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starkmatic t1_j0ab0rd wrote

Reply to comment by radicalceleryjuice in Fusion energy breakthrough and national security implications explained by TheScienceAdvocate

What was the big breakthrough anyway. Anything useful

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ringobob t1_j0bfo65 wrote

In simple terms, metaphorically, they figured out how to light a piece of coal and have it produce energy. They haven't yet figured out how to build a furnace to do it at scale.

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starkmatic t1_j0bjr5e wrote

Why’s that such a big deal though

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ringobob t1_j0bmlls wrote

Because they've been trying to get that far for decades, and failed until now. It wasn't that long ago that people were saying we'd never figure it out.

Basically, this kind of energy, that powers our sun and all the stars, and does so in ways that are much cheaper and easier to keep safe than today's fission reactors, it was a question if we'd ever be able to harness and produce that energy ourselves here on earth. This pretty much proves we can, for the first time.

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VladTheUnpeeler t1_j0ctogz wrote

because, if perfected, we could literally use water as our energy fuel with zero carbon emissions

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EliRaerocks t1_j0eeix9 wrote

Total layman here. If we are using water even oceanic water is it enough to cause il effects?

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radicalceleryjuice t1_j0adtsq wrote

The achieved "ignition" meaning the heat energy of the reaction was greater than the energy of the laser beams. It's a legit important milestone. But the energy in the laser beams is just a fraction of the energy it takes to run the whole kaboodle, so a long way to go before they are making more energy than they are drawing from the grid.

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