4 ms·

Here is your daily bit of useless knowledge: the energy released by fusion from this single, microscopic target is roughly the caloric value of a McDonald's che

Here is your daily bit of useless knowledge: the energy released by fusion from this single, microscopic target is roughly the caloric value of a McDonald's cheeseburger (~300kCal).

colechristensen 5y ago
A cheeseburger's worth of energy actually extracted from something the size of a spec of dust. It's a good way to make numbers real. Alternatively it's about the amount of energy to raise 4 L of water from room temperature to boiling.
- thereddaikon 5y ago
  Since any practical reactor will use steam turbines to translate heat to useable energy that last one is actually a good way to think of it.
  - PaulHoule 5y ago
    Not steam turbines, closed-cycle gas turbines.
- jonplackett 5y ago
  For some reason I'm surprised a cheese burger has enough energy to boil my kettle multiple times.
  - dralley 5y ago
    The definition of a dietary calorie (kilo-calorie) is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1kg of water by 1 degree Celcius. So the kettle math is actually quite straightforwards.
  - stickfigure 5y ago
    A cheeseburger has enough energy to power you for most of a day. Possibly doing a lot of heavy lifting, and continuously running the largest and most sophisticated neural network hardware on the planet.
    - eloff 5y ago
      That'd be a very large cheeseburger. I burn more calories in a typical 50 min workout (weights, not cardio, it's easier with cardio.)
      - stickfigure 5y ago
        Looking up burgers I've eaten recently: * A bacon cheeseburger from Five Guys is 1060 kcal * A double-double from In-N-Out is 670 kcal, and that's before you make it animal style But yeah, not a McDonald's cheeseburger. I'm somewhat offended that they're allowed to call those "burgers".
    - aaaaaaaaaaab 5y ago
      A 300 kcal cheeseburger? I don’t think so. The baseline metabolic rate of an adult is ~1700 kcal/day.
  - furyofantares 5y ago
    Yeah, I mean, it's just generally astounding that the food I eat is enough to power even a sedentary lifestyle, let alone one with a bunch of running and other exercise.
crispyambulance 5y ago
Yes, the energy equivalent of McDonald's Cheeseburger dietary calories. From a blob of matter about 100 microns across and over a timespan of less than a nanosecond. Obviously, once (or IF) they get this thing to be repeatable and then scalable, it will become a big deal.
QuadmasterXLII 5y ago
For intuition about what it's like to release the energy instantly, it's also ~ one hand grenade.

Here is your daily bit of useless knowledge: the energy released by fusion from this single, microscopic target is roughly the caloric value of a McDonald's cheeseburger (~300kCal).

colechristensen 5y ago

A cheeseburger's worth of energy actually extracted from something the size of a spec of dust. It's a good way to make numbers real. Alternatively it's about the amount of energy to raise 4 L of water from room temperature to boiling.

thereddaikon 5y ago
Since any practical reactor will use steam turbines to translate heat to useable energy that last one is actually a good way to think of it.
- PaulHoule 5y ago
  Not steam turbines, closed-cycle gas turbines.
jonplackett 5y ago
For some reason I'm surprised a cheese burger has enough energy to boil my kettle multiple times.
- dralley 5y ago
  The definition of a dietary calorie (kilo-calorie) is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1kg of water by 1 degree Celcius. So the kettle math is actually quite straightforwards.
- stickfigure 5y ago
  A cheeseburger has enough energy to power you for most of a day. Possibly doing a lot of heavy lifting, and continuously running the largest and most sophisticated neural network hardware on the planet.
  - eloff 5y ago
    That'd be a very large cheeseburger. I burn more calories in a typical 50 min workout (weights, not cardio, it's easier with cardio.)
    - stickfigure 5y ago
      Looking up burgers I've eaten recently: * A bacon cheeseburger from Five Guys is 1060 kcal * A double-double from In-N-Out is 670 kcal, and that's before you make it animal style But yeah, not a McDonald's cheeseburger. I'm somewhat offended that they're allowed to call those "burgers".
  - aaaaaaaaaaab 5y ago
    A 300 kcal cheeseburger? I don’t think so. The baseline metabolic rate of an adult is ~1700 kcal/day.
- furyofantares 5y ago
  Yeah, I mean, it's just generally astounding that the food I eat is enough to power even a sedentary lifestyle, let alone one with a bunch of running and other exercise.

crispyambulance 5y ago

Yes, the energy equivalent of McDonald's Cheeseburger dietary calories. From a blob of matter about 100 microns across and over a timespan of less than a nanosecond. Obviously, once (or IF) they get this thing to be repeatable and then scalable, it will become a big deal.

QuadmasterXLII 5y ago

For intuition about what it's like to release the energy instantly, it's also ~ one hand grenade.