Honestly, the more I think about the reactions in this thread so far, the only people I see that are "freaking out" are the people who are complaining about how hard everyone is freaking out. :mellow:
I'm not like, "OH MY [censored] GOD THE WORLD IS ENDING", and that's what your acting like I am saying.
All I said is that this could be dangerous. And it could be. :shrug:

Something can go wrong, but this reaction(star gives a bad image) only produces a "star" that's not even as large as a human hair. It won't even exist for a second and everything has risks, but the possible benefits from this are too great to ignore. We need a new energy source(an oil spill the size of Delaware isn't exactly safe), and, as a science geek, I love the thought of being able to control fusion reactions and utilize them for energy.

The people complaining about the people saying this is a dangerous experiment that could lead to who-know-what are doing so because of the following:

1. Misinformation like this is why we have very few nuclear power plants in the US

2. These experiments are far from new, so it is "old news"

3. The conditions necessary for fusion on Earth do not exist naturally, so it can't go out of control

4. Anything could be dangerous, the risks here are far lower than things most people here do every day.

To quote you from earlier in this thread:


Which is completely and utterly wrong.

Could is a key word. I never said "this will happen". It's all speculation. And you, nor I, nor anyone else here, knows exactly what could go wrong. You're not a nuclear physicist, you don't know that there could be some fatal flaw in the entire operation that could cause some sort of an explosion. You don't know that. So speculation is valid.

That "could" pretty much entirely resides in the realm of philosophy "coulds" where it could be the case that the universe ends tomorrow.

You do not have to be a nuclear physicist to understand what is going on here, you just need a basic understanding of how nuclear fusion works.

The ABSOLUTE worst case scenario is that there is a radiation leak and those doing the experiment and the room are irradiated.

Because "Scientists are trying to get nuclear fusion to work...again..." isn't as appealing as "Scientists are making a new sun...IN YOUR BACK YARD! Find out how this affects you and what to think about it tonight at eleven."

I really fail to see how you, or anyone else in this thread, for that matter, as a regular joe, with no degree in anything that has to do with this, knows the ends and outs of the experiment, knows exactly the process of what they are doing, and every single danger involved. That's a ludicrous statement to make. I think that's the defining line of why you aren't a nuclear physicist, and they are.
Don't get me wrong, but you don't know everything about it, and you don't know all that could go wrong.
If we were talking about how a gun works, how to start up a gas grill, sure. But unless you've got some sort of degree in this field, no chance.

Because physics is physics is physics, and many people here have taken college-level physics classes.

The reaction cannot sustain itself because it doesn't have sufficient mass to force hydrogen and hydrogen to bind. Instead we crush it down on itself, force it much hotter than a star would be, and we succeed in getting a fusion reaction. This is also all taking place in a vacuum where there is a limited amount of hydrogen too. As soon as the lasers are cut, no more pressure, no more heat, and therefore no more fusion.

Best case scenario: no radiation leak and we successfully use the precisely measured out amount of hydrogen which has been done countless times before

And that definitely gave you the training required to create a star.

That's a very double-edged argument. You aren't a nuclear physicist either, how do you know that the apocalypse is a risk?




Nuclear fusion is not "creating a star". The whole idea of calling it a star is kind of stupid.

why is the news on at 11

I never understood why 11 was the time news comes on

why not 10? or 9? what about the people who have to go to bed at 10 but don't have enough time to watch the news in the morning? Do they never get to watch the news? How would they know what the weather is going to be like the following day? do they just carry an umbrella and raincoat with them all the time?

I'll never understand the complexity of this world :nope:

I don't think I ever said that this would produce an apocalypse. I actually never said anything like that in this entire thread.
I'm not stating anything as fact, because I don't know. I'm not a nuclear physicist.

A star isn't being created. it will not sustain fusion. We are just forcing a few hydrogen atoms to fuse into helium, as we have done countless times in the past. If you would like, I can give you an estimate on the maximum possible energy potential (given the size of a standard bb)

I'm sure you also have some schematics drawn up for the laser being used, don't you? Just off the top of your head. 'Cause nuclear physics is just that simple.

Fact is, you don't know everything involved. Saying so is just laughable.
That being said, this argument has turned into a 2v1 match, not something I'm going to participate in. Have fun.

Just so we know: http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/040701/171957__smbq_l.jpg...is not how it works.

3v1.

The fact that he doesn't have a degree in nuclear physics doesn't mean that his explanation is any less valid - nuclear physics isn't some kind of magic, and one does not require a degree in it to have a basic understanding of the concepts involved.

This sounds fantastic to me, although I'm curious as to where they are procuring their funding from.

And if he fails at least the ladies will appreciate the extra hands :hubbahubba:

The principles involved are not some sort of magical arcane thing. It's a simple logic of fuel -> reaction -> energy. If the reaction somehow got out of control, the carefully controlled fuel amount would destroy the reaction or cutting off the lasers would end it too, since the reaction needs to be many many times larger to sustain itself. It's basically like a large bic lighter. The spark (laser) provides the energy to get the gas (hydrogen) to react. As soon as you stop the gas, the reaction ends.

As for the experiment, I'm glad scientists are still striving for fusion power. We'll need it if we want to really sustain ourselves and extend ourselves past our solar system. Conventional fuel just doesn't work at such huge distances.

ouble Post:

Yay, sensationalism!

Betrayer, I think you got your facts twisted. THIS. IS. NOT. A. STAR. Oki? You generate energy in the same way the stars do, but that doesn't say anything. In that regard, I'd call you a good old classic bomb! I mean, we both utilize chemical energy, so it's the same right?

The reactions to generate this energy is hugely precise, meaning once it gets going, it's precision work to keep it going and even the slightest disturbance will shut the reaction down. You only have a tiny amount of fuel in the reactor, meaning there's no room for a "meltdown". In fact, even in a reactor which generated a addition of energy (we've yet to build a reactor that produces more energy than what's being put in) a "meltdown" (which isn't really a correct term) could only produce real issues in a torus-reactor (a dount-shape where magnets keep the charged plasma in place) where it would come in contact with the structure and cause an accident which, although somewhat fierce, would not even be as dangerous as a fire in an oil power plant.

Don't be silly, it's science the media doesn't understand, of course it's going to kill us all. Just like the LHC produced actual black holes, giant space vacuums that svck in light itself!, this will product actual suns, burning hot enough to melt stone! What if it falls off it's pedestal? It'll burrow to the center of the earth, and then explode in a supernova! That's what stars do!

cool beans

Just so you know, the laser serves one purpose: to compress and heat the hydrogen so that it can fuse. There are other ways they could have done this (and have in the past). The lasers have no effect on the reaction besides being the "starter". a means to an end.

And the math side of nuclear physics is that simple


I never claimed to know everything about this experiment, but the actual fusion is governed by math* and is as such very predictable.


*http://xkcd.com/435/

Will it make my computer any better?

If so, then I'm in.

If it succeeds, it's paving the way for effectively limitless, cheap energy. That'll help ALL our computers