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Ah yes, nuclear energy, real hot, make water boil, make things happen. You're telling me we don't have sci-fi energy harnessing capability to capture the nucle
by vpShane 11mo ago
Ah yes, nuclear energy, real hot, make water boil, make things happen.
You're telling me we don't have sci-fi energy harnessing capability to capture the nuclear energy itself and convert it to electricity?
It's 2025!
- xg15 11mo agoFound it kind of depressing that this seems to be the current strategy for fusion as well. You have this insane device that produces a million degree hot ring of plasma and use it... to boil water...
- maximilianthe1 11mo agoScy-fi enegry generator looks inside steam turbine
- rnhmjoj 11mo agoWe are still trying to solve the problem that we can't keep the plasma hot long enough to create fusion energy, so working on exotic conversion schemes is one step too far. Consider also how complex these reactors already are, it makes sense to use the simplest method that we know works well.
- xg15 11mo agoMakes sense, but from a layman perspective it seems like introducing additional complexity and lots of inefficient, high-loss transmission steps. We start with detached electrons moving at high speeds (plasma). We want detached electrons moving at moderate speeds (electrical current). And yet, the intermediate steps involve everything from heat, steam, large-scale mechanical forces and magnetic induction, just to get back to the electrons? It feels more like the "pull in a 500MB framework instead of writing the function yourself" kind of simplicity.
- rnhmjoj 11mo ago> It feels more like the "pull in a 500MB framework instead of writing the function yourself" kind of simplicity. Essentially yes, but it's a function that has been continuously optimised by engineers for 200 years.
- CamperBob2 11mo agoSteam power is no joke if you actually look at the numbers. At this scale, it lets you move energy around and convert it to electricity in fewer steps, with fewer losses, than any other strategy.
- mapontosevenths 11mo agoTo be fair, I think we're getting something like 60% efficiency that way. Its not perfect, but it isnt as primitive as it sounds.
- mr_toad 11mo agoThere are lots of ideas, like using a reverse cyclotron (a particle decelerator) to drive a turbine, or harnessing the photo-electric effect (essentially solar panels, but for x-rays). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_energy_conversion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_energy_conversion
- theultdev 11mo agoKeep it simple, stupid.