Lawrence Livermore (briefly) achieves sustainable fusion

[Morgyn]

I expect they used up far more energy than they generated, but it sounds like they achieved a first: they ignited a fusion sequence that was able to sustain itself.

[robby]

@Morgyn

I expect they used up far more energy than they generated…

Yup.

@PBS

…Overall, the four experiments in the Nature study — conducted in November 2020 and February 2021 — produced as much as 0.17 megajoules of energy, That’s far more than previous attempts, but still less than one-tenth of the power used to start the process, Zylstra said.

Preliminary results from experiments done later in 2021, which are still being reviewed by other scientists, pushed energy output to 1.3 megajoules and lasted 100 trillionths of second, according to a government press release. But even that is shy of the 1.9 megajoules needed to break even.

Still, it’s progress.

[snfaulkner]

Just 10 more yrs…

[Czarcasm]

It isn’t often you see the words “briefly” and “sustainable” in the same sentence.

[robby]

@snfaulkner

Just 10 more yrs…

I thought fusion was always 20 years away…

ETA: Yup, I was right.

@PBS

“The result is scientifically very exciting for us,” said study co-author Omar Hurricane, chief scientist for Lawrence Livermore’s fusion program. “But we’re a long way from useful energy.”

Maybe decades, he said.

[snfaulkner]

20…10… a big fat hen.

Thy name is Bender.

[Senegoid]

@robby

I thought fusion was always 20 years away…

Two weeks.

Seriously – there’s a guy there named Hurricane?

[Tripler]

[quote]
“to generate power the way the sun generates heat, by smooshing hydrogen atoms so close to each other that they combine into helium”

This is why Livermore is never taken seriously–one does not “smoosh” things together. At my Lab, we go medieval on hydrogen, and slap one into the bajeezus of another.

In the case of our refined Actinides, however, we tend to hold cocktail socials with hors d’oevres, and allow the heavier elements to mingle. The larger Z-numbers tend to be pretty clumsy on the dance floor however.

Tripler
. . . although Thorium can wear a fancy party dress rather well.

[Pleonast]

@Tripler

In the case of our refined Actinides,

Wasn’t he one of the Argonauts? Strong Heracles, heroic Theseus, brave Odysseus, charming Orpheus, silver-tongued Aethalides, refined Actinides, etc, etc.

[Tripler]

I think you’re referring to Herosussyfus . . Herotomopolous . . . Heropopulous. . . Hip-hop-anonymous. . . Hemostat-alot-a-fuss. . . yeah, that’s it, “Hemostatalotafuss, slayer of Lanthanides.”

Tripler
Something about a Cobalt fleece. . .

[carnivorousplant]

@Tripler

to generate power the way the sun generates heat, by smooshing hydrogen atoms so close to each other that they combine into helium ”

This is why Livermore is never taken seriously–one does not “ smoosh ” things together. At my Lab, we go medieval on hydrogen, and slap one into the bajeezus of another.

There you go again, with those technical terms we laypeople cannot understand.

[carnivorousplant]

@Pleonast

Wasn’t he one of the Argonauts? Strong Heracles, heroic Theseus, brave Odysseus, charming Orpheus, silver-tongued Aethalides, refined Actinides, etc, etc.

You forgot Boob Jobbed Helen.

[mbh]

@Tripler

This is why Livermore is never taken seriously–one does not “ smoosh ” things together. At my Lab, we go medieval on hydrogen, and slap one into the bajeezus of another.

I prefer to think of it as a tritium atom sodomizing a deuterium atom.

[MrDibble]

Bigger question is why he doesn’t work at NOAA.

[wolfpup]

To be fair, “smooshing” came from the PBS writer(s), not from Lawrence Livermore.

Also …

they are on the threshold of an even bigger advance: ignition. That’s when the fuel can continue to “burn” on its own and produce more energy than what’s needed to spark the initial reaction.

Kind of reminiscent of our distant ancestors inventing fire!

[Bootb]

@wolfpup

Kind of reminiscent of our distant ancestors inventing fire!

In another 20 years, we’ll find out that we spend $7 trillion re-inventing the cozy fireplace.