 eyes. You haven't been there have you? Yes their media is censored but everyone knows your list.

    12. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Harlequin80 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I kept reading that and I think something has gone wrong. 15 million K is much higher than absolute zero.... But if I am right about what you are getting at the temps achieved by the German and Chinese tests are higher than the core temperature of the sun. It is because they have to be. One thing that is missing from a fusion reactor that the Sun has is gravity. The sun gets to use a combination of extreme temp & extreme pressure, where as on earth all we get to use is the extreme temperature part.

    13. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Snotnose · · Score: 0

      Evidently I said something you disagree with. What? Hellifino. All you did was insult me without bothering to say why.

      I'm guessing it's the temperature thing. I speculated that 30 million K is twice the temp of the sun. Someone else pointed out the sun has gravity, which the Chinese reactor doesn't have. I'm perfectly willing to accept that, I'm not a nuclear physicist.

      No help to you though.

    14. Re: I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      A practical fusion reactor has temperatures higher than the sun, because the sun has a horrible power density. Fusion reactions in the sun generate only about 100 wattas per cubic meter, and you need a lot more than that to get a net gain in a human built reactor of a reasonable size. The target is usually around 10 keV for DT fusion, or about 120 million K.

    15. Re: I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You've just described the US.

      How is the water in Flint?

    16. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Their stock market has 2 books, one set you can see, the other you can't.

      So does the US stock market, through dark pools.

    17. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      "I'm not gonna bother googling it, but I'm pretty sure 15 million K is lower (much, much lower) than absolute 0."

      "Absolute 0" is zero degrees Kelvin...

      Room temperature is around 293 K.

      Unless your understanding of the word "lower" is much different than mine: 15 million K is much HIGHER than 293, which is certainly much HIGHER than absolute 0.

    18. Re: I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are several major tokamaks already around the world, and EAST's results are inline with what is to be expected. This is nothing like cold fusion, but another data point in a well established scaling developed for tokamaks over decades of work.

    19. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      So we shouldn't believe them because they are just like us?

    20. Re:I am not a physicist but... by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      German test, 80 MK, Chinese test, 50 MK. Temperature of the sun: irrelevant. He insulted you because you seemed sure you said something insightful, but only passed on a non sequitur. And you said 15 MK was lower than 0. It's not. It's higher than 0, about 15 MK higher. The only reason the numbers don't work is because you aren't doing it right.

    21. Re:I am not a physicist but... by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Their currency is manipulated.

      Name a country that doesn't manipulate their currency. China's currency is ok, at least as much as anyone else's.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    22. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Waffle+Iron · · Score: 2

      If memory serves, and google says it does, the temperature of the sun is around 15 million K. I'm not gonna bother googling it, but I'm pretty sure 15 million K is lower (much, much lower) than absolute 0. So the numbers flat out don't work.

      A. The reaction rates differ by about 16 orders of magnitude: The sun is going to run about 10 billion years with no refueling. A Tokamak fusion reactor would run for a few seconds or minutes.
      2. The sun is using a completely different set of nuclear reactions with completely different fuel. There is no direct comparison anyway.

    23. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      especially the part about the means of production being owned by the workers.

    24. Re: I am not a physicist but... by phorm · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Uh, yeah have you heard of a place called Flint, Michigan?

    25. Re: I am not a physicist but... by dbIII · · Score: 5, Informative

      Here is why it's not the USA - scroll down to the graph for the very quick answer:
      http://hardware.slashdot.org/s...

    26. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      If memory serves, and google says it does, the temperature of the sun is around 15 million K. I'm not gonna bother googling it, but I'm pretty sure 15 million K is lower (much, much lower) than absolute 0. So the numbers flat out don't work.

      As has been pointed out before. No-one is trying to replicate Sun-style fusion. It would be completely pointless considering how inefficient it would be.
      The Sun generates less heat per volume unit than your average compost system. It makes up for it by having a lot of volume.
      Fusion reactors for Earth usage would have to be a lot more efficient than that.

    27. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Hadlock · · Score: 5, Informative

      China is also dumping US 1960's-style money in to scientific research and development. Of the three major space-faring countries, China, Russia, and the USA, you'll note that only China and Russian currently have manned spaceflight programs.
       
      China has also built the largest ground recieving dish in the world, out-doing the one in Puerto Rico by a factor of almost two.
       
      China is rocking the 1960s American Science Research meme so hard it hurts.
       
      Meanwhile, American politicians are arguing about whether or not climate change is real, and we slot somewhere between countries like Latvia and Lithuania in Science globally. Hong Kong, (china), Singapore, and Japan are #1,2,3 globally, if you were curious.

      --
      moox. for a new generation.
    28. Re:I am not a physicist but... by meerling · · Score: 1

      When you consider the amount of already proven scientific fraud that has come out of that country and the leaderships apparent desire to one-up the other countries so badly it turns a blind eye to it on a regular basis, yeah, it's possible it's real, but don't bet any money on it until it's been properly verified by independent outside groups.

    29. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "They have no respect for IP property"
      To be fair, "IP property" is not actually deserving of respect, so they got this one right.

    30. Re:I am not a physicist but... by 4im · · Score: 1

      Aside from the duration of the plasma heating, I don't quite see the newsworthyness. JET (a research TOKAMAK in UK) has achieved temperatures of 100 million C and several seconds of fusion to boot.

      Comparison with the german Wendelstein 7-X may not be appropriate, as it's a different type of reactor (stellarator vs. TOKAMAK). Also, its experiments have just started; longer durations are fully expected, but will be a while to achieve.

    31. Re:I am not a physicist but... by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'm not gonna bother googling it, but I'm pretty sure 15 million K is lower (much, much lower) than absolute 0.

      You really should've googled it.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    32. Re:I am not a physicist but... by jandersen · · Score: 1

      There have been some "big announcements" in other hard science fields from China in the past decade or two that have turned out to be bogus.

      Examples, quotations, please. There continues to be a lot of ill will against China and too much preparedness to accept stories that claim everything coming from there is crap. The same used to be said about Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, and in fact all emerging economies, so to rule out the suspicion of bias, quotation is needed, IMO.

      Can someone comment on the likelihood of this being real?

      It sounds real enough to me - it is progress on the kind of scale that you would expect, I think. 'Progress', to the extent that one can define and measure it, seems to tend to happen on an exponential scale, at least in the beginning - at first, the steps are very small, but for a while they tend to double in size over constant time intervals; just think of integrated circuits, or gene technology. It isn't that long ago that they idea of having what is essentially a 80es supercomputer in your pocket was beyong science fiction, or the idea that you could read whole genomes and edit them was ludicrous at best. If this rate of progress holds for fusion research, we may think of it as something trvially obvious in less than 50 years' time.

      I have found that all too often what holds us back from making the best of what we could potentially have is simply lack of courage and vision. I have absolutely no doubt that we can, quite easily, overcome all the troubles that lie ahead - if only we don't cower down in the face of having to make changes to the way we do things.

    33. Re:I am not a physicist but... by thegarbz · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Don't confuse lying with management. Manipulating currency and the stock market is an economics trick. It's not fake, it's quite real. As is the race to the bottom manufacturing that causes their health and environmental woes. They also do not lie about this to the western media (don't confusing lying and censorship either).

      China have some of the best engineering and economic minds in the world. We should know, we in the west trained them at our grand universities.

      This is not North Korea, and I find no reason to disbelieve that their long running fusion projects have seen some results.

    34. Re: I am not a physicist but... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      On the other hand, a lot of people die in industrial accidents in China. You could argue it's worth it, but you don't get to make that determination for the victims so it's irrelevant.

      Anyway, Japan manages to innovate and develop its energy technology just fine, despite strong regulations. They just pick safer technologies, including fusion. The real difference is not the regulatory environment, it's the willingness to invest in new forms of energy and energy efficiency. The US is waking up to the huge new market, but it's been slow off the mark compared to countries like Germany and Japan. Then again, it's still doing better than the UK.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    35. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Mostly+a+lurker · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Also worthy of note:

      For the sixth consecutive time, Tianhe-2, a supercomputer developed by China’s National University of Defense Technology, has retained its position as the world’s No. 1 system, according to the 46th edition of the twice-yearly TOP500 list of the world’s most powerful supercomputers.

      (Source: Top 500 lists November 2015)

      Supercomputers are fundamental to leading edge scientific research.

    36. Re:I am not a physicist but... by KGIII · · Score: 1

      Hmm... I don't think it's entirely accurate to say that the US doesn't have a manned spaceflight program - they just don't use their own rockets or launch facilities for that program and knowingly put themselves into that position. However they (we) have a manned spaceflight program. They/we just don't launch any manned spaceflight vehicles. NASA is still putting people in space, they're just paying someone else to do the lifting part of it.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    37. Re:I am not a physicist but... by camperdave · · Score: 3, Insightful

      So we shouldn't believe them because they are just like us?

      Do you need a better reason?

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    38. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They have no respect for IP property.

      Good. There are many good criticisms of China, e.g. bad human rights record, one party system, etc., but of course you had to mention the most stupid and irrelevant ones.

    39. Re:I am not a physicist but... by KGIII · · Score: 2

      Err... I can't believe you're asking for citations? Really? I can understand some healthy skepticism but there are actually SCIENTIFIC PAPERS published on this. But, let me help you out... I searched first for "china scientific fraud" and found that there were papers on this subject but I clicked on the first, non-scientific, paper:

      http://www.ibtimes.com/chinas-...

      The money quote:

      Just last month, BioMed Central, an open-access publisher based in Britain, retracted 43 papers, most of them from Chinese researchers, after discovering that reviewers who had supposedly signed off on the studies were made up by agencies hired by the original authors.

      I liked their phrase better, so I searched for "china scientific credibility" and figured that I'd find you some more information though, to be honest, I've no idea why you want it as it's obvious you're not actually a scientist or following science with any great enthusiasm...

      Here's one about the "credibility paradox" that China faces. Zhang is Chinese, by the way.

      http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pm...

      It's so prolific that China had to BAN dishonesty in scientific research... Ban it, by law... They just banned it recently, as in very recently. Who knows if it has actually had any real-world results? I'm thinking that "probably not" is a good answer. That should not be misread to make it seem as if I'm claiming this research is fraudulent. See below as to why I'm a bit skeptical about it having any major, real-world, long-term, impact. The link to cite that for you too:

      http://bigstory.ap.org/article...

      It baffles me that you have no idea and would ask for citations. They've plagiarized a ton of stuff, fabricated stuff, and made stuff up out of whole cloth and, by most accounts, that's actually due to governmental pressures. Some are inclined to believe that it is cultural. Being a bit of a pragmatist, I don't see why it can't be both. However, that's not my area so I probably am not qualified to speculate as to the reasoning.

      At any rate, WTF are you going to actually *do* with a citation? This is Slashdot, not Wikipedia, and you're not a scientist - I know because this is endemic across the entire board of studies, you'd know about it if you were a scientist or even just an enthusiast. Either way, there's a whole shit-ton more articles (and actual published research) on China's reputation in all things science.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    40. Re: I am not a physicist but... by jafiwam · · Score: 0, Troll

      You've just described the US.

      How is the water in Flint?

      Democratic.

    41. Re:I am not a physicist but... by bluegutang · · Score: 5, Informative

      Um... the US spends more money on R&D than any other country, and more money per person than any other country except Israel and South Korea.
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    42. Re:I am not a physicist but... by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      the US spends more money on R&D than any other country, and more money per person than any other country except Israel and South Korea.

      Where is that money counted? If it's on its way into the MIC, then you're not accounting for the massive waste and graft inherent to that system.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    43. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Dunbal · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Their currency is manipulated. Their stock market has 2 books, one set you can see, the other you can't.

      Unlike the West. LOL.

      The west sells food that poisons humans. The west has no respect for personal property (unless you're a billionaire). They are poisoning their environment such that you can no longer catch a fish in the ocean whose belly isn't filled with plastic. Oh, and don't get me started on the censorship of western news media.

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    44. Re:I am not a physicist but... by umghhh · · Score: 1

      why is this OT? The discussion seems to be relevant if not for tokamak self then for reliability of the report on it.

    45. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And this is different to western nations how?

    46. Re: I am not a physicist but... by Nikkos · · Score: 1

      Flint is an issue with naturally acidic water eating away lead pipes, and the corruption of the leadership that failed to act.

      Expand that 100x - but with corporate water and air pollution - and you'll have the average city in China.

    47. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Megol · · Score: 1

      From what I have read China are claiming a significantly lower temperature than the recent German test, approx 30 million degrees K lower,

      If memory serves, and google says it does, the temperature of the sun is around 15 million K. I'm not gonna bother googling it, but I'm pretty sure 15 million K is lower (much, much lower) than absolute 0. So the numbers flat out don't work.

