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I can tell you that regular people took the announcements as a sign that nuclear fusion as a real useful thing is imminent, and couldn't be convinced otherwise!
by jackmott42 4y ago
I can tell you that regular people took the announcements as a sign that nuclear fusion as a real useful thing is imminent, and couldn't be convinced otherwise!
But then if your announcements are completely rational you don't get as much funding. A lot of us nerds on HN don't like it when people do propaganda, but I assume we also like to win, right?
- koppe 4y agoThey literally said it would take decades for this to become "useful", I don't think they made it seem closer than it is at all
- danuker 4y ago> But then if your announcements are completely rational you don't get as much funding. If your goal is to gain funding, the rational announcement IS to sensationalize.
- hinkley 4y agoWhen people have been doing the propaganda for longer than I have been alive, I become an old, salty fucker.
- 8bitsrule 4y agoI recall reading an old 60s issue of 'Physics Today'; someone prophesized fusion ws 20 years away. None of that in the (look, it's still around) recent article. Insightful details are present. And some honesty ... e.g. "The agency toned down the ignition objective, emphasizing NIF’s ongoing experiments to investigate materials’ behavior under extreme densities and pressures in support of nuclear stockpile maintenance." [https://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/10.1063/PT.6.2.20221213a/full/ https://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/10.1063/PT.6.2.2022121...]
- hinkley 4y ago> in support of nuclear stockpile maintenance I may not speak for everyone but I certainly don’t find that comforting and know at least a few people who would agree.