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#1 | |||
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Senior Member
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On SkyNewsHD Live
Washington USA [Researchers have reportedly made a breakthrough in the quest to unlock a “near-limitless, safe, clean” source of energy: they have got more energy out of a nuclear fusion reaction than they put in. Nuclear fusion involves smashing together light elements such as hydrogen to form heavier elements, releasing a huge burst of energy in the process. The approach, which gives rise to the heat and light of the sun and other stars, has been hailed as having [B]huge potential as a sustainable, low-carbon energy source] https://www.theguardian.com/environm...mitless-energy https://news.sky.com/story/nuclear-f...nergy-12767376 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-63950962 Last edited by arista; 13-12-2022 at 03:45 PM. |
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#2 | |||
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Schrödinger's Quato
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People seem to be getting themselves all worried about this but we've actually been able to "do nuclear fusion" for many years - the breakthrough is that they've managed to create a fusion reaction that created more energy than was used to trigger the reaction. Obviously it's useless as a power source if it takes more energy to ignite and contain the fusion reaction than it actually churns out.
Also as far as I understand it... it eliminates the risk of meltdown, because as soon as fusion reactions become uncontained they very quickly just stop - being contained is part of what allows the reaction to occur. And fusion reactions don't create radioactive waste or fallout so aren't a concern anyway. As for whether or not cold fusion BOMBS as a possibility is scary... well that's a little more tricky. They wouldn't be any more destructive than current high yield nuclear weapons, the difference again would be that they're "clean" - no nuclear fallout. The positive of that is obvious - even in a full scale nuclear war with cold fusion weapons, there's no pollution or nuclear winter. But that, oddly enough, is also the drawback ... Mutually Assured Destruction is a huge part of what stops a nuclear war kicking off, and part of Mutually Assured Destruction IS the knowledge that nuclear fallout would destroy the world. In other words... if two nations create clean fusion nukes, they're MUCH more likely to actually use them on each other. Again the plus side is you only have to worry about that if you live in one of the involved countries. Also means you're probably safe if you get the heck out of major population areas before the bombs drop ![]() |
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#3 | |||
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Senior Member
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This is a Future Clean Energy supply.
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#4 | |||
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Sami Allerdici
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How much hydrogen is there available on earth?
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#5 | |||
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Schrödinger's Quato
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Quote:
There's two elements in water, Oxygen and Hydrogen, and they're easy to split (electrolysis - you probably did it at least once a school science class). So ... the answer is "a lot", infinitely more than could ever be used. One could argue I suppose though, that a true permanently sustainable energy source hasn't been discovered until you can both contain the reaction AND generate the energy required to split hydrogen from water - I suspect, though, that that energy requirement is tiny compared to the fusion process. You can do electrolysis with a 9 volt battery in your kitchen, containing fusion reactions involves extremely high-powered laser technology. |
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Senior Member
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#7 | |||
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self-oscillating
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the other point worth noting is that they already have devastatingly huge conventional weapons available to use if they want to. The usa could literally destroy entire counties only using conventional weapons
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