      15000000 0 ? Nope, doesn't make any sense.

      And why is the temperature of the sun of interest? This article/discussion wasn't about the sun at all, the comparison mentioned in the post you quoted was against another fusion experiment in Germany - not the fusion process of the sun!

    48. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Megol · · Score: 1

      And that is exclusive for China? Nope. The biggest scandals in science that I remember is faked stem cell results from Japan, faked medical research in Europe, faked physics research in the US etc. There have been a number of scandals where people actually died because of the faked research.

      Another "popular" thing often mentioned here on /. is the case of the faked milk powder in China. Funny* enough I remember 3 cases of faked olive oil in Europe and a lot of cases of faked alcohol in Europe/US (not moonshine - illegally produced alcohol but using industrial alcohol, methanol etc.) but those are never mentioned, strange?

      (* more like tragic)

    49. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I really like the commie flag on top of the American design too. Nice touch. The results are a phony as a $3 bill.

    50. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, China isn't spending 1960's money (as a percentage of GDP at least), which is what's so weird. The EAST reactor in the story only cost around $40 million. The original US Tokomak back in 1980 (built in 70's) cost $560 million... not including the inflation since then. China's space launches are cheap too. China is doing all this stuff really cheap.

      I guess espionage is cheaper than research.

    51. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What are you? 80s US propaganda?

    52. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      OK. Now that you have described the USA and Europe, show us proof China is worse. Didn't think so. Stupid M..F..

    53. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why do you hate sharing?

    54. Re: I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Naturally acidic water?

    55. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I will note you are greatly mistaken.

      We very much have manned rocket programs. It is naive to watch the what is going on and use a brain dead metric like,well are they in space? (BTW yes).

      What manufacturer isn't building a cabin with a toilet this very moment?

      Virgin galactic?
      Those guys before the merger invented civilian astronauts..

      Quit fudd'en dude'

    56. Re:I am not a physicist but... by jandersen · · Score: 1

      At any rate, WTF are you going to actually *do* with a citation? This is Slashdot, not Wikipedia, and you're not a scientist - I know because this is endemic across the entire board of studies, you'd know about it if you were a scientist or even just an enthusiast. Either way, there's a whole shit-ton more articles (and actual published research) on China's reputation in all things science.

      As you can already see from somebody else's reply to your comment, there is in fact controversy, when it comes to China's status in science. In my opinion the fact that you would not even have thought it necessary to do a search is a symptom of intellectual laziness; and when you did, it was only for "chinese scientific fraud" - try substituting "chinese" with, say "american" and so on, it isn't hard. But the results don't prove your point, which is to say "Look, China is Bad".

      I know applying your intellect in arguments isn't the popular style on /. - but that doesn't mean that it is bad style trying to do so; and if you had bothered with trying to understand what I was talking about, maybe you would have found that I didn't actually say that I don't know about fraud in Chinese research. I was simply hoping to raise the level of discourse to one where you don't just spew out the same old, tired prejudices, but instead bring something new to the table - something worth reading. But never mind - you can't win them all.

      Finally, as for being a scientist: what do you know about that, actually? Not a lot, it would appear - you argue like a teenager: start with your conclusion, then find the "facts" that match.

    57. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They do a really good job of collaborating with other teams, and I mean that in the actual sense of bidirectional exchange, not just copying. There is something to be said for doing something second, because it is easier to learn from past mistakes. But after watching diagnostic development on a US project and collaborating with the development of a diagnostic on a Chinese machine, the Chinese project came in way cheaper than it could in the US, even though both were basically iterating an established design. Some components for a project like that come down to raw materials, while others come down to parts that have a large labor cost, which is cheap in China even if it is highly specialized labor.

    58. Re: I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nah. We'll just pull a China.

      Let them do all the R&D to get it operational, then just steal the information to make it ourselves. Tit for Tat.

    59. Re: I am not a physicist but... by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      Corrosive. It is a common problem and water supplies all over the place have anti corrosive treatments.

      They tested the water from the river for drinkability, which is fine, but not for ths common problem. It then went to leach lead from the lead pipes of older homes.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    60. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      oddly enough, i posted basically the same basic things and was modded down to -1 (same as you).

      I guess the truth hurts?

    61. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      Their "Chinese" supercomputer is 3.1 million clustered Intel Xeon cores.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    62. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      If time spent splitting and recombining results is not your calculation bottleneck, I submit the BOINC project is far and away the fastest supercomputer.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    63. Re: I am not a physicist but... by phorm · · Score: 4, Informative

      Flint is an issue with switching from a good water system to a more acidic and known polluted one to save a few bucks. That's coupled with STOPPING procedures which helped prevent lead-leeching/corrosion in pipes, DENYING the issue despite people with rashes, hair loss, and other extreme symptoms, and then VICTIM BLAMING and COVER UPS (hey, it's better, we tested it... in homes that have already added filters) when many cases started to surface. At the same time people and their children were being poisoned by lead - and the gov't was denying it - they added extra water coolers of nice clean water in the offices of those same government officials.

      But hey, keep telling yourself how bad other countries are, and how yours is so much better. When the "best country in the world" is also a polluted, dry desert rock with a bunch of sick jobless people you can pat yourselves on the back that China is so much worse.

      The first step to addressing a problem is to stop denying it exists. Part of that means you start to realize that "but hey... look over there" is a method to distract from the problems "over here"

    64. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They have no respect for IP property - ironic from a nation that from its very founding stole all its technology!

    65. Re: I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The fact that you _know_ about Flint means it's already different from China.

    66. Re:I am not a physicist but... by digitalderbs · · Score: 4, Informative

      Those numbers are highly misleading. The NIH gets about 32 billion, the NSF about 5-6 and NASA gets a few billion. That's ~10% of the research money account for on the Wiki link you post. Most of the money accounted for there is for defense, like the DoD--not for basic research. There's no doubt that China spends a lot here too, but you'd have to eliminate defense funds to make a better apples-to-apples comparison.

      I'm a Professor in the US, and I have many colleagues in the hard sciences in China. China and the Middle East are spending a lot more money on basic research now, per researcher, than the US.

    67. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Um, the only thing the United States spend R&D on is finding new and more efficient ways to murder brown people.

    68. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would be interested to see a more detailed breakdown of what that R&D is per country. GP specifically said scientific R&D, which I would consider to not necessarily be the same thing as military R&D (though of course there is overlap). Or corporate R&D: public vs private R&D is another good distinction to look at.

    69. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Like ATM Machines or AC current....

    70. Re: I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually they did test the water for this common problem and before they made the switch and made it anyway. This is why there is a criminal investigation into the matter now.

    71. Re: I am not a physicist but... by Solandri · · Score: 1

      I wouldn't be so sure. Japan was the first country to travel that route. In the 1950s Japanese products were considered garbage. By the 1980s, it was considered some of the best stuff in the world. But it's GDP per capita (nominal) has stagnated around $35k/yr vs about $55k/yr for the U.S. and $45k/yr for most of the Western Europe.

      South Korea and Taiwan are the two more recent countries to advance that way (products considered to be cheap trash in the 1970s, desirable by the 1990s). But their GDP has stagnated at around $25k/yr per capita. (Yes Taiwan - nearly all laptops are designed in Taiwan). Singapore would seem to be an exception at about $55k/yr, but it's a city-state and achieves that high GDP by not having any low-income rural residents.

      There is just something about these East Asian countries which is preventing them from reaching the level of productivity that the U.S. and Western Europe have reached. My theory is it's corruption (bribery is a fact of life there) and ingrained rules of society which impede free market forces from helping remove inefficiencies. If I'm right, then China, currently at about $8k/yr, is probably going to stagnate before it reaches $15k/yr due to its Communist government trying to micro-manage everything its people do. That would be enough to supplant the U.S. as world's largest economy, but it will hardly be world-leading when it comes to technologies. I mean it will have a few world-leading breakthroughs due to the sheer size of its economy and population, but the amount of technological advancements per $GDP and per citizen will be far below what we see from the U.S., Western Europe, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. You could even argue China has already reached its peak - $8k/yr GDP per capita is where Russia stopped at when it was the Soviet Union (inflation adjusted), and where it is right now.

      Technological progress doesn't just come from dumping money into R&D. You also have to give your researchers and engineers freedom to try out all the crazy ideas they can think of. And have a free market which can sort out the good ideas from the bad (instead of some government official designating that one idea is good while another is bad).

    72. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Khashishi · · Score: 1

      FYI: The Wendelstein 7-X shot was around 80 MK which is quite a bit hotter than the Sun.

      ITER is expected to run at ~300MK in some H-mode scenarios.

    73. Re:I am not a physicist but... by DerekLyons · · Score: 1

      China is also dumping US 1960's-style money in to scientific research and development. Of the three major space-faring countries, China, Russia, and the USA, you'll note that only China and Russian currently have manned spaceflight programs.

      China is a major space faring nation? Only by comparison with the minors... In reality, China's space program is just big enough to convince people they're a "major" space faring nation and not a Fen's worth more.

    74. Re: I am not a physicist but... by tnk1 · · Score: 1

      The fact that you _know_ about Flint means it's already different from China.

      This.

      China is willing to make strides on the back of their population. They can support this because they control information and refuse to accept responsibility for their failures or even allow the existence of the failures to be shown internally.

      There have been "Flint" style issues in China too. The fact that we are an open country doesn't mean Flints cannot happen. It means that someone is held accountable publicly when they do. That tends to lead to something like Flint not happening again.

      That said, there is *some* accountability within the Chinese Communist Party for this sort of thing, but it's the same sort of "backdoor" accountability you'd find anywhere. It does work, but if the people in those positions are too powerful to be held to account, or it is too embarrassing for the Party to admit a failure, they simply cover it up.

    75. Re:I am not a physicist but... by tnk1 · · Score: 1

      We should always verify. But presumably that's just science.

      Also, China does have a habit of controlling their media. That calls for more independent verification.

      Further, their desire to look like a leading producer of science has caused them to do things that hurt the practice of science. There was an article in the past which went over how many retractions that journals have had to make for submissions that PRC scientists have made. This is because the Party decreed that scientists who used to be appointed to cushy jobs for political or patronage reasons, suddenly needed to publish to justify their jobs. Those that were shitty researchers simply made up data to publish and keep their jobs.

      Yes, there are some people who see China as The Enemy, and that's not a good thing, but China isn't an innocent victim of propaganda either. It sometimes digs its own credibility holes.

      The right thing to do is interview people who can verify this, and then to report that verification. If it can be verified, then the fact that it is Chinese should be irrelevant.

    76. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Spending money is not 100% indicative of an equivalent returned value. Particularly in the US.

    77. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What is the ultimate human achievement in the history of mankind?

      1969 -- US sends men to moon and returns them home.

      Drop microphone. Walk off stage.

      We do not currently have a manned space flight program because we elected a man who thinks it is immoral to spend billions on space, when their are people in poverty. That money from his standpoint should have been spent on social services.

    78. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Harlequin80 · · Score: 1

      But it is the duration that is news worthy. It is massively longer than anything else that has been achieved. So now you have China who can keep the plasma contained for a long time but not have the temp needed and JET which has the temp but not the duration. Put those two together and hopefully you get the temp and the duration.

    79. Re: I am not a physicist but... by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      I like TsingTao beer. It's Chinese but it's good. (Tsingtao was the German enclave during colonialism, the Chinese kept the recipe.)

      So I tired some 'SingHa' beer (not the Thai SingHa, the Chinese one). It was nasty.

      Mentioned it to some Chinese coworkers.

      Their reaction: 'That beer is made in Shanghai with Shanghai city water, never drink it, it will give you cancer.'

      The real open Chinese mess that our news is mostly ignoring is the Chinese stock market bubble. They are down 50% and still have a PE ratio in the 50 neighborhood.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    80. Re:I am not a physicist but... by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      I've never heard of any problems with industrial alcohol in the USA, at least not sense the repeal of prohibition.

      In Europe I only ever hear of such things in nations with unreasonable booze taxes.

      It's really more of a dirt poor, 3rd world nation thing. India, Africa etc.

      When you can buy 'as good as it gets' vodka for $12/750ml there isn't much room to undercut them.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    81. Re:I am not a physicist but... by hackingbear · · Score: 1

      Their currency is manipulated.

      If you actually knew about the history of RMB and its black market, you would know their manipulation was not effective or at most marginal. And the same practice has been or is being practiced by the US and most other countries.

      Their stock market has 2 books, one set you can see, the other you can't.

      Same in the US, especially before Great Depression

      They sell pet food that poisons pets. They sell baby formula that harms babies.

      Many of those "they" got death sentence and executed.

      They have no respect for IP property.

      Same with the US which stole most of its technologies from Europe in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

      They're poisoning their environment such that you can't see across the street due to air pollution, and can't drink the water because of some mining company upstream.

