With 200 lasers and a peppercorn-sized fuel capsule, scientists inch closer to mastering fusion energy | CNN
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Scientists in California make a significant step in what could one day be an important solution to the global climate crisis, driven primarily by burning fossil fuels.

Scientists in California shooting nearly 200 lasers at a cylinder holding a fuel capsule the size of a peppercorn have taken another step in the quest for fusion energy, which, if mastered, could provide the world with a near-limitless source of clean power.

Last year on a December morning, scientists at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California (LLNL) managed, in a world first, to produce a nuclear fusion reaction that released more energy than it used, in a process called “ignition.”

Now they say they have successfully replicated ignition at least three times this year, according to a December report from the LLNL. This marks another significant step in what could one day be an important solution to the global climate crisis, driven primarily by the burning of fossil fuels.

  • @BoastfulDaedra
    English
    1•6 months ago

    No it isn’t. Light-driven fusion has zero applicability to a bomb.

    • @[email protected]
      -1•6 months ago

      Sorry to be the one to tell you this, but thats just not right.

      NIF’s mission is to achieve fusion ignition with high energy gain. It achieved the first instance of scientific breakeven controlled fusion in an experiment on December 5, 2022, with an energy gain factor of 1.5.[1][2] It supports nuclear weapon maintenance and design by studying the behavior of matter under the conditions found within nuclear explosions.[3]

      Via wikipedia, emphasis mine

      NIF is a key element of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s science-based Stockpile Stewardship Program

      Via the Lawrence Livermore National Labs website (link)

        • @[email protected]
          -1•6 months ago

          Almost none, in fact. There is a reason fusion power generation research is done entirely on MCF machines (I am ignoring fusors); ICF (like the NIF device) is completely unsuitable for power generation for an astounding number of reasons. All the usable contributions NIF has made to power research are either ancient or theyre in the realms of magnetohydrodynamics and electrical engineering (specifically, capacitor design).

      • @BoastfulDaedra
        English
        2•6 months ago

        I see you like to cherry pick, because what you’re citing supports my argument better than yours.

        • @[email protected]
          -1•6 months ago

          I am being completely sincere when I ask this: what are you basing your argument on?

          edit: wait hang on, both of those quotes start as the second sentence on both pages. not exactly cherry picking if it’s statement #2 from wikipedia…