Ongoing important Science news thread

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Red Ice Player

Lookheed Martin's Skunk Works are promising a commercially viable fusion reactor within four years. This probably falls under the too good to be true category, but its damned exciting to speculate on. I would love to hear what our resident scientists and skeptics have to say about this.

http://www.dvice.com/2013-2-22/lockh...wer-four-years

could also be the answer to the global helium shortage if true

[Red Ice Player]

Originally Posted by photon

I'm trying to figure out if their design is similar to or based off the Bussard Polywell design that I've been following on and off, I guess I'll have to watch the video.

If this idea comes to fruition it would fundamentally change the economic structure of the planet. The viability of the global economy goes up and down with the price of energy. Everything depends on it. Removing that variable is absolutely mind boggling. I could see it someday making nations obsolete.

[T@T]

Originally Posted by Red Ice Player

If this idea comes to fruition it would fundamentally change the economic structure of the planet. The viability of the global economy goes up and down with the price of energy. Everything depends on it. Removing that variable is absolutely mind boggling. I could see it someday making nations obsolete.

It would make societies crumble,everything to do with energy as we know it now would be toast,the middle east would starve causing wars,Alberta would just be a prairie again...etc.

The Russians would probably nuke us before it becomes reality.

[photon]

Disruptive would certainly be an understatement.

[photon]

I watched the video and it doesn't sound like a Polywell reactor but it sounds similar, so the idea is sound, it's just a question of if they can actually do it without any other issues and get over unity.

[Red Ice Player]

Originally Posted by T@T

It would make societies crumble,everything to do with energy as we know it now would be toast,the middle east would starve causing wars,Alberta would just be a prairie again...etc.

The Russians would probably nuke us before it becomes reality.

It would depend on the timeline of the technology's implementation. Global upheaval would be inevitable. The US government would definitely try to control the process. The fact that one of their biggest defence contractors is working on it would make it a matter of national security. I'm sure that discussions are already happening. I sure hope that those GOP whackjobs
aren't in control when and if this starts happening...

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Red Ice Player

It would depend on the timeline of the technology's implementation. Global upheaval would be inevitable. The US government would definitely try to control the process. The fact that one of their biggest defence contractors is working on it would make it a matter of national security. I'm sure that discussions are already happening. I sure hope that those GOP whackjobs
aren't in control when and if this starts happening...

being that the entire GOP is in the pocket of oil companies, i'm sure they'll do everything in their power to make sure that this reactor never sees full production if it does work

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

being that the entire GOP is in the pocket of oil companies, i'm sure they'll do everything in their power to make sure that this reactor never sees full production if it does work

Why's that, seems to me this will possibly affect the coal/nat gas producers a lot more then the oil companies, although with some there is some obvious crossover.

No ones come close to finding something reasonable to replace oils use in our transportation infrastucture.

[Red Ice Player]

Originally Posted by Dan02

Why's that, seems to me this will possibly affect the coal/nat gas producers a lot more then the oil companies, although with some there is some obvious crossover.

No ones come close to finding something reasonable to replace oils use in our transportation infrastucture.

A network of fusion reactors would eventually result in an almost unlimited supply of cheap electricity. This surplus of power would finally make a hydrogen infrastructure possible, and finally make the hydrogen fuel cell practical for transportation. This would be the death knell for the fossil fuel economy. The best application of this technology would be desalinization, which if done on a large scale would bring fresh water to desert regions and could even be used to rehydrate depleted aquafirs. If the global geopolitical implosion can be avoided or somehow negated, hopefully by the changeover being gradual, maybe it will mean a brighter future for mankind, with an end to hunger and poverty world wide. It would eventually mean an end to the capitalist system as well, hence the upheaval.

[Azure]

It is bound to happen, but I'm not sure why people are cheering it on.

There are millions upon millions of families whose livelihood is dependent on the jobs they have in the oil/energy industry.

Cheap energy would be amazing, but hopefully it doesn't happen overnight otherwise the affect would be disastrous.

[Red Ice Player]

Originally Posted by Azure

It is bound to happen, but I'm not sure why people are cheering it on.

There are millions upon millions of families whose livelihood is dependent on the jobs they have in the oil/energy industry.

Cheap energy would be amazing, but hopefully it doesn't happen overnight otherwise the affect would be disastrous.

I'm actually quite apprehensive about the whole situation. Change of this magnitude would be unprecedented in world history, and its in the same timeframe as my future retirement. I have no idea how to prepare for something like this, as accumulation of wealth may not be enough.