      Same happened to the US and are still happening in many other countries. We just exported the pollution.

      The news media is censored so that non of their citizens know any of this, except what they can see with their own 2 eyes.

      Clearly you have not actually read their online news, likely because you can't even read Chinese and have to rely on your Western media outlets.

    82. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Hadlock · · Score: 1

      We don't even have our own astronaut training program any more. We pay the Russians to do that too. All American astronauts have to learn to read Russian and speak some, and the Russians have us so tightly wound around their finger that we're doing Astronaut training in Russian occupied Ukrainian Crimea, for Christ's sake. We're squatting on the mostly abandoned shell of what's left of our space program that is the ISS but NASA has already formally announced we're abandoning the ISS in less than 10 years. We launch in Russian spacecraft on Russian rockets and dock on the Russian side of the space station. We're basically tourists on our own space station. That's nothing to be proud of or brag about.

      --
      moox. for a new generation.
    83. Re:I am not a physicist but... by KGIII · · Score: 1

      Why would I search for something else to give you a citation for what you asked for? I'm well aware of fraud happening in other countries. I'm pretty sure that I made no mention of China being exclusive to this.

      The only thing I pointed out is that you're not a scientist. I made no argument. Follow the fucking thread. You asked someone for a citation, I gave it to you because you're obviously not smart enough to do it on your own. You didn't ask ME for the citation, try to keep up. Dumb ass.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    84. Re:I am not a physicist but... by KGIII · · Score: 1

      Are you retarded? Seriously, are you mentally retarded? Where, with what, did I indicate that the problem is exclusive to China? How the fuck did you get that from anything I've ever said, ever? I have a whole post history, many thousands of posts, and I've never once indicated that I held any such belief - including in the post you fucking replied to.

      Wow, this site's filling up with stupid people. Read what I wrote, not what you want to think I wrote.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    85. Re:I am not a physicist but... by KGIII · · Score: 1

      No, nothing to be "proud" about, I don't think. Still, a bit more than none. It's very far from where we could be - in both directions. IOW, don't despair. We'll be all good. I'd like to be in a much different place but I don't really get to control that and nobody I vote for is ever elected. :/

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    86. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      NZ

    87. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Antique+Geekmeister · · Score: 1

      > It would be completely pointless considering how inefficient it would be.

      Solar fusion is reasonably efficient, in the long run, over the lifespan of a star. It consumes quite a large percentage of the hydrogen, _eventually_, into helium. The power density is relatively low compared to various hydrogen isotope based fusion reactors, and it has the advantage of a very high ambient pressure throughout the core of the star, and no need to transform that energy efficiently into electrical or mechanical forms. And at such large scales, it can use the much less easily triggered reactions.

      I'm afraid the fundamental problem with hot or cold fusion is the lack of fuel. The only reliable sources for enough deuterium and tritium to power most practical or even theoretical fusion reactor designs is fission reactors, and the hydrogen isotope based energy is only a fraction of their ordinary nuclear energy output. Fusion remains a fascinating technological accomplishment which I'll applaud as a technological marvel, but it's not a viable power source except possibly as an "afterburner" to extract more energy from fusion sources. And the difficulty of getting more energy from a fusion reactor than goes into generating fusion remains extraordinary.

    88. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Their currency is manipulated. Their stock market has 2 books, one set you can see, the other you can't. They sell pet food that poisons pets. They sell baby formula that harms babies. They have no respect for IP property. They're poisoning their environment such that you can't see across the street due to air pollution, and can't drink the water because of some mining company upstream. The news media is censored so that non of their citizens know any of this, except what they can see with their own 2 eyes.

      Oh you mean like the US has done for years.

    89. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The only reliable sources for enough deuterium and tritium to power most practical or even theoretical fusion reactor designs is fission reactors

      Pretty much every fusion reactor design study for the last 20 years has spent some effort on determining the tritium breeding ratio and ensuring it is over 1, as in the reactor breeds more tritium than it uses. Those neutrons have to go somewhere, and so effectively you're turning it into a power plant that uses deuterium, lithium, and beryllium for fuel, without a need for tritium beyond a start up period.

    90. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      (yeah, not just bogus, but this one sounds mediocre when compared to other researchers; just be sure to NOT LET CHINA ORGANIZE A CONGRESS IN CHINA and fish hunt scientists who may discover any ploy).

    91. Re:I am not a physicist but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      (nope. strictly speaking, it is a void then you enter the quark realms and Feynman and leave Human experience, so it is warmer cold or colder warmth if you will, that of quantic void; more or less... 3?:D3> )

    92. Re:I am not a physicist but... by KGIII · · Score: 1

      I don't do this often enough but I do owe you an apology. Yes, I was "correct." However, my behavior was unacceptable. I am not normally like that but, for whatever reason, I was and I don't feel like minimizing it with excuses.

      So, I am truly apologetic for my deplorable response. I took offense to your reply, did not stop to think that you might just have missed that I was not the OP - which is understandable given the amount of things that occupy our days, and responded in-kind. That is not an excuse, it does not make what I did more acceptable, and I do offer my sincere apologies for my response.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    93. Re:I am not a physicist but... by KGIII · · Score: 1

      In hindsight, I realize you may have just not noticed that I was not the OP. Some of us have busy lives and get distracted. Thus, it may have been a simple oversight for you to have not noticed that I was not insinuating those things - I was simply supplying them with a citation for the myriad ethics violations inherent in China's science. I did not mean for it to convey any tone other than what it said - that China has a reputation for flawed ethics in science. I did not mean it as exclusionary. I was not insinuating that other bodies were not equally or greater afflicted with abuse. I was not the person who posted the initial post, I was only the one who supplied the citation. I'm still kind of baffled as to why they'd want that citation, but that's neither here nor there.

      So, I do not do this with enough frequency and it's important to do so. The above is not an excuse, it is not a minimization. My response to you was abhorrent and uncalled for. The vast majority of times, I'd simply ask if you'd noticed that I was not the OP. This time, I was offended by your response and the accusatory tone of your response. I acted out of character and my behavior was unacceptable. I should have just taken the time to point out that I am not, in fact, the OP - I'm just the guy showing them the citation and making no other claims about anything other than the citation and need for it itself.

      Which is to say, I apologize and hope that it doesn't happen again. I'd go on with that but anything more would be minimizing and unacceptable. Irrespective of your actions, mine were unacceptable and I am accountable for them.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    94. Re:I am not a physicist but... by jandersen · · Score: 1

      Hey, no worries :-) We all get carried away sometimes when we believe strongly in what we are discussing. It means we are human.

  3. At that temperature... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Kraft Diner cooks in 1ms.

    1. Re:At that temperature... by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

      >> Kraft Diner cooks in 1ms.

      And everyone in the diner dies too. But I wonder how long it would take to cook Mac and Cheese at that temperature?

    2. Re:At that temperature... by Livius · · Score: 1

      What kind of monster is 'cooking' a diner full of staff and customers in the first place?

    3. Re: At that temperature... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      A very hungry one, I imagine.

  4. High vs Low by SumDog · · Score: 0

    There's been a lot of research in both high and low temperature fusion. I honestly though LENR (low energy nuclear reactions) would make the breakthrough first. (And for those of you who think LENR is a myth: https://www.lenr-forum.com/forum/index.php/Attachment/386-IEEE-brief-DeChiaro-9-2015-pdf )

    The trouble with LENR is we can see it work, but we don't know why or how, and that's necessary for consistency; to get a reliable and usable energy source. A lot of big players have put a lot of money into this. Toyota operated an LENR lab for over two years.

    Tokamac reactors are the other end of the spectrum. Fissile material heated to the temperature of just a fraction of our own sun is very difficult to maintain. If the plasma touches the sides of the reactor, it immediately cools. Most of the research has been put fourth into keeping the plasma suspended and stable. Unless we can do that predictably and sustainably, it simply takes too much energy in for the return we get out.

    I'm really curious which one of these two technologies will be the first to become commercially viable. I'm really hoping someone figured out LENR. I feel that's going to require more of a "eureka" moment where some group of researchers finally figures out why it works. It also has the potential to be a lot cheaper and solve a very large energy problem.

    1. Re:High vs Low by Cassini2 · · Score: 1

      My expectation is that LENR will be used for heat production. If you want gigawatt-scale electricity production, then the options are fission reactors or high-temperature fusion. The problem with using a low temperature process for thermal electric power generation is that thermal cycles perform better at higher temperature differentials. In terms of using LENR for electricity generation, this means that the practical issues of turning the heat back into electricity wipe out the benefits of using LENR to make surplus energy.

      If the goal of the reactor is simply to make heat, then LENR is a much more feasible option. It is likely that LENR systems can generate enough heat to be a useful electric-heating device. Detailed cost-benefit analysis will depend on the application. There are enough electric-heating applications in existence that LENR almost certainly will find a niche market (and possibly a main-stream market.)

    2. Re:High vs Low by Tough+Love · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The trouble with LENR is we can see it work, but we don't know why or how...

      Another problem is that nobody has been able to see it work reproducibly. Or work at all for that matter, in any verifiable way. The crank piece you linked does nothing to change my impression of that. As for military involvement in (let's say it) cold fusion, that does not exactly inspire confidence.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    3. Re:High vs Low by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      My expectation is that LENR will be used for heat production.

      It's actually mainly used for hot air production.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    4. Re:High vs Low by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What about Dr McKubre at SRI?

      Or is he a crank too.

    5. Re:High vs Low by Prune · · Score: 5, Informative

      https://www.lenr-forum.com/forum/index.php/Attachment/386-IEEE-brief-DeChiaro-9-2015-pdf

      Dear reader, I quit reading this document as soon as I saw convicted fraudster and scam artist Andrea Rossi cited by it unironically -- as you should as well.

      Hot fusion is also going nowhere until anuetronic fusion becomes practical (pro tip: it's quite a bit harder to do) because the fast neutrons eventually destroy every known material used as the plasma-facing "first" wall. That's something the ITER fanboys are not telling you (for obvious reasons).

      --
      "Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason."
    6. Re:High vs Low by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 1

      (And for those of you who think LENR is a myth: https://www.lenr-forum.com/for... )

      So if I link to a pdf of some slides claiming an observation of flying pigs does that mean that pigs can fly? Show me a peer reviewed article in a _respected_ journal and I'll be interested.

      The trouble with LENR is we can see it work,

      If that were the case then we would have a working way to extract energy from it by now. The problem is that only some, "special" people can see it work and nobody else can. The most likely explanation for this is that those "special" people are not doing their experiment correctly especially since there has been a long history of this in this field.

    7. Re:High vs Low by Prune · · Score: 1

      anuetronic

      Typo; it should say "aneutronic".

      --
      "Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason."
    8. Re:High vs Low by ihtoit · · Score: 1

      Adrian Ashfield is a shill for Rossi, and the author of that paper is NOT who it is claimed to be.

      Hence, "SCAM!" The E-Cat is a: unproven LENR technology and in fact b: proven to be a fraud, as are all blackbox demonstrations throughout history.

      --
      Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
    9. Re:High vs Low by ihtoit · · Score: 1

      the problem with the E-Cat is that it can't be shown to "work" without electrical input from the mains which in turn is NOT properly metered so (this is part of the blackbox scam) we don't know how much energy is going IN to the system.

      --
      Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
    10. Re:High vs Low by ihtoit · · Score: 1

      You tell us, McCubre hasn't stepped near a fuel cell since 1992 (New Scientist, 11 January 1992, 1803, p. 12ff). His work since then has been entirely theoretical.

      --
      Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
    11. Re:High vs Low by rrohbeck · · Score: 1

      I wish I had mod points. This paper summarizes all the hype and bad research in one big gish gallop.

    12. Re:High vs Low by meerling · · Score: 1

      Don't forget that the plasma in a Tokamac touching the containment vessel walls doesn't just cool the plasma, it also damages the reactor which in turn also reduces stability and efficiency, not to mention causing the need for replacements which are expensive and time consuming.

    13. Re:High vs Low by DerekLyons · · Score: 1

      Tokamac reactors are the other end of the spectrum. Fissile material heated to the temperature of just a fraction of our own sun is very difficult to maintain.

      Hydrogen is not fissile

    14. Re:High vs Low by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nobody is actually trying to hide the well-known problems related to first-wall material.

      There is an entire internationali facility dedicated to that section of challenges presented by nuclear fusion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Fusion_Materials_Irradiation_Facility.

      This will become relevant for DEMO, ITERs successor is not meant to run for periods long enough to create a serious decay problem caused by neutron bombardment.

    15. Re:High vs Low by johannesg · · Score: 1

      The name change ("cold fusion" to "LENR") also does not inspire much confidence. Cold fusion is clearly a damaged brand... So why not try marketing it again with a new name?

