fusion project based in europe....

[emeraldlonewoulf]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6165932.stm

check this out. this seems like a cool idea, if it works, but does anyone seem concerned about that amount of energy being released if things go wrong?

comments?

[Godslayer Jillian]

Haha, one step into the future. I like it.
But I'm concerned of the byproducts.
How many amounts of nuclear decay would this form?

[emeraldlonewoulf]

that's why it is as cool as it is. from what i understand, the byproducts of nuclear fusion are non-radioactive, i.e. energy and helium (as opposed to fission, a la mordern day nuclear energy production). my concern is what if that amount of energy is mis-directed, and just escapes? also, what effect would helium have on our atmosphere? I realize it is lighter than air, and could just rise on out of it, but think about air bubbles through water, and how that oxygenates water, what would helium do to air?

i am just concerned about the amount of energy being dealt with, i mean, what kinds of materials will be used to conduct and control the flow of that amount of energy?

[Godslayer Jillian]

You know what we should do?
This is fine by now, but we should invest more on space programs.
Nuclear power plants in space sounds almost sci-fi and only a possibility in a couple of generations at the least, but it would be the safest place to have them, enabling us to construct scores of them.

[Dead Angel]

Originally Posted by Godslayer Jillian

You know what we should do?
This is fine by now, but we should invest more on space programs.
Nuclear power plants in space sounds almost sci-fi and only a possibility in a couple of generations at the least, but it would be the safest place to have them, enabling us to construct scores of them.

Blaim the hippies from the 80's that did not want to clutter space.

[CptSternn]

Originally Posted by Dead Angel

Blaim the hippies from the 80's that did not want to clutter space.

Too late, space is already cluttered.

But the fusion pact is a step in the right direction. Every year in england they have a small scale nuclear 'incident'. Ever year it gets worse. I'm surprised it doesn't happen as often in America or France - or maybe it does and we just don't hear about it...

[ArtificialOne]

There's a big project between euro and Us to do a fusion project.... like billions... faraday had an interesting one thats being researched by amatuers right now.. most big scientific breakthroughs come from left field though.. don't be surprised if something unknown or whacky comes out thats a bit different. Also there's an interesting idea where fusing uranium with another metal and then bombarding it with a laser. It's really good because the waste is reused and at the end the waste isn't as radioactive for near the time it is with normal nuclear reactors. ANd the cooling is allot better... Cut the power to the laser the reaction stops. No more meltdowns or cooling problems. yes it's in it's infancy and expensive.. but what elese do we have to spen the money... solar and wing might be great for countries with small populations but the efficencey isn't there for large populations.

[Encaitare]

Uh oh, let's just hope the scientists working on the project don't make mechanical limbs that could accidentally get stuck on their bodies and start to control their minds...</geekery>

[emeraldlonewoulf]

oh good grief, do we have to have the spiderman movie reference?

[Clockwork]

This sounds exciting. I'm glad we're progressing along like this - I just hope they know what they're doing. This is a huge amount of energy to deal with, unlike anything before.

[ArtificialOne]

An interesting fact about the first a-bomb: They thought that it might ignite the atmosphere....Wonder if the scientists around the world are thinking the same thing when doing these experiments....