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Found 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
by xg15 1y ago
Found 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 1y agoScy-fi enegry generator looks inside steam turbine
- rnhmjoj 1y 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 1y 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.