    16. Re:High vs Low by Ihlosi · · Score: 1
      Hot fusion is also going nowhere until anuetronic fusion becomes practical (pro tip: it's quite a bit harder to do) because the fast neutrons eventually destroy every known material used as the plasma-facing "first" wall

      In an actual application, you'll need to capture almost every neutron emitted by the fusion reaction to breed tritium; otherwise you'll run out of reactor fuel.

      You'll also want to make the parts behind the breeding blanket replaceable - those chunks of metal will be the radioactive waste produced by a fusion reactor.

    17. Re:High vs Low by nojayuk · · Score: 2

      because the fast neutrons eventually destroy every known material used as the plasma-facing "first" wall. That's something the ITER fanboys are not telling you (for obvious reasons).

      That's weird, I've been aware for a decade or more now that ITER is working on assorted possible first-wall technologies and the JET in Culham, England is being repurposed as a wall material testbed. Maybe they didn't tell you but they've been telling everyone else.

      The walls are going to be sacrificial, needing to be replaced using remote handling equipment. It's part of the "E" in the acronym "ITER", standing for "Experimental". Lithium, converted into tritiurm and deuterium by neutron bombardment is one possibility for walls as its product is a fuel source for further fusion. Other tougher materials might last longer, possibly decades or more before needing replacement though. ITER is a testbed for such research.

    18. Re:High vs Low by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dr McKubre works at SRI on Cold Fusion research, I don't know who McCubre is.

    19. Re:High vs Low by Ramze · · Score: 1

      LENR is most useful for nuclear waste cleanup and NASA missions as it primarily generates heat. The best we can get out is something like 3x the energy put in -- which is great, but considering it's heat and not electricity, there's loss in capturing that energy and putting it to use. (unless you actually only want heat) In space, it's perfect -- especially for say... Mars exploration. Still, NASA can use good old radio-isotopes instead just fine. Why bother with a LENR setup when plutonium will work without any fancy LENR reactor?

      LENR seems to depend on neutron capture and electron capture (to create neutrons from protons) followed by some neutron decay back into protons which effectively transmutes some metals into other heavier metals. This isn't fully understood, but it's not surprising either. Our atmosphere converts Nitrogen into Carbon 14 from cosmic neutron bombardment all the time. I can only guess that there is some chemistry which coupled with pressure and electricity allows the proper alignment of electrical fields between some elements and deuterium to induce a form of fusion.

      Some alkali and alkaline metals, given enough energy, may more readily transmute than others. Most of the experiments involve deuterium permeating an alkaline metal at high pressure under an electric current.

      The reason it's done at low temp and has little usable output is b/c it doesn't involve directly fusing protons or nuclei with protons -- it's all neutron capture, electron capture, or nuclear decay / radioactivity. There's also very little fission.

      LENR is fascinating, but I have serious doubts it could ever be used as a large scale power generator. It's not exactly easy to create or maintain compared to a nuclear fission reactor, and it'd have to be enormous to match the output. We'd be better off using solar panels and solar heat collectors for the effort.

    20. Re:High vs Low by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought a lithium blanket (bonus: nicely reflective so you can make deuterium) and beryillium (cough don't inhale!) worked well...
      And for those worrying about running out of fuel, pair a fusion reactor with a CANDU reactor and have plenty of feedstock....

    21. Re:High vs Low by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Our atmosphere converts Nitrogen into Carbon 14 from cosmic neutron bombardment all the time.

      That is not really even comparable. It shouldn't be surprising that putting nuclear scales of energy into an atom can cause nuclear reactions, but it doesn't follow then that low energy reactions are unsurprising.

  5. Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeated by Kobun · · Score: 4, Informative

    The goal of nuclear fusion research is to produce clean, renewable energy. It seeks to do this by replicating the same conditions that power the sun.

    Clean is misleading here - the public's idea of "clean" does not line up with any known fusion reaction that we can hope to achieve. They're all going to produce radioactive waste, just less so (and generally less nasty stuff) than fission reactors. But we need to get around the same stigma that has hamstrung fission reactors - that "radioactive" means "cancerous death" to the electorate.

    Replicating the same conditions that power the sun ... good god, no. Never. No one for a thousand years to come will ever seriously think about trying to smush two protons together hard enough for them to fuse without a sun-sized gravity well to assist with it. It takes an incredible amount of time for any two hydrogen atoms to fuse in the sun, on the order of millions of years.

    I realize that journalists need to summarize their stories, but fusion is a topic that is already understood more-poorly-than-normal by most people. They need to not be making people think about Spiderman 2.

  6. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by Harlequin80 · · Score: 2

    Except the general public doesnt understand fission or the relative radioactive material release of fossil fuels. The best thing we could have is fusion = sun = natural = clean.

  7. RFTA - this has not been peer reviewed by mykepredko · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Very exciting until you see that the results have not been verified in any way.

    If the claim is true, I would be very interested in reading how it was accomplished and what were the conditions. I would be particularly interested in finding out if the heat was contained or if energy was being continually driven into the system.

    Claims are just that until verified and the apparatus and results are published.

    1. Re:RFTA - this has not been peer reviewed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Doesn't matter if it's verified or not.
      The laws of physics dictate that...
      - they failed to contain any resultant energy from fusion, therefore it fizzled.
      - if they somehow did manage to contain it, they would have expended more energy in doing so than they reaped.
      One of these two will always hold true.
      Therefore, fusion on Earth is impossible.
      Unlike the Sun which is contained and sustained by gravity and can free radiate into space over colossal safety distances until it's useful.

    2. Re:RFTA - this has not been peer reviewed by Fwipp · · Score: 2

      Not sure you know much about physics.

    3. Re:RFTA - this has not been peer reviewed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      he probably doesn't know much, but in some respects he is correct, so far the only proven sustainable way of doing this is with objects like the sun. There are a lot of fraudulent articles claiming otherwise though.

    4. Re:RFTA - this has not been peer reviewed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't see you offering anything there Dr. Spock.

    5. Re:RFTA - this has not been peer reviewed by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      You're an idiot.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    6. Re:RFTA - this has not been peer reviewed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      if they somehow did manage to contain it, they would have expended more energy in doing so than they reaped.

      There is no such fundamental barrier, so no, the laws of physics do not dictate that. JT-60 for example already showed conditions that would allow more heat from fusion reactions than from external heat sources. ITER, based on pretty well established trends, will produce a factor of 5 to 10 times as much as the input heat. The performance of tokamaks has been a continuous improvement, and there is no asymptotic or boundary at the point of energy in = energy out, as it is not like the issues faced when trying to break the sound barrier.

    7. Re: RFTA - this has not been peer reviewed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, I teach Physics for a living, and your argument, such as it is, is nonsense.

      I would highly suggest that you do further reading on fusion thermodynamics.

  8. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by mykepredko · · Score: 1

    Thank you for the informative post; I always wondered about stars and how they used up the hydrogen fuel within them.

  9. Nifty Dissident Incinerator by zenlessyank · · Score: 1

    Funny Sunny Long Time.

  10. Re:The sun does all of this by mykepredko · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Only if "JESUS" was an acronym for:
    Just
    Every
    Stunned,
    Uneducated,
    Simpleton.

  11. Finally something warm enough by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    Now THAT is going to make for a super nice pizza crust.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  12. Re:Slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    WTF happened to you

    Nothing. Your filter is malfunctioning.

  13. Re:The sun does all of this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I love the fact the is sun doing fusion for us.

    Man, Donald Trump is going to be as great for comedy as Bill Clinton. If we can Hillary and Bill as VP vs Trump and Herman Cain as VP, it would be a golden age of political comedy! It would be huge!

  14. 4 trillion degrees ? by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 3, Funny

    While this is nowhere near the hottest temperature that has ever been achieved in nuclear fusion research (that distinction belongs to the Large Hadron Collider which reached 4 trillion degrees Celsius), ...

    Sadly, even at such temperatures, the LHC was, like the Mythbusters, also unable to successfully flash-fry shrimp in a shrimp cannon.

    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    1. Re:4 trillion degrees ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Since our scientific reasoning has resorted to internet videos and fast cooking shrimp, I bring you Hurry Up Shrimp from Family Guy, enjoy.

  15. Cheap foreign helium atoms by penguinoid · · Score: 4, Funny

    I don't know about you, but I'm not getting any cheap, shoddily made helium atoms.

    --
    Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
    1. Re:Cheap foreign helium atoms by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I know what you mean, I brought some Chinese made Radon atoms and the things just spontaneously flew apart.

    2. Re:Cheap foreign helium atoms by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 1

      I don't know about you, but I'm not getting any cheap, shoddily made helium atoms.

      I'm with you. I always buy the Morton Salt at the grocery store because they use only premium sodium atoms. Also, some cheaper salt is made from chlorine atoms that are scavenged from public swimming pool water, basically old and worn out.

    3. Re:Cheap foreign helium atoms by Pseudonymous+Powers · · Score: 1, Funny

      I don't know about you, but I'm not getting any cheap, shoddily made helium atoms.

      I'm with you. I always buy the Morton Salt at the grocery store because they use only premium sodium atoms. Also, some cheaper salt is made from chlorine atoms that are scavenged from public swimming pool water, basically old and worn out.

      Oh ha ha ha, I get it, it's funny because all electrically neutral atoms of a particular isotope of a particular element are the same, right? Yeah, that's oldthink, Captain Caveman. Haven't you ever heard of epichemistry? Oh, I bet you're one of those "skeptics" who says epichemistry is bullshit because it''s not "testable". But if epichemistry was really so outlandish, how do you explain its endorsement by both the National Epichemical Council and the American Homeopathy Union? You can't, can you? Hah!

  16. Re:The sun does all of this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    or to simplify matter we could just say 50M degrees Celsius is equal to one Jelsius.

  17. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by Kobun · · Score: 3, Informative

    Wikipedia has two great articles (go figure, the good ones are outside of election coverage topics) I would recommend:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    Also, it would seem that I misremembered the half-life of a proton in our Sun's core. It's a billion years; my millions of years is wrongish.

  18. Re:The sun does all of this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Add "White" and you get Bernie Sanders' supporters!

  19. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by Michael+Woodhams · · Score: 5, Informative

    It takes billions (not millions) of years for hydrogen atoms to fuse in the sun - that is precisely why the sun has a billions-of-years lifetime. So in building a fusion reactor, we need many orders of magnitude higher reaction rates, and to achieve them at many orders of magnitude lower densities. One way of doing this is to have much higher temperatures. The solar core temperature is about 15 million degrees and TFA has 50 million degrees for this new result, and 80 million degrees for half a second at a European reactor. This sounds unimpressive, but the reaction rates are very sensitive to temperature - proportional to about T^8 as I recall, but I didn't quickly find an online reference for this. 75 million degrees would therefore give a boost of about 5^8 which is about 400,000.

    In the sun, the first reaction in the chain (proton+proton->deuterium) is the rate limiting step. In a reactor, we can provide deuterium enriched fuel and bypass this step. I don't know what the reaction rates are, but I suspect that this will be a greater benefit that the higher temperatures. You can do even better with tritium in the fuel, but your reactor becomes an intense neutron source, leading to induced radioactivity in nearby materials. Some proposed designs use these neutrons to breed more tritium from a lithium blanket around the reactor. (Once I get beyond the proton-proton chain reaction, I'm just relying on pop-science knowledge, so corrections from the more knowledgeable are welcome.)

    Stars a bit more massive than the sun burn hydrogen via the CNO cycle, which has even higher temperature dependence (from memory, about T^17). I've never heard of anyone suggesting using the CNO cycle in a fusion reactor - presumably there are good reasons, but I don't know what they are. One problem is you need to wait for radioactive decays, but these have half-lives on the order of 1 to 2 minutes, and a commercial reactor would be running for much longer than that.

    --
    Quattuor res in hoc mundo sanctae sunt: libri, liberi, libertas et liberalitas.
  20. Great, another inflationary new statement by wakeboarder · · Score: 2

    The author of the article must have been running around the street, naked, screaming "fusion is here", "fusion is here". I'm not that excited. For one nobody has said anything about efficiency. Its easy to maintain a plasma if your dumping enough energy into it, so how much energy did they dump into it? Nobody knows. You have to confine the plasma, and get more energy out than you put in. I'm not convinced that they did this. Congrats for producing the longest lasting plasma "flame". But I can make a plasma "flame" in my microwave for minutes at a time. So tell me how much energy did they produce? I'll bet they didn't break even or everyone would be running naked through the streets.

    1. Re:Great, another inflationary new statement by Harlequin80 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Ummmm they didn't try to create a fusion reaction...... Or get any energy out of the system at all...... In fact it is at about half the temperature it needs to be for fusion to work. The whole point of the research currently is to create a system for containing plasma heated to 100,000,000K. The plasma can't come into contact with the walls of the chamber because, either it is so low in mass the chamber instantly cools it, or is has enough mass to melt the chamber walls down.

