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Let There Be Light: Germans Switch on 'Largest Artificial Sun' (theguardian.com)

German scientists are switching on "the world's largest artificial sun" in the hope that intense light sources can be used to generate climate-friendly fuel. From a report: The Synlight experiment in Julich, about 19 miles west of Cologne, consists 149 souped-up film projector spotlights and produces light about 10,000 times the intensity of natural sunlight on Earth. When all the lamps are swivelled to concentrate light on a single spot, the instrument can generate temperatures of around 3,500C -- around two to three times the temperature of a blast furnace. "If you went in the room when it was switched on, you'd burn directly," said Prof Bernard Hoffschmidt, a research director at the German Aerospace Center, where the experiment is housed in a protective radiation chamber. The aim of the experiment is to come up with the optimal setup for concentrating natural sunlight to power a reaction to produce hydrogen fuel.

3 of 123 comments (clear)

  1. "Accident" waiting to happen by volodymyrbiryuk · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Hey Helmut I bet you can't last longer in there without sunscreen than on that beach in Spain last year." Helmut: "Hold mein bier."

    --
    sudo rm -r -f --no-preserve-root /
  2. Re:How about actual sunlight instead of projectors by gman003 · · Score: 4, Funny

    640K ought to be enough for anybody.

  3. Re:3500 degrees by BenBoy · · Score: 5, Informative

    you cannot get a temperature that is higher than the filament in the bulb

    ... as explained here: Fire from Moonlight