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Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: perihelion on March 19, 2007, 08:45:42 am

Title: one step closer to breakeven fusion
Post by: perihelion on March 19, 2007, 08:45:42 am
http://www.news.wisc.edu/13545.html (http://www.news.wisc.edu/13545.html)

Still got a long way to go, but there's a research team at the University of Wisconsin that has thoroughly made my day.  I'd pretty much given up on Stellarators and Tokamak-style reactors in favor of Z- and Theta-pinch systems.  Very much impressed.  The thing looks weird, though!  The article says it's all about symmetry, but it must be a very "special" kind of symmetry.



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Title: Re: one step closer to breakeven fusion
Post by: Rand al Thor on March 19, 2007, 09:55:22 am
Fantastic. I know predictions are for a self sustaining reaction in about 50 years, so if I'm lucky I should live to see it happen.

I'd say it looks alot more retro than futuristic though.
Title: Re: one step closer to breakeven fusion
Post by: Rictor on March 19, 2007, 10:35:09 am
That looks like a giant steampunk...I don't know what. A torture machine maybe.

I can appreciate the science behind it (thought not understand it by any stretch), but it just looks kind of cool.
Title: Re: one step closer to breakeven fusion
Post by: Nuke on March 19, 2007, 12:15:01 pm
theyve built the chaos reactor. cool!
Title: Re: one step closer to breakeven fusion
Post by: Ghost on March 19, 2007, 03:48:12 pm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITER

I saw this thing a while ago, and this is the most promising thing I've seen thus far, as far as fusion is concerned.
Title: Re: one step closer to breakeven fusion
Post by: takashi on March 19, 2007, 05:01:29 pm
it looks like a bumblebee with its head cut off ....


but cool though.
Title: Re: one step closer to breakeven fusion
Post by: Flipside on March 19, 2007, 05:03:09 pm
Actually, it does look curiously insectoid.... :nervous:
Title: Re: one step closer to breakeven fusion
Post by: Mefustae on March 19, 2007, 05:07:47 pm
Meh, the one in Spiderman 2 looked cooler.
Title: Re: one step closer to breakeven fusion
Post by: perihelion on March 19, 2007, 05:24:55 pm
Actually, it does look curiously insectoid.... :nervous:

Heh.  I guess so, but that's just the side-on view.  From the top it looks like a metal doughnut seen through the lens of a bad acid trip.

And the one in Spiderman 2 was patently ridiculous.  Everyone in a room with that thing while it was operational would shortly afterwards wonder why their hair started falling out if the coughing up blood didn't catch their notice first.

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Title: Re: one step closer to breakeven fusion
Post by: Mefustae on March 19, 2007, 05:44:05 pm
And the one in Spiderman 2 was patently ridiculous.  Everyone in a room with that thing while it was operational would shortly afterwards wonder why their hair started falling out if the coughing up blood didn't catch their notice first.
Yeah, but it looked awesome.
Title: Re: one step closer to breakeven fusion
Post by: Nuke on March 19, 2007, 07:26:38 pm
its just a mater of going with the flow as opposed to forcing the plasma stream into a perfect torus.