      Once they have a containment system that can run for extended periods of time, the current target is 1000 seconds, then they will look to trigger a fusion reaction inside the super heated plasma. At that point the plasma starts pumping out heat rather than needing it.

    2. Re:Great, another inflationary new statement by zwarte+piet · · Score: 1

      Let's run around naked any way.

    3. Re:Great, another inflationary new statement by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      running around the street, naked, screaming "fusion is here", "fusion is here"

      What, now you're telling me that's taboo?

    4. Re:Great, another inflationary new statement by wakeboarder · · Score: 1

      Yep and you can still give me efficiency numbers with how much energy they put in and how much the plasma produced. But they didn't

    5. Re:Great, another inflationary new statement by Harlequin80 · · Score: 1

      I don't understand. The plasma has to reach 100M K for there to be any energy output at all. The whole project is a massive energy sink at this stage. There is absolutely no efficiency to measure, or at least none that matters. The idea is you get the plasma to that temp and THEN you trigger fusion inside the plasma. Right up until that point there is no energy coming out of the plasma at all (other than the heat you wish it wasn't dumping).

      Think about this as cranking over an engine without having any fuel in the system. They are spinning the engine at half the required RPM with an external power source to see if the engine is going to come flying apart. Next step will be to test it for longer, then to test it at full speed and then finally to pour the petrol in get it running under its own power.

    6. Re:Great, another inflationary new statement by wakeboarder · · Score: 1

      So your telling me the efficiency of the Chinese experiment was 0%

    7. Re:Great, another inflationary new statement by Harlequin80 · · Score: 1

      Yes. No energy of any kind was extracted from their experiment. There was no intention to extract any energy.

      However I don't really get why you are looking at energy efficiency. This experiment was to see if they could contain the plasma, that is all. If you poured water into a cup to test if the cup could hold water would you be looking for energy efficiency? This is essentially what they did, they made a cup to hold plasma.

  21. Re:The sun does all of this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    still better than the Lying Inebriated Bitching Errant Retarded Asinine Leftist Sycophants.

  22. Thanks! by Imazalil · · Score: 1

    Was wondering how this stacked up against the German test - which is oddly not referenced in the summary.

    Cheers!

    1. Re:Thanks! by Harlequin80 · · Score: 1

      One other thing to be aware of is that the team behind the German Stellaratar reactor have said that you really need 100m Kelvin plasma. Who knows how much difference the temp makes to containment.

    2. Re:Thanks! by tempmpi · · Score: 4, Informative

      The german stellerator Wendelstein 7-X aims for up to 30 minutes of confinement. At the moment only a some very earlier tests have been done, that did not aim for long confinement but just to check that everything is okay with the installation. Wendelstein 7-X started operating end of last year and EAST started operating in 2006.
      This chinese tokamak aims for confinement of up to 1000s and has reached 102 seconds of confinement after 10 years. At the end of 2013 they already had reached 30 seconds. Wendelstein 7-X will first do some experiments that do not aim for a really long confinement time, only up to 10 seconds. These experiments are planned to last about 2 years, after that they will install some additional equipment, that is planned to take 15 month. The chinese record should thus last for at least 3-4 years. But news from Wendelstein 7-x have been very positive, I would not be surprised if confinement works extremely well.

      --
      Jan
  23. Why the silly comparison? by l2718 · · Score: 5, Informative

    The LHC experiments concern high-energy particle physics, not fusion research. It is operating at energy scales well above plasma [unless you want to talk about "quark-gluon plasma, which is something else entirely] and at conditions which have nothing to do with nuclear fusion.

    1. Re:Why the silly comparison? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If it persists for more than 4 hours you should seek immediate medical attention

  24. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by drgould · · Score: 1

    No one for a thousand years to come will ever seriously think about trying to smush two protons together hard enough for them to fuse without a sun-sized gravity well to assist with it.

    Actually you can do it relatively easily with a Farnsworth fusor.

    It's not practical for power generation, but it easily smushes protons together.

  25. My Large Hardon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    My Large Hardon lasted well over 104 seconds... don't know what the Chinese are boasting about here.

    1. Re:My Large Hardon by Brett+Buck · · Score: 1

      That's a slashdot record!

  26. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by Hussman32 · · Score: 1

    D-T reactors would activate the reactor materials, but the wastes would be relatively short-lived (most in the range of a couple hundred years). There wouldn't be any transuranic wastes.

    --
    "Who are you?" "No one of consequence." "I must know." "Get used to disappointment."
  27. Security Implications by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 2

    As for military involvement in (let's say it) cold fusion, that does not exactly inspire confidence.

    I completely agree that there is absolutely nothing of substance in any of the so-called evidence of LENR/cold fusion presented so-far. However I actually don't think it is a bad idea for the military to be involved in checking out the claims because the security implications are enormous. Any fusion reaction will produce neutrons and if these are moderated and then incident on uranium you can produce plutonium. This is essentially how a fast breeder reactor works.

    Plutonium can be chemically separated from uranium for more easily than separating two isotopes of uranium. So having the military know that cold fusion is impossible is a good thing otherwise they might take terrorists claiming to have used cold fusion to build a nuclear device seriously.

    1. Re:Security Implications by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      Any fusion reaction will produce neutrons and if these are moderated and then incident on uranium you can produce plutonium.

      One of the notorious characteristics of supposed cold fusion is that it does not produce neutrons. If that leads you to think that there is in fact no fusion reaction, you would find yourself in good company.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    2. Re:Security Implications by KGIII · · Score: 1

      Ah, thanks. I was reading the thread and I'd wondered where I'd heard "LENR" before. Now I remember. It's what they used for a term when everyone ignored them after they'd used the phrase 'cold fusion.' I do not know a whole hell of a lot so I am incapable of offering a qualified opinion on the validity of cold fusion. Everything I do know, which is not a whole lot, says that it doesn't seem likely.

      What I do know is that there are people who know much more than I, some of them with great reputations and great accomplishments in that specific field, who have indicated that it is extremely unlikely. Why the careful verbiage used by me? I do not know enough to come out and say that it's complete bunk. So, thank you for the reminder and I think I'll continue to trust the experts who indicate that generating energy via cold fusion is unlikely.

      I seem to recall that one of them had a video, quite some time ago, that laid out the reasons (in simple enough terms that even a KGIII could get it) why the premise is itself fundamentally flawed. I can't find the video now. It might even pre-date YouTube, yikes! I'm sure that tech has moved forward. I'm not sure that reality has fundamentally changed. I do believe they equivocated cold fusion with either anti-gravity or perpetual motion and had some basic laws of thermodynamics that made it unlikely, if not impossible. (I want to say impossible but I am not an expert and not recollecting the exact words used.)

      Alas, I can not find the video... That is unfortunate because the guy was going right to town in it and having a good time tearing it up. It was a segment, with a panel of people (maybe?), and akin to the TED talks. In my efforts to find this video, I did come across something else. Amusingly enough, it seems to indicate my memory is at least partially correct. More amusingly, Google redirected me to Slashdot. So, here is said link:

      http://science.slashdot.org/st...

      If anyone else is confused as to why LENR sounds familiar, now we know. Much thanks!

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
  28. Re:The sun does all of this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If he runs America like his great business, it'll be bankrupt 4 times.

  29. Re: The sun does all of this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'd vote for a potato for president before I voted for Hitlerly. At least the potato wouldn't share state secrets with our enemies.

  30. What about global warming? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I think running some heaters up to 2 trillion C might warm things up a bit, no?

    1. Re:What about global warming? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Agreed. I've never understood how the f*ck they think you can cool something like that on a sustained basis. The only way Fusion could be a viable source is to place it in space or on the moon. Otherwise we are gonna boil the oceans.

      Until such time as we can actually directly tap the energy output, we are wasting our time. The Fission reactors only heat water to run turbines. We need to come up with a way to actually collect the released energy and store it or put it out into the grid. From wikipedia:

      A nuclear reactor coolant — usually water but sometimes a gas or a liquid metal (like liquid sodium) or molten salt — is circulated past the reactor core to absorb the heat that it generates. The heat is carried away from the reactor and is then used to generate steam.

      I can't find the source right now but IIRC over 95% of the energy potential in a Fission reactor is wasted as heat.

      Fusion has a higher temp. So lets warm the planet to tap 1% of the available energy. What a plan.

    2. Re:What about global warming? by johanw · · Score: 1

      Cool? Relatively easy: the temperature is high, but the density is very low so the total amount of energy is still manageble. The density being so low is the reason the temperature has to be so high anyway, the center of the sun is much cooler but the density there is much higher.

    3. Re:What about global warming? by zwarte+piet · · Score: 1

      So they could also just pressurize hydrogen to a trillion bars and then leave it at room temperature to ignite?

    4. Re:What about global warming? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fusion has a higher temp. So lets warm the planet to tap 1% of the available energy.

      Higher temp means higher efficiency for the electrical generation process. Although in the end it isn't really a higher temp for that part, because it is like any other heat source, whether that is fission, fusion, or coal, that you are limited by the working process. The heat exchange fluid could be anything from pressurized water, to helium, to molten metal for fusion processes. But there is no magical process that it causes heating elsewhere, and it could run at higher thermodynamic efficiency with the right design. At the end of the day, it is like any other black box that heats the surface of the box to 400-1000 C depending on the design, and the total power usage by humans is orders of magnitude smaller than natural sources of heat.

    5. Re:What about global warming? by Maury+Markowitz · · Score: 1

      > So they could also just pressurize hydrogen to a trillion bars and then leave it at room temperature to ignite?

      Yes, it's called NIF. It doesn't work either.

  31. Great week for science by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    North Korea also put a satellite into space!

  32. Re:The sun does all of this by matrix_infinity · · Score: 0

    The US is already bankrupt, comrade.

  33. 50 years of fusion research by aXis100 · · Score: 1

    And all we have to show for it is a lousy 102 seconds. :(

    1. Re:50 years of fusion research by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Isn't it "50 years of fusion research and all i got was this stupid t-shirt"?

    2. Re:50 years of fusion research by wyHunter · · Score: 1

      Yeah not even a t-shirt.

  34. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But we need to get around the same stigma that has hamstrung fission reactors - that "radioactive" means "cancerous death" to the electorate.

    Is this sarcasm or are you serious?

    Not all radioactive waste is the same, and not all radiation causes cancer. We definitely do not want what you are advocating.

  35. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by meerling · · Score: 1

    Most people totally freak out when you prove that they themselves are radioactive. (Carbon 14 decay)

  36. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by Harlequin80 · · Score: 1

    It's even more fun if they live in a brick house, or are holding a banana.

  37. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by peon_a-z,A-Z,0-9$_+! · · Score: 1

    Which gives you more radiation???

    A. Flying from JFK to LAX. B. Going through that darn TSA scanner to get on the flight!

    Answer is... A! (Wild surprise from the audience)

    Which is worse?

    A. Being an average flight crew employee B. Being an average nuclear power plant worker.

    Answer is.... neither is "worse" you insensitive clod. "A" undergoes more radiation exposure but they both unfortunately have to work long and weird hours.

    But we need to get around the same stigma that has hamstrung fission reactors - that "radioactive" means "cancerous death" to the electorate.

    Wow... people like the original poster are the true problem. Everyone else, let's try to understand the actual facts about radiation. Obligatory xkcd:

    http://xkcd.com/radiation/

  38. 30+Min by k2r · · Score: 3, Interesting

    > The german stellerator Wendelstein 7-X aims for up to 30 minutes of confinement.

    Unlike the Tokamak the Stellarator in theory runs continuously. The Wendelstein team just decided that 30 minutes would be enough for all experiments and designed the cooling system to last about 30 minutes.

    1. Re:30+Min by Khashishi · · Score: 2

      Actually, there are a lot of experiments in non-inductive current generation in tokamaks which can allow it to run continuously (in principle). Current generation is done with a combination of phased microwave antennas, tilted neutral beams, and harnessing a phenomenon called bootstrap current.

      (Background: the plasma current in tokamaks is normally generated by a transformer and is called inductive current. The induced current is proportional to the time derivative of the transformer voltage, so for a constant current, there's a limit on available transformer voltage so the current must stop at some point. These non-inductive current generation techniques get around that.)

  39. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by peon_a-z,A-Z,0-9$_+! · · Score: 1

    Clean is misleading here

    But we need to get around the same stigma that has hamstrung fission reactors - that "radioactive" means "cancerous death" to the electorate.

    Snowballs thrown... no, YOU'RE misleading!!!