[Biff]

I have now spent an enjoyable hour or so giving myself a functional lay-person's grasp of fusion energy. As a player of the original Half-Life I was, however, somewhat disturbed by this image on Wikipedia's article on Fusion power especially with the following caption:

"The National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories uses an Inertial containment based system to create star core-like environments. Here a pair of scientists examine the reactor core and prepare it for tests."


I'll just be over here donning my HEV suit and getting myself a crowbar.

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by Red Ice Player

A network of fusion reactors would eventually result in an almost unlimited supply of cheap electricity. This surplus of power would finally make a hydrogen infrastructure possible, and finally make the hydrogen fuel cell practical for transportation. This would be the death knell for the fossil fuel economy. The best application of this technology would be desalinization, which if done on a large scale would bring fresh water to desert regions and could even be used to rehydrate depleted aquafirs.

Those are all great ideas, the problem lies in the fact that the actual cost of the electricity isn't the main thing holding all those ideas back. Having a nearly unlimited supply of cheap electricity isn't going to solve those problems.

[Red Ice Player]

Originally Posted by Dan02

Those are all great ideas, the problem lies in the fact that the actual cost of the electricity isn't the main thing holding all those ideas back. Having a nearly unlimited supply of cheap electricity isn't going to solve those problems.

Major scientific breakthroughs lead to more breakthroughs. My hope is that it could be done in a period of peace, which unfortunately is not something mankind has a good track record in. When you think about it, the USA is the world's largest consumer of energy. Fusion would end America's dependency on foreign oil. The countries who supply that energy will be kinda screwed, including Canada to some degree.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by Biff

I have now spent an enjoyable hour or so giving myself a functional lay-person's grasp of fusion energy. As a player of the original Half-Life I was, however, somewhat disturbed by this image on Wikipedia's article on Fusion power especially with the following caption:

"The National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories uses an Inertial containment based system to create star core-like environments. Here a pair of scientists examine the reactor core and prepare it for tests."

I'll just be over here donning my HEV suit and getting myself a crowbar.

Dibs on the Grav-gun and pile of saw blades!

[Muta]

That invention would mean the end of overly-wealthy young people, Maseratis and million dollar homes in Calgary as we know it. That might upset alot of people.

I think the implications of this technology could be huge, which means that the expansion of scientific knowledge and inventions would grow exponentially from it. I guess that would mean the religious crowd would also hate it.

[HPLovecraft]

Originally Posted by Azure

It is bound to happen, but I'm not sure why people are cheering it on.

There are millions upon millions of families whose livelihood is dependent on the jobs they have in the oil/energy industry.

Cheap energy would be amazing, but hopefully it doesn't happen overnight otherwise the affect would be disastrous.

The oil industry isn't going to just disappear overnight. The world is dependent on those industries for more than just energy production (and even for energy production, there are things that will take a long time to develop before they can utilize any sort of fusion technology, such as transportation).

Change is coming, though, it's inevitable, and it's up to people to adapt, as far as massive monetary investments and such go.

[HPLovecraft]

Originally Posted by Red Ice Player

I'm actually quite apprehensive about the whole situation. Change of this magnitude would be unprecedented in world history, and its in the same timeframe as my future retirement. I have no idea how to prepare for something like this, as accumulation of wealth may not be enough.

Obviously a bunker loaded with canned goods, and a whole bunch of hamsters for power generation (until you can get hold of a miniature fusion-powered generator).

[polak]

In theory, the transportation industry would be absolutely revolutionized if we had surplus energy that allowed them to switch to hydrogen fuel cells. Calgary would be able to capitalize on that based on their geography which makes them a perfect transportation hub for western Canada.

However, We'd still be screwed though. We'd see a mass exodus from Alberta and in turn the housing market would collapse and all the fun stuff that goes with that. This would lead to massive population decrease and could very well make Vancouver or Winnipeg a more desirable transport hub.

The positive (outside of the fact that we have unlimited clean energy) is that every other industry on the planet would most likely boom if the transition was handled well. Also some of the bigger energy companies here may be able to restructure/change their focus and some how squeeze out an existence. Oil would still be needed for other things besides energy.

[Ozy_Flame]

All the more reason for industry diversification in Alberta. I'm sure we're all aware it's not a matter of if but when the oil economy dries up / dies out. On the flip side, we might be well placed to be a hub for fusion energy development - "oil" companies have their hands in other areas of energy as well. Suncor for example is invested in wind energy, and is not simply oil exclusive.

The application for water desalinization is the most exciting part of fusion energy for me though. The ability to do this can raise the standard of living for every corner of the earth, and really help the poverty numbers in afflicted areas of the world. Water is the core foundation of our existence.