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Scientists Discover How To Stabilize Plasma In Fusion Reactors

posted by Fnord666 on Monday July 23 2018, @01:03PM   Printer-friendly
from the plasma-conduits dept.

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for AndyTheAbsurd

Experts were able to simulate the mechanism that stabilizes plasma in fusion reactors. This development could take humankind one step closer to a clean, unlimited source of fusion energy.

So...practical commercial fusion is still 50 years way (just like it's been for the past 60 years), right?

Source: https://www.techtimes.com/articles/232452/20180719/scientists-discover-how-to-stabilize-plasma-in-fusion-reactors.htm

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  • (Score: 2) by Murdoc on Tuesday July 24 2018, @09:38PM (2 children)

    by Murdoc (2518) on Tuesday July 24 2018, @09:38PM (#711950)

    I looked at that article, and I'm sure I have no grasp of the complex math behind this, but it looks like total BS to me.

    "The answer is surprising. The Sun does do nuclear burning of hydrogen atoms, but only very occasionally. How occasionally? On average, any given hydrogen atom will run into another hydrogen atom only once every five billion years."

    Once every 5 billion years?!? Given that the sun is 4.7 billion years old, that means that there is a less than 100% chance that it has even happened once so far! And yet:

    "Every second, the Sun burns 620 million tonnes of hydrogen and turns it into about 616 million tonnes of helium."

    That's an awful lot of matter being converted into helium yet somehow without hydrogen fusing into each other. How in the world is that supposed to work?

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 25 2018, @12:41AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 25 2018, @12:41AM (#712060)

    Now multiply by the number of hydrogen atoms in the sun and you’ll have your answer.

    • (Score: 2) by Murdoc on Wednesday July 25 2018, @04:59AM

      by Murdoc (2518) on Wednesday July 25 2018, @04:59AM (#712186)
      Ah, there was my mistake, thanks. "Any given hydrogen atom..." You know, I knew I shouldn't be posting so soon after waking up because this tends to happen, but I just couldn't see it. Now I know.