    But seriously, people like you are the true problem. Everyone else, let's try to understand the actual facts about radiation. Obligatory xkcd:

    http://xkcd.com/radiation/

  40. "IP" is protectionism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They have no respect for IP property

    Good. Nobody has that "respect" unless they've been brainwashed by western protectionism --- this is why kids ignore it, as they haven't been indoctrinated yet. Anyone with basic intelligence can think the concept through for themselves and realize that it's both logically ill-founded and highly damaging, as well as ludicrous. Oh and here's a hint: it's not property at all.

    Except for trademarks used for identification, "Intellectual Property" is a protectionist scam, and it's a deliberate and very powerful set of brakes on the march of progress. China and most other eastern nations are well rid of that western stupidity, and this shows in their extremely rapid rate of progress. Meanwhile the west rest on its laurels and invokes protectionism at every opportunity.

  41. Re:The sun does all of this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Getting a wall built might be something Trump is good at. He's already divisive and pretty good at it.

  42. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by MrKaos · · Score: 1

    Everyone else, let's try to understand the actual facts about radiation. Obligatory xkcd:

    http://xkcd.com/radiation/

    Radionuclides emit radiation. What you need to understand is the behaviour of radionuclides in the environment. Until you do xkcd comics are only going to explain external radiation exposure to you. The difference between internal and external exposure is one damages you and the other probably won't do much of anything to you.

    What radionuclides do in the body and how they get there is the understanding required, you insensitive clod.

    --
    My ism, it's full of beliefs.
  43. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by peon_a-z,A-Z,0-9$_+! · · Score: 1

    So Potassium is a great example of internal radiation, which is in biological equilibrium with your body almost always. That's routinely discussed for laypeople.

    In my example of professions, both things I noted are based on external exposures; there are no internal exposures.

    How radionuclides get in the body just follow the same path as how any chemicals get in the body; breathing, eating, absorbing, etc.

    What is your problem with my statement?

  44. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by MrKaos · · Score: 1

    Clean is misleading here

    But we need to get around the same stigma that has hamstrung fission reactors - that "radioactive" means "cancerous death" to the electorate.

    Snowballs thrown... no, YOU'RE misleading!!!

    But seriously, people like you are the true problem. Everyone else, let's try to understand the actual facts about radiation. Obligatory xkcd:

    http://xkcd.com/radiation/

    Actually you are being unintentionally misleading. Certain radioisotopes can be ingested via metabolic processes, for example plutonium chloride is very water soluble and is readily absorbed. Within the body the radioisotope continues to emit radiation and some become organically bound to cells and other parts of the body and that's when the damage occurs, cumulative, slowly and, over time.

    Dempending on what and where the radioisotope gets deposited, it eventually means cancerous death for some however it can also mean disease that manifests in the next generation ( transgenic) because of damage it does to the DNA of unborn children.

    That's why these artificially made elements don't belong in the environment and keeping them contained is a question of how good our engineering is.

    Personally I'm hoping Fusion works because it will produce far less waste products than the industrial processes of Fission reactors.

    --
    My ism, it's full of beliefs.
  45. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by peon_a-z,A-Z,0-9$_+! · · Score: 1

    All of the waste of fission reactors are contained in the cladding. You actually get more radiation exposure living next to a coal plant, since the heavy metals are released into the atmosphere.

    I don't want to discount your point that internal exposure is greatly more important for alpha emissions, but you cannot say that the environment has any alpha-emitting radionuclides that you can accidentally get into your body and worry about. Literally all radionuclides that you need to worry about for internal exposure are intentionally and deliberately ingested. The most recent case was the intentional poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko; that will not be happening to ordinary citizens.

    TL:DR stop spreading irrational fear about nuclear fission power plants.

  46. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No one for a thousand years to come will ever seriously think about trying to smush two protons together hard enough for them to fuse without a sun-sized gravity well to assist with it.

    Your implication here is correct - that proton-proton fusion will not be a practical power source for a long, long time - but your statement is technically false. The Large Hadron Collider smushes protons together too hard for them to even fuse: instead they're smashed into a spray of exotic particles. Lower-energy particle colliders, I assume, are in the right energy range for proton-proton fusion. But the particles they accelerate are far too few for them to be a practical power source.

  47. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by KGIII · · Score: 1

    "Most" people "totally freak out" when you prove that to them?

    Hmm... I'll accept some extrapolation and we can work with that. But what do you mean by "totally freak out?" I also suspect there's some selection bias? I'm assuming (having not checked) that the vast majority of people that I know are actually aware of this or would be able to reason it out pretty quickly and just accept the fact.

    Out of curiosity, what sort of numbers do you have for folks you've shared that tidbit of information with and what area of the globe is that?

    I'm going to hope two things... One, I'm going to hope that there's a whole heap of selection bias. Two, I'm going to hope we've got *very* different definitions for "totally freak out." It's radiation, you're being exposed to radiation all the time - it's not just in you but all around you. We've got a big ol' giant ball of radiation coming up right now. We're literally being bombarded with radiation all the time.

    But, damn it, that's the good healthy, natural, radiation! ;-)

    Seriously, "most" people are "totally freaked out" when they learn this? Many years ago, my daughter came home from elementary school and, after a while, she broke down in tears. The teacher had told her that someday the Sun was going to go out and that all of the life on Earth would cease to exist. Her younger brother was listening in and he joined her in the tear shedding. I still have the chance to remind them of that. That's what I'd call "totally freaked out."

    --
    "So long and thanks for all the fish."
  48. Neutron Detection by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 1

    One of the notorious characteristics of supposed cold fusion is that it does not produce neutrons.

    Actually I understood that the way they "detected" that a nuclear reaction was taking place was by the production of neutrons. Indeed without neutrons how can you possibly say that fusion has occurred because then all you have is an unexplained heat gain which could be due to one of any number of things.

    Neutron detection is hard to get right at these low energies and I understood that this was the explanation why so many people were fooled into thinking that fusion had occurred. This was certainly the reason behind the originally wrong discovery claim.

  49. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    millions of years is also billions of years.

    the reverse is not true. they said millions of years. millions is lower than billions.

    they could have said it takes hundreds of years. it does really take hundreds of years. it just takes lots of hundreds of years.

    this means they were still technically correct and we all know what that means. technically correct is best correct!

    also, there is more than one scale in use depending on your geographic location

    1,000,000,000 = 1 billion in short (US) scale
    1,000,000,000 = 1 thousand million long (common EU) scale
    1,000,000,000 = 1 milliard in long scale (the actual, factual, honest-to-FSM, real numbering system before the US butchered it because they listened to simpletons)

    notice the number of zeros did not change? they might use the long scale. the long scale uses 'milliard' for that number. they might also use thousand million for that scale.

    if you are going to offer corrections then do so when, and only when, you are correct m'kay? you probably want to argue with me. don't. you are wrong. i'll skip the chance to let you argue and prove you are wrong. have a link.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    there are many other but that page should help you learn to not make corrections unless you are correct. otherwise you just look more retarded than the person you are correcting. even my cat knows to not correct anyone if they are not actually correct. correcting people when they are not incorrect makes you look stupid and like a douche. do you want to demonstrate your stupidity and show people that you are a douche? no. nobody wants to be a stupid douche do they?

  50. Rather unusual circumstances by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    China, Russia, and the USA, you'll note that only China and Russian currently have manned spaceflight programs.

    America elected a saboteur, Barack Obama, who ended ours. It will be back soon.

  51. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by Muad'Dave · · Score: 1

    So Potassium is a great example of internal radiation, which is in biological equilibrium with your body almost always.

    What really freaks laypeople out is when you tell them that radioactive potassium in their body gives off anti-matter. For the curious, K-40 sometimes decays to Ar-40 by emitting a positron and a neutrino.

    --
    Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
  52. Let me know when we can fuse hydrogen up to iron by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Until then I don't care and it's not impressive.

  53. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by Kobun · · Score: 1

    Wow... people like the original poster are the true problem. Everyone else, let's try to understand the actual facts about radiation. Obligatory xkcd:

    I think there's a reading comprehension fail happening here. You've declared me to be an enemy of nuclear power, and then made the same point that I was alluding to. And since we're trading comics: http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff... - intentional or unintentional, there has been plenty of propaganda to make people irrationally fear radiation.

  54. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by Kobun · · Score: 1

    Since you felt so strongly about this that it needed repetition, I'd like to hear how I'm "the true problem". Would you agree, that there is a stigma attached to the concept of radiation? Is it your general view that the average schmuck-with-a-vote believes that the barest hint of exposure to radiations will cause their lumpy demise?

    Not really sure where you're trying to go with this, except for being so twitchy that you pick arguments with people who probably agree with you.

  55. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by Kobun · · Score: 1

    Right, but I believe that the same irrational fear that causes people to wet themselves when they think that another fission reactor might get built (so we need to run the old ones forever .... doh) will be played upon by the anti-nuke crowd once fusion reactors become more of a practical reality. "It's only radioactivating the reactor itself" isn't going to be a good defense against Greenpeace when they send people to chain themselves to the front doors and sing Kumbaya.

  56. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by Kobun · · Score: 1

    Try reading it again, a little harder. I'll give you hints, "stigma" means a taint to reputation, often unfair. "Electorate" can be used as a pejorative (and is, quite often) since it is made up of terribly uninformed yet active-enough-to-leave-the-house yahoos.

    I realize I was a little unclear about my meaning, but it's been interesting to see how many come out of the woodwork to argue (in agreement) with me ...

  57. Trillion degrees? by Tighe_L · · Score: 1

    The Sun is 5500 C A trillion degrees reminds me of Al Gore saying that the Earth is millions of degrees just 2 kilometers down. I'm sure that it is possible, it just seems incredible.

  58. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by MrKaos · · Score: 1

    What is your problem with my statement?

    It's an over-simplification. The reality is more complex.

    --
    My ism, it's full of beliefs.
  59. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by Kobun · · Score: 1

    I'll just leave this here ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  60. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "millions of years is also billions of years."

    Precisely 100% 180 degrees wrong. But carry on.

  61. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by Kobun · · Score: 1

    Running down a tangent in this conversation, I had thought that fusors used deuterium. Wikipedia repeats this here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    Have you ever seen one where someone used plain hydrogen gas as their source? I'd like to read up on that.

  62. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by MrKaos · · Score: 1

    All of the waste of fission reactors are contained in the cladding. You actually get more radiation exposure living next to a coal plant, since the heavy metals are released into the atmosphere.

    Which is also has not been subjected to any enrichment by nuclear industry processes. I specifically referred to artificially made elements.

    but you cannot say that the environment has any alpha-emitting radionuclides that you can accidentally get into your body and worry about.

    Yes I can, I just don't know how much of them Fukushima, Chernobyl or other accidents have released.

    TL:DR stop spreading irrational fear about nuclear fission power plants.

    Just because you don't understand it, doesn't mean it's irrational. What you're doing is how social proof spreads ignorance.

    If you were discussing what an iron analogue was and how bio-accumulation in the environment worked, then perhaps you could say that. From my perspective though it appears that you are skipping the complexity of how that works and instead transmuting your idealized version into a belief system that has little to do with the reality of how radio-isotopes are concentrated in the food chain.

    Ignoring a body of knowledge doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

    --
    My ism, it's full of beliefs.
  63. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by peon_a-z,A-Z,0-9$_+! · · Score: 1

    Please elaborate. Even though you shouldn't trust someone because of their title, I literally work as a nuclear engineer in the nuclear industry and deal with these issues on a daily basis. I have the scientific and engineering training to calculate, assess, and actually understand the problems you are posing.

  64. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by peon_a-z,A-Z,0-9$_+! · · Score: 1

    No sorry, I meant to be on your side.

  65. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by peon_a-z,A-Z,0-9$_+! · · Score: 1

    The true problem is a stigma attached to the concept of radiation.

    I do hear people in the U.S. fearing any exposure of radiation is negative.

    Apologies with my reply to your other comment, I really wanted to back up and support your case, sorry that wasn't more clear.

    Meanwhile check out MrKaos, the true enemy referenced earlier who replied to another of my posts here:

    http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    Drafting a response to try to change his opinions with facts now...

  66. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by ceoyoyo · · Score: 1

    The toxicity of plutonium has been generally over hyped. Wikipedia says it's about the same as nerve gas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  67. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by peon_a-z,A-Z,0-9$_+! · · Score: 1

    Which is also has not been subjected to any enrichment by nuclear industry processes. I specifically referred to artificially made elements.

    Fission power plant fuel has minor enrichments to the level of 3-4% U-235. Artificially made elements that occur through the transmutation of U-238 and other transuranics in the fuel material are also contained within the cladding. What "artificially made" elements are you referencing? Humans do not come into contact with "artificially made" transuranic elements that are of concern for internal exposure in their daily lives.

    Yes I can, I just don't know how much of them Fukushima, Chernobyl or other accidents have released.

