4 ms·

If they can pull this for 30 seconds in 2022, they can do 30 minutes by 2025, 30 hours in by 2027 and then 30 weeks by 2030 being very optimistic here. Right n

If they can pull this for 30 seconds in 2022, they can do 30 minutes by 2025, 30 hours in by 2027 and then 30 weeks by 2030 being very optimistic here. Right now things are bad in this world and will get worse but the future is filled with abundance and new levels of comforts not seen in human history.

aeternum 4y ago
It does seem like the cost vs. reward of fusion tech is ridiculous at this point. I'm all for new tech but we should at least try to project the cost to build a working fusion power plant. Fusion not only has to work, it has to be at least somewhat cost-competitive with other forms of energy generation.
- fibonacc 4y ago
  true as elon musk says it won't be economically viable for quite some time but fusion is the right step, what I'd be interested is if they can miniaturized to fit on rocket payloads.
- notamy 4y ago
  > Fusion not only has to work, it has to be at least somewhat cost-competitive with other forms of energy generation. Perhaps silly, but I wonder how this comparison would shape up if we were capable of calculating reasonably-accurate long-term figures about effects of pollution, mining for resources, construction costs, etc. in the process of producing each form of energy. I'm really curious what that'd look like.
alliao 4y ago
Hope I get to see it before I die... unlimited energy to combat climate change would be pretty damn epic.
- ncmncm 4y ago
  Fusion will not provide unlimited energy. And not even affordable energy. There is nothing to see here but physicists having fun with other people's money.
  - ajdegol 4y ago
    Mate, I've read a few of your comments here. Are you some sort of anti-fusion shill? Physicist having fun with other people's money?! On top of the fact that this demo reactor costs a fraction of the development cost of the F-35. Eric Weinstein: "We can't afford to pay these people. We can't afford to give them an accelerator just to play with in case they find something at the next energy level, these people created our economy. They gave us the rad lab and radar, they gave us two atomic devices to end World War Two that created the semiconductor and the transistor to power our economy through Moore's Law as a positive externality of particle accelerators that created the World Wide Web. And we have the insolence to say, why should we fund you with our taxpayer dollars? Now, the question is, are you enjoying your physics dollars?" So, how are you having fun with your physics dollars?
    - ncmncm 4y ago
      These are all different physicists. The ones doing other things are competing for the money being spent on the fusion projects instead. I would rather the other ones get it, because maybe something of value might come from that. That said, plasma fluid dynamics physicists are chronically underfunded, and they can often use money from fusion projects for their experiments. I never begrudge money to plasma fluid dynamics physicists. But we shouldn't expect to get useful fusion out as a result.
      - ajdegol 4y ago
        I propose more funding all around. In one sentence you suggest funding one group without the expectation anything will come from it. And then the next you say we shouldn't fund one group because there is no expectation anything will come from it. You are just anti-fusion.
Bolkan 4y ago
Unless they hit a fundamental limit. Think speed of light.

aeternum 4y ago

It does seem like the cost vs. reward of fusion tech is ridiculous at this point. I'm all for new tech but we should at least try to project the cost to build a working fusion power plant. Fusion not only has to work, it has to be at least somewhat cost-competitive with other forms of energy generation.

fibonacc 4y ago
true as elon musk says it won't be economically viable for quite some time but fusion is the right step, what I'd be interested is if they can miniaturized to fit on rocket payloads.
notamy 4y ago
> Fusion not only has to work, it has to be at least somewhat cost-competitive with other forms of energy generation. Perhaps silly, but I wonder how this comparison would shape up if we were capable of calculating reasonably-accurate long-term figures about effects of pollution, mining for resources, construction costs, etc. in the process of producing each form of energy. I'm really curious what that'd look like.

alliao 4y ago

Hope I get to see it before I die... unlimited energy to combat climate change would be pretty damn epic.

ncmncm 4y ago
Fusion will not provide unlimited energy. And not even affordable energy. There is nothing to see here but physicists having fun with other people's money.
- ajdegol 4y ago
  Mate, I've read a few of your comments here. Are you some sort of anti-fusion shill? Physicist having fun with other people's money?! On top of the fact that this demo reactor costs a fraction of the development cost of the F-35. Eric Weinstein: "We can't afford to pay these people. We can't afford to give them an accelerator just to play with in case they find something at the next energy level, these people created our economy. They gave us the rad lab and radar, they gave us two atomic devices to end World War Two that created the semiconductor and the transistor to power our economy through Moore's Law as a positive externality of particle accelerators that created the World Wide Web. And we have the insolence to say, why should we fund you with our taxpayer dollars? Now, the question is, are you enjoying your physics dollars?" So, how are you having fun with your physics dollars?
  - ncmncm 4y ago
    These are all different physicists. The ones doing other things are competing for the money being spent on the fusion projects instead. I would rather the other ones get it, because maybe something of value might come from that. That said, plasma fluid dynamics physicists are chronically underfunded, and they can often use money from fusion projects for their experiments. I never begrudge money to plasma fluid dynamics physicists. But we shouldn't expect to get useful fusion out as a result.
    - ajdegol 4y ago
      I propose more funding all around. In one sentence you suggest funding one group without the expectation anything will come from it. And then the next you say we shouldn't fund one group because there is no expectation anything will come from it. You are just anti-fusion.

Bolkan 4y ago

Unless they hit a fundamental limit. Think speed of light.