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SoulWager t1_j9t0mr2 wrote

The cold part means you don't need ridiculously high temperatures to get it to happen, it does not describe the outcome of the reaction.

Think of it more like autoignition temperature, rather than flame temperature. There are substances that will ignite by themselves at room temperature, but they still produce heat when burned. Fusion is a lot harder though, while there are ways to make it happen at reduced temperatures, like replacing the electrons with bosons muons, we don't quite know how to do that in a way that's practical for power generation.

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dirschau t1_j9t9a3y wrote

Just to check, did you mean muons or did you actually mean bosons, in which case please elaborate or link something that talks about it, because I've never heard of that one

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Timstro59 t1_j9tfoar wrote

I think they're referring to muon catalyzed fusion. It's considered impractical due to the high cost of muon sources and the relatively short life span of the particle itself.

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dirschau t1_j9tglkc wrote

Yeah, that's why I'm checking what they mean. I already know of muon catalysation, but who knows, maybe someone figured out how to use Pi- mesons intead of electrons

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