‘Artificial sun’ sets record for time at 100 million degrees in latest advance for nuclear fusion

CNN (sorry) ^ | 4/1/2024 | Laura Paddison

[vespa300]

Scientists in South Korea have announced a new world record for the length of time they sustained temperatures of 100 million degrees Celsius — seven times hotter than the sun’s core — during a nuclear fusion experiment, in what they say is an important step forward for this futuristic energy technology.

[vespa300]

Lasted for 48 seconds. Interesting stuff. No DEI in South Korea I guess.

[plain talk]

Wow. 100M degrees Celsius. Another step forward in research.

[absalom01]

OK, that’s impressive, but my bet is that India will have a working LFTR long before there’s a production fusion plant anywhere in the world.

[DesertRhino]

Whoa.... 48 seconds is kinda crazy. I remember when it was a feat to do it for a few milliseconds.

[from occupied ga]

And in 50 years commercial production of fusion power will be just 20 years away (and untold billions of dollars of taxpayer funds away)

[PLMerite]

That’s what I was thinking. Are we sure it’s not a typo?

[sten]

100M degrees for a minute.

hmmm... let’s say that was a single sq mile.
there are 200m square miles on earth.

evenly distribute that 100m degrees across the entire earth would increase each square mile by 0.5 degrees for a few minutes.

where are the global warming people?

[Drago]

Apparently they did 30 seconds in 2022:

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2336385-korean-nuclear-fusion-reactor-achieves-100-millionc-for-30-seconds/

Current:
https://www.sciencealert.com/korean-fusion-reactor-sets-new-record-for-sustaining-100-million-degree-plasma

[Bob434]

[[Scientists in South Korea have announced a new world record for the length of time they sustained temperatures of 100 million degrees Celsius ]]

And now we know the real reason for global warming!

[Ciaphas Cain]

[PLMerite]

Wow. Well, as long as they keep it contained.

Something like that could cause real havoc bouncing down the street.

[freedomjusticeruleoflaw]

Fusion is folly. It’s 200 years away from viability for many reasons, not the least of which that fission is effective, safe, easy, and ready.

[Right_Wing_Madman]

Fusion is folly. It’s 200 years away from viability for many reasons

I don't see fusion as ever being possible on earth: can't create conditions of the sun (gravity, huge mass of hydrogen atoms) here on earth. Because of the gravity problem, energy input will always exceed energy output.

[algore]

and Alaska was Stuarts folly.

Fusion is already here and awaiting regulatory approval.

will it lead to nearly free energy?

Not for you or me.

[Chode]

100 million degrees... OK, for how long before the tokamak slags down???

[ZULU]

Wait until they perfect it. Some econuts will ban it.

[Drago]

True, but if you lose containment the fire goes out very fast. 😉 🔥🧯

[sinsofsolarempirefan]

Experiments have already reached the stage of producing more energy than required to start and sustain it. The only challenge left is to make it stable enough to generate power for a prolonged period.

And development of this tech is likely to develop sooner than you think thanks to AI and quantum computing. AI data servers will require enormous amounts of energy and they will also help accelerate research into fusion.

As for fission nuclear power, that has serious drawbacks, not least the fact that we really wouldn’t want a lot of countries to acquire fissile materials for obvious reasons.

[freedomjusticeruleoflaw]

There is no fuel for a fusion reactor.

[Right_Wing_Madman]

The only challenge left is to make it stable enough to generate power for a prolonged period.

Because too much energy is required to inject into too small of a space. Here on earth, we don't have the gravity of the sun or 10 Jupiters to do the free work for us.

For fusion to work on a small scale, we need to alter the relative strengths of the electromagnetic, strong, weak, and gravitational forces.

But don't worry about that, fusion projects will always be well-funded, and the "breakthroughs" will continue for decades to come.