2 ms·
Just got a new Mac. As I read your comment, my Migration Assistant is doing similar estimates. “13 minutes remaining” then “41 hours remaining” then back again.
by function_seven 6y ago
Just got a new Mac. As I read your comment, my Migration Assistant is doing similar estimates. “13 minutes remaining” then “41 hours remaining” then back again.
It’s been whipsawing between these estimates for the last couple hours.
I think I now understand the state of fusion research.
- api 6y agoThink of it this way: how hard is it to estimate the time required for a software project? How successful are most such estimates? We don't know how long it will take, but at the same time there is visible progress occurring on many fronts: understanding plasma behavior and how to control it, better superconducting magnets, better control systems, solutions to the neutron embrittlement problem, etc. There's not going to be a single breakthrough... or rather the fusion breakthrough already occurred. We've already learned about fusion and how to trigger it. That happened in the early 20th century. Instead of a single breakthrough it will be continued progress on all fronts until at some point everything matures enough that someone manages to build a proof of concept reactor. At that point investment will flood into the space because it will have been sufficiently de-risked.