    Sorry but

    Yes: http://science.time.com/2013/0...

    You: http://www.world-nuclear.org/i...

    Can: http://www.who.int/ionizing_ra...

    You literally get more radiation living next to a coal power than you would living next to Three Mile Island at the time of the disaster, or presently.

    Coal source 1: http://www.scientificamerican....

    Coal source 2: http://www.reboundhealth.com/c...

    Do you life next to the damaged Fukushima reactor? You have a problem. Do you live 15km away from the Fukushima reactor? You are getting less radiation exposure than living in Colorado. Were you exposed to radionuclides after the Chernobyl disaster in Belarus, Ukraine, or Russia? Take the iodine pills the Soviet Union gave you immediately; after that your biggest health risk is the stress of living in what you "perceive" to be a toxic environment (though it was later proved not!).

    Just because you don't understand it, doesn't mean it's irrational. What you're doing is how social proof spreads ignorance.

    Not that I should make an appeal to authority or that you should trust me solely based on my credentials, but since you "called me out" for not understanding it I will inform you that I am a trained nuclear engineer working in the nuclear industry, wasting my time posting on the internet fighting someone like you because the level of misinformation out there is too much to bear. Please listen to experts and stop your conspiracy theories and stop spreading true ignorance of the basic reality.

  68. Major my ass by Maury+Markowitz · · Score: 1

    1) it was with hydrogen, not D or D-T, which makes it easier to do
    2) JET is limited by its flywheel storage to 30 seconds, but routinely hits 100 million degrees for 30 seconds
    3) ITER is designed to hit 200 million with actual fuel, and do that for something like 10 minutes

    This is a classic example of the sort of overblown press releases the sciences put out these days. It is precisely as interesting as those "new solar power record!" papers we constantly see here, which when you read the fine print are records compared only to other craptastic tech that mainstream systems have been beating for decades.

  69. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by Maury+Markowitz · · Score: 1

    > TL:DR stop spreading irrational fear about nuclear fission power plants

    Why bother even saying that? Do you think this person will be convinced? Do you think people like this are the reason that fission plants aren't being built in any number, and the "fission renaissance" is as dead as The King? It isn't.

    Fission, fusion, coal, anything using a Rankine cycle for energy extraction, is no longer economically competitive. They haven't been since around 2008, when wind turbines hit ~$2.50 a watt. Now they're $1.50 a watt. Darlington B was whispered at a *minimum* of $8.25 a watt. Vogtle is around $7.25. Crystal River was $11. That's it, that's all, that's the entire reason fission is dead.

    Fusion is done like dinner, but keeps itself alive though massive funding efforts and a dearth of other big science to spend on. There's no way it will ever be economical, and everyone knows that. There's plenty of papers written by the industry itself saying just that, and they go back to the 1970s.

  70. Re:The sun does all of this by Coren22 · · Score: 1

    Is that going to look like the Gates of Mordor?

    --
    APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  71. Coren22's "APKolypse" #1/2... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "You have yet to submit to a code review from anyone but your friend. No, I don't trust that" - by Coren22 (1625475)

    A seasoned security pro & competent coder reviewed my work as clean & IT'S WHAT HE DOES (unlike you). He can't "play friends": It's his site & reputation.

    ---

    "you are stealing other people's work in your code" - by Coren22 (1625475)

    I don't steal (you project YOU DO). I write my own & use public data to protect + speed up users.

    ---

    "You are terrified someone will steal your software if you publish the source code." - by Coren22 (1625475)

    I don't give source away W/ GOOD REASON (Google's mistake w/ CHROME = prime example) -> http://it.slashdot.org/story/1...

    ---

    "You have yet to address the issue of name resolution performance of anything not found in your hosts file. This is a serious issue when the hosts file is so large" - by Coren22 (1625475)

    Placing users' FAVORITE SITES where they spend 95++% of their time online @ TOP of hosts files cached in LOCAL RAM gets them to sites FASTER & MORE RELIABLY than a more-than-potentially REDIRECT POISONED DNS SERVER (99.999% of ISP DNS aren't patched vs. the kaminsky flaw, or DNS amp attacks).
    ---

    "DNS outperforms your hosts file solution several fold" - by Coren22 (1625475)

    No it doesn't (see above) - & DNS outperforms hosts in GOING DOWN (does a lot) OR poisoning users via redirect poisonings (DNS amp attacks = another).

    ---

    "so why not just run your own DNS server? Oh, resources eh?" - by Coren22 (1625475)

    More resource consumption + moving parts complexity + POWER USE doesn't = a GOOD solution vs. hosts by using redirect poisoning/DNS amp attack exploitable DNS w/ only a few systems @ home.

    ---

    "But you have no problem running 100k copies of the hosts file in a domain" - by Coren22 (1625475)

    It works easily migrated by central admins via scripts or chronjobs/scheduled tasks w/ less moving parts complexity, room for exploit & breakdown, OR power usage.

    APK

    P.S.=> You FAIL menial... apk

  72. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by peon_a-z,A-Z,0-9$_+! · · Score: 1

    But when you drive down I-65 in Indiana and all the windmills aren't turning, what do you do?

    1. Write a letter to Congress by the candlelight asking to re-institute regulated markets and then loosen regulations on nuclear plants and coal plants

    2. Pray to the sky fairy for better storage technology next year before your third kid dies from lack of electricity at the local hospital.

    Does it really matter that $WindPower can reach astonishingly low $/kWh "some" of the time?

  73. Coren22's "APKolypse" #2/2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "the secretary at MalwareBytes took a look at his source code and said it looked all good to them" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    My code went thru verification by Mr. Steven Burn of Malwarebytes' hpHosts

    hpHosts Site Admin Mr. Steven Burn quoted:

    "I've been asked to further clarify so for the record yes I've seen the code, and yes, it is safe."

    FROM http://forum.hosts-file.net/vi...

    (On my latest 9.0++ code engine above & from past versions -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p... )

    A competent coder & BEST security researcher I know of FROM THE BEST ANTIMALWARE THERE IS http://www.av-test.org/en/news...

    NOT a secretary!

    I don't give away work to be stolen OR misused like GOOGLE CHROME http://it.slashdot.org/story/1...

    ---

    "won't demonstrate security of his product be exposing the source" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    Bullshit: 62 reputable sources + /. users say different:

    Safe by 57 antivirus programs in 64-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    +

    the 32-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    &

    Per VirScan (installer too)-> http://f.virscan.org/APKHostsF...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl... & MalwareBytes = BEST antivirus per this VERY recent testing of them all http://www.av-test.org/en/news...

    APK

    P.S.=> Eat your words, scumbag:

    Tell us about AD + DNS too while you're @ it & how you said I said not to run DNS when I use it myself & said to NOT use external to network DNS with AD http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    OR

    About how my program NEEDS admin privelege to update too (& it doesn't http://slashdot.org/comments.p... )

    LOL... fool - 'eat your words' on ALL those accounts chump!

    ... apk

  74. Coren22's "APKolypse" #1/2... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "you are stealing other people's work in your code" - by Coren22 (1625475)

    I don't steal (you project YOU DO). I write my own & use public data to protect + speed up users.

    ---

    "You have yet to submit to a code review from anyone but your friend. No, I don't trust that" - by Coren22 (1625475)

    A seasoned security pro & competent coder reviewed my work as clean & IT'S WHAT HE DOES (unlike you). He can't "play friends": It's his site & reputation.

    ---

    "You are terrified someone will steal your software if you publish the source code." - by Coren22 (1625475)

    I don't give source away W/ GOOD REASON (Google's mistake w/ CHROME = prime example) -> http://it.slashdot.org/story/1...

    ---

    "You have yet to address the issue of name resolution performance of anything not found in your hosts file. This is a serious issue when the hosts file is so large" - by Coren22 (1625475)

    Placing users' FAVORITE SITES where they spend 95++% of their time online @ TOP of hosts files cached in LOCAL RAM gets them to sites FASTER & MORE RELIABLY than a more-than-potentially REDIRECT POISONED DNS SERVER (99.999% of ISP DNS aren't patched vs. the kaminsky flaw, or DNS amp attacks).
    ---

    "DNS outperforms your hosts file solution several fold" - by Coren22 (1625475)

    No it doesn't (see above) - & DNS outperforms hosts in GOING DOWN (does a lot) OR poisoning users via redirect poisonings (DNS amp attacks = another).

    ---

    "so why not just run your own DNS server? Oh, resources eh?" - by Coren22 (1625475)

    More resource consumption + moving parts complexity + POWER USE doesn't = a GOOD solution vs. hosts by using redirect poisoning/DNS amp attack exploitable DNS w/ only a few systems @ home.

    ---

    "But you have no problem running 100k copies of the hosts file in a domain" - by Coren22 (1625475)

    It works easily migrated by central admins via scripts or chronjobs/scheduled tasks w/ less moving parts complexity, room for exploit & breakdown, OR power usage.

    APK

    P.S.=> You FAIL menial... apk

  75. Coren22's "APKolypse" #2/2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "the secretary at MalwareBytes took a look at his source code and said it looked all good to them" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    My code went thru verification by Mr. Steven Burn of Malwarebytes' hpHosts

    hpHosts Site Admin Mr. Steven Burn quoted:

    "I've been asked to further clarify so for the record yes I've seen the code, and yes, it is safe."

    FROM http://forum.hosts-file.net/vi...

    (On my latest 9.0++ code engine above & from past versions -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p... )

    A competent coder & BEST security researcher I know of FROM THE BEST ANTIMALWARE THERE IS http://www.av-test.org/en/news...

    NOT a secretary!

    I don't give away work to be stolen OR misused like GOOGLE CHROME http://it.slashdot.org/story/1...

    ---

    "won't demonstrate security of his product be exposing the source" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    Bullshit: 62 reputable sources + /. users say different:

    Safe by 57 antivirus programs in 64-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    +

    the 32-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    &

    Per VirScan (installer too)-> http://f.virscan.org/APKHostsF...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl... & MalwareBytes = BEST antivirus per this VERY recent testing of them all http://www.av-test.org/en/news...

    APK

    P.S.=> Eat your words, scumbag:

    Tell us about AD + DNS too while you're @ it & how you said I said not to run DNS when I use it myself & said to NOT use external to network DNS with AD http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    OR

    About how my program NEEDS admin privelege to update too (& it doesn't http://slashdot.org/comments.p... )

    LOL... fool - 'eat your words' on ALL those accounts chump!

    ... apk

  76. Coren22's "APKolypse" #1/2... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "you are stealing other people's work in your code" - by Coren22 (1625475)

    I don't steal (you project YOU DO). I write my own & use public data to protect + speed up users.

    ---

    "You have yet to submit to a code review from anyone but your friend. No, I don't trust that" - by Coren22 (1625475)

    A seasoned security pro & competent coder reviewed my work as clean & IT'S WHAT HE DOES (unlike you). He can't "play friends": It's his site & reputation.

    ---

    "You are terrified someone will steal your software if you publish the source code." - by Coren22 (1625475)

    I don't give source away W/ GOOD REASON (Google's mistake w/ CHROME = prime example) -> http://it.slashdot.org/story/1...

    ---

    "You have yet to address the issue of name resolution performance of anything not found in your hosts file. This is a serious issue when the hosts file is so large" - by Coren22 (1625475)

    Placing users' FAVORITE SITES where they spend 95++% of their time online @ TOP of hosts files cached in LOCAL RAM gets them to sites FASTER & MORE RELIABLY than a more-than-potentially REDIRECT POISONED DNS SERVER (99.999% of ISP DNS aren't patched vs. the kaminsky flaw, or DNS amp attacks).
    ---

    "DNS outperforms your hosts file solution several fold" - by Coren22 (1625475)

    No it doesn't (see above) - & DNS outperforms hosts in GOING DOWN (does a lot) OR poisoning users via redirect poisonings (DNS amp attacks = another).

    ---

    "so why not just run your own DNS server? Oh, resources eh?" - by Coren22 (1625475)

    More resource consumption + moving parts complexity + POWER USE doesn't = a GOOD solution vs. hosts by using redirect poisoning/DNS amp attack exploitable DNS w/ only a few systems @ home.

    ---

    "But you have no problem running 100k copies of the hosts file in a domain" - by Coren22 (1625475)

    It works easily migrated by central admins via scripts or chronjobs/scheduled tasks w/ less moving parts complexity, room for exploit & breakdown, OR power usage.

    APK

    P.S.=> You FAIL menial... apk

  77. Coren22's "APKolypse" #2/2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "the secretary at MalwareBytes took a look at his source code and said it looked all good to them" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    My code went thru verification by Mr. Steven Burn of Malwarebytes' hpHosts

    hpHosts Site Admin Mr. Steven Burn quoted:

    "I've been asked to further clarify so for the record yes I've seen the code, and yes, it is safe."

