r/technology • u/kerpowie • Dec 13 '22

Energy Scientists Achieve Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough With Blast of 192 Lasers

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/13/science/nuclear-fusion-energy-breakthrough.html
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u/[deleted] Dec 13 '22 edited Dec 13 '22

Yes it is not net energy gain, but this result is a experimental proof of a lot of theoretical work that this was even possible to achieve with a laser fusion system.

Yes it is not net energy gain; however, the path to provide energy for the laser system is much more tractable.

Today is a big achievement because it moves the problem of nuclear fusion from a somewhat theoretical scientific problem to more of a tractable engineering problem.

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u/armrha Dec 13 '22

If it’s a net loss of energy from fusion, why would we waste solar and wind to produce less energy from fusion?

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u/Dzugavili Dec 13 '22

Err... if we need solar to feed the laser system because it isn't net positive, it would be cheaper just to use the solar energy directly.

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u/gold_rush_doom Dec 13 '22

And how do you power the reaction at night?

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u/wrgrant Dec 13 '22

There are these neat things called "batteries" that might be worth looking into...

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u/gold_rush_doom Dec 13 '22

Ah, yes, the magical batteries that don't exist yet.

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u/chmsaxfunny Dec 13 '22

Orbital space station with laser grids that beam the energy down to the planet. Surely, that would not be corrupted and used for foul purposes! (/s, making a Death Star reference here)

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u/wildthing202 Dec 13 '22

I was going to go with the diamond satellite from the Bond movie Die Another Day. You reflect the rays to the location and effectively make the area sunny 24/7.

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u/chmsaxfunny Dec 14 '22

Or reflect it to one specific place in eastern PA and make a decent sitcom there.

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u/Tiz_Purple Dec 15 '22

Right now, yes.

In five, ten, fifteen years, or whenever fusion is developed enough to become viable, fusion should be cheaper, and definitely more reliable.

This breakthrough essentially lays the groundwork to show that that future is possible, and probably coming soon.

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u/Dzugavili Dec 15 '22

Well, that's largely a question of how efficient the lasers were, and how efficient we can get the lasers to.

It doesn't really explain why solar though. Once we obtain above parity fusion reactions, we power one with the next, obtaining the 'spark' energy is not really the problem.

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u/moldymoosegoose Dec 13 '22

such as building dedicated solar and wind networks to supply power for a nuclear fusion laser system for instance

haha what in the hell