    FROM http://forum.hosts-file.net/vi...

    (On my latest 9.0++ code engine above & from past versions -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p... )

    A competent coder & BEST security researcher I know of FROM THE BEST ANTIMALWARE THERE IS http://www.av-test.org/en/news...

    NOT a secretary!

    I don't give away work to be stolen OR misused like GOOGLE CHROME http://it.slashdot.org/story/1...

    ---

    "won't demonstrate security of his product be exposing the source" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    Bullshit: 62 reputable sources + /. users say different:

    Safe by 57 antivirus programs in 64-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    +

    the 32-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    &

    Per VirScan (installer too)-> http://f.virscan.org/APKHostsF...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl... & MalwareBytes = BEST antivirus per this VERY recent testing of them all http://www.av-test.org/en/news...

    APK

    P.S.=> Eat your words, scumbag:

    Tell us about AD + DNS too while you're @ it & how you said I said not to run DNS when I use it myself & said to NOT use external to network DNS with AD http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    OR

    About how my program NEEDS admin privelege to update too (& it doesn't http://slashdot.org/comments.p... )

    LOL... fool - 'eat your words' on ALL those accounts chump!

    ... apk

  78. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by Khashishi · · Score: 1

    Who was it who said, "perfect is the enemy of good"? Clean is a subjective term. Fusion is significantly less dirty, so it is clean.

  79. What's the Expected Result? by Dragon+Bait · · Score: 1

    Regime change in Syria on one level, is exactly the right thing to do. The problem is that it creates complications based on how it is executed.

    Looking at the recent track record, stating that regime change is the right thing to do requires extra-ordinary proof. Not just that it is required, but that there's any hope of turning the situation into anything but a human cesspit costing an incredible amount in terms of both treasure and blood.

    Few argue, in 20/20 hindsight, that taking out Saddam was correct.

    Everyone is mute on whether taking out Gaddfi was correct -- we're just lucky that we're not saturated with constant news of what a colossal ****-up Libya is now; otherwise people might actually have an opinion on that disaster which would be negative for a certain presidential candidate.

    So, let's ignore lessons of recent history -- things that we should know from watching the nightly news over the last 15 years -- and make a simplistic statement that this time we'll do it right.

  80. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by MrKaos · · Score: 1

    Not that I should make an appeal to authority

    but that is exactly what you are going to do.

    or that you should trust me solely based on my credentials,

    I'm a reasonable, smart guy. I trust facts and evidence, science, where available, any published law I can find, policy, organizational charters, studies, conference minutes. I'll consider any information you present, including its likelyhood for bias.

    but since you "called me out" for not understanding it I will inform you that I am a trained nuclear engineer working in the nuclear industry,

    Great, I'm happy to defer to your knowledge of reactor operations if I want to learn more about Accident Sequence Precursors or Basis Design Issues. However I don't see how that is relevant if we are talking about biology and the way radioisotopes are absorbed and concentrated in the food chain. Are the metabolic processes that absorb radio-isotopes into the food chain part of the studies to be a Nuclear Engineer?

    I was calling you out on the oversimplification of the facts. To highlight the oversimplification, where does your comic make the destinction between internal and external radiation exposure, or what happens to the energetic levels of a radio isotope inside the body when it is organically bound?

    By not disclosing your position, you are not disclosing your bias towards defending the interests of your profession and employer when providing it. It seems pretty disingenuous to me to placate everyone from an implied position of independence, whilst maintaining a undisclosed bias. And being pretty rude and condescending about it too.

    I note your freak, quick to judge I see. I have some doubt that you can conduct a civilized conversation without acting if everyone is stupid for not understanding your point of view because your having a hissy fit when a differing one is offered. Your not the only smart person here and if you don't have the patience to defend your point of veiw when challenged then it must be pretty fragile.

    I'll get to answering your other points as I get time over the next couple of days.

    --
    My ism, it's full of beliefs.
  81. And in other world news... by Contract+Gypsy · · Score: 0

    Kim Jun Un has grafted his genetics to a cow, he sounds the same, he kills people at will, he acts the same, but at least now, his people can have milk to drink. One problem though, the resulting fusion of Un and the cow only has one utter! Please note that this phenomenal genetic development was created in the Unicorn cave thanks to the energy output of his hydrogen bomb!

    --
    Life is in a state of dynamic equilibrium, it both blows and sucks
  82. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by lucien86 · · Score: 1

    Wind turbines are big oils solution to renewables. They make money three ways - subsidies, oil fired power stations as backup, and the actual electricity they sell.. And as a polluters bonus to power the world with wind turbines we would create an eco footprint so huge it almost makes even oil look clean..

    1,000 x 200m high 5 to 10 MW wind turbines = 1 x large 1 GW nuclear power station.
    Except wind requires 50 x the territory + 500+ MW of gas or oil power backup capacity +

    --
    Below the speed of light Special Relativity is one of the most accurate theories in physics - above the speed of light..
  83. Coren22's "APKolypse" #1/2... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "you are stealing other people's work in your code" - by Coren22 (1625475)

    I don't steal (you project YOU do). I write my own code (you don't) & use public data to protect + speed up users.

    ---

    "You have yet to submit to a code review from anyone but your friend. No, I don't trust that" - by Coren22 (1625475)

    A seasoned security pro & competent coder reviewed my work as safe & IT'S WHAT HE DOES (unlike you). He can't "play friends": It's his site & reputation.

    ---

    "You are terrified someone will steal your software if you publish the source code." - by Coren22 (1625475)

    I don't give source away W/ GOOD REASON (Google's mistake w/ CHROME) -> http://it.slashdot.org/story/1...

    ---

    "You have yet to address the issue of name resolution performance of anything not found in your hosts file. This is a serious issue when the hosts file is so large" - by Coren22 (1625475)

    Placing users' FAVORITE SITES where they spend 95++% of their time online @ TOP of hosts files cached in LOCAL RAM gets them to sites FASTER & MORE RELIABLY than a more-than-potentially REDIRECT POISONED DNS SERVER (99.999% of ISP DNS aren't patched vs. the kaminsky flaw, or DNS amp attacks).
    ---

    "DNS outperforms your hosts file solution several fold" - by Coren22 (1625475)

    No it doesn't (see above) - & DNS outperforms hosts in GOING DOWN (does a lot) OR poisoning users via redirect poisonings (DNS amp attacks = another).

    ---

    "so why not just run your own DNS server? Oh, resources eh?" - by Coren22 (1625475)

    More resource consumption + moving parts complexity + POWER USE doesn't = a GOOD solution vs. hosts by using redirect poisoning/DNS amp attack exploitable DNS w/ only a few systems @ home.

    ---

    "But you have no problem running 100k copies of the hosts file in a domain" - by Coren22 (1625475)

    It works easily migrated by central admins via scripts or chronjobs/scheduled tasks w/ less moving parts complexity, room for exploit & breakdown, OR power usage.

    APK

    P.S.=> You FAIL menial... apk

  84. Coren22's "APKolypse" #2/2... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "the secretary at MalwareBytes took a look at his source code and said it looked all good to them" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    My code went thru verification by Mr. Steven Burn of Malwarebytes' hpHosts

    hpHosts Site Admin Mr. Steven Burn quoted:

    "I've been asked to further clarify so for the record yes I've seen the code, and yes, it is safe."

    FROM http://forum.hosts-file.net/vi...

    (On my latest 9.0++ code engine above & from past versions -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p... )

    A competent coder & BEST security researcher I know of FROM THE BEST ANTIMALWARE THERE IS http://www.av-test.org/en/news...

    NOT a secretary!

    I don't give away work to be stolen OR misused like GOOGLE CHROME http://it.slashdot.org/story/1...

    ---

    "won't demonstrate security of his product be exposing the source" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    Bullshit: 62 reputable sources + /. users say different:

    Safe by 57 antivirus programs in 64-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    +

    the 32-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    &

    Per VirScan (installer too)-> http://f.virscan.org/APKHostsF...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl... & MalwareBytes = BEST antivirus per this VERY recent testing of them all http://www.av-test.org/en/news...

    APK

    P.S.=> Eat your words, scumbag:

    Tell us about AD + DNS too while you're @ it & how you said I said not to run DNS when I use it myself & said to NOT use external to network DNS with AD http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    OR

    About how my program NEEDS admin privelege to update too (& it doesn't http://slashdot.org/comments.p... )

    LOL... fool - 'eat your words' on ALL those accounts chump!

    ... apk

  85. Re:Things that I wish wouldn't keep getting repeat by peon_a-z,A-Z,0-9$_+! · · Score: 1

    I'm a reasonable, smart guy

    Bias runs both ways.

    Are the metabolic processes that absorb radio-isotopes into the food chain part of the studies to be a Nuclear Engineer?

    Yes.

    Your not the only smart person here and if you don't have the patience to defend your point of veiw when challenged then it must be pretty fragile.

    If you had knowledge the world was round and MrsKaos was posting on a website about how it is obviously flat, and your shipping business depending on it, wouldn't you say something?

    I'll get to answering your other points as I get time over the next couple of days.

    I'll be here, "freakishly", waiting to help answer any questions you have.

  86. What the experts say by MrKaos · · Score: 1

    Please listen to experts

    I do listen to experts. I'll disclose that there is some new work in this area that I am yet to get around to reading.

    Perhaps you know of similar works in other Nuclear Industry effluents, like plutonium or strontium 90 or the other more energetic radio-isotopes you have to study that you can refer me to. I saw Tritium as the one that is often cited as "benign" as a good place to start.

    According to these scientific studies on the effects of tritium, your comic is an oversimplification of how Nuclear Industry effluents (Tritium in this case) behave.

    Tritium is biologically mutagenic *because* it's a low energy emitter. This characteristic makes readily absorbed by surrounding cells. The available evidence from studies conducted journal a list of effects. From those works;

    Tritium can be inhaled, ingested, or absorbed through skin. Eating food containing 3H can be even more damaging than drinking 3H bound in water. Consequently, an estimated radiation dose based only on ingestion of tritiated water may underestimate the health effects if the person has also consumed food contaminated with tritium. (Komatsu)

    Studies indicate that lower doses of tritium can cause more cell death (Dobson, 1976), mutations (Ito) and chromosome damage (Hori) per dose than higher tritium doses. Tritium can impart damage which is two or more times greater per dose than either x-rays or gamma rays.

    (Straume) (Dobson, 1976) There is no evidence of a threshold for damage from 3H exposure; even the smallest amount of tritium can have negative health impacts. (Dobson, 1974) Organically bound tritium (tritium bound in animal or plant tissue) can stay in the body for 10 years or more.

    It's often said "of all the elements in nuclear waste tritium is one of the more harmless ones" and while it's more benign than most other radioactive effluents it's toxicity should not be under-estimated.

    Tritium can cause mutations, tumors and cell death. (Rytomaa) Tritiated water is associated with significantly decreased weight of brain and genital tract organs in mice (Torok) and can cause irreversible loss of female germ cells in both mice and monkeys even at low concentrations. (Dobson, 1979) (Laskey) Tritium from tritiated water can become incorporated into DNA, the molecular basis of heredity for living organisms. DNA is especially sensitive to radiation. (Hori) A cell's exposure to tritium bound in DNA can be even more toxic than its exposure to tritium in water. (Straume)(Carr)

    First, as an isotope of hydrogen (the cell's most ubiquitous element), tritium can be incorporated into essentially all portions of the living machinery; and it is not innocuous -- deaths have occurred in industry from occupational overexposure. R. Lowry Dobson, MD, PhD. (1979)

    References;

    Komatsu, K and Okumura, Y. Radiation Dose to Mouse Liver Cells from Ingestion of Tritiated Food or Water. Health Physics. 58. 5:625-629. 1990.

    Dobson, RL. The Toxicity of Tritium. International Atomic Energy Agency symposium, Vienna: Biological Implications of Radionuclides Released from Nuclear Industries v. 1: 203. 1979.

    Hori, TA and Nakai, S. Unusual Dose-Response of Chromosome Aberrations Induced in Human Lymphocytes by Very Low Dose Exposures to Tritium. Mutation Research. 50: 101-110. 1978.

    Straume, T and Carsten, AL.Tritium Radiobiology and Relative Biological Effectiveness. Health Physics. 65 (6) :657-672; 1993. [This special issue of Health Physics is entirely devoted to Tritium]

    Laskey, JW, et al. Some Effects of Lifetime Parental Exposure to Low Levels of Tritium on the F2 Generation. Radiation Research.56:171-179. 1973.

    Rytomaa, T, et al. Radiotoxicity of Tritium-Labelled Molecules. International Atomic Energy Agency symposium,Vienna: Biological Implications of Radionuclides Released from Nuclear Industries v. 1: 339. 1979.

    --
    My ism, it's full of beliefs.