Lockheed Martin claims sustainable fusion within reach

[GK4Herd]

This would be a gamechanger. The article sounds very encouraging.

http://www.eweek.com/news/lockheed-martin-claims-sustainable-fusion-is-within-its-grasp.html

 

[herdfan429]

It seems like I've read this article before. I'm no saying Lockheed isn't close but this article comes out every couple of years and there is nothing to show for it. I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[GK4Herd]

You're probably thinking of "cold fusion". I too am a skeptic to this type of stuff. But the thing that strikes me as different with this is that this claim is coming from Lockheed's Skunk Work program which has a long history of not only delivering cutting edge technology, but also has zero history of making outlandish claims. The safe thing is to take the cynics point of view though, I suppose.

 

[HerdandHokies]

Fusion is pretty much there, we just need to find a way to contain it. It melts through any solid so you have to get creative. Most of the work that I saw being done when I was in college was with magnets (sometimes with lasers or plasma) so I'm not surprised that it looks like that might end up being the way to do it. Hope they get it figured out soon, although the transition might be rough for a lot of people.

 

[GK4Herd]

Here's another article saying it "might change humanity forever".

http://www.physics-astronomy.com/2015/02/lockheed-martins-new-compact-fusion.html#.VPkiXYE8KrU

 

[HerdandHokies]

It pretty much would. I can only imagine the billions from fossil fuel companies that will go into lobbying to outlaw it if they get it working.

 

[banker6796]

They should bring Tony Stark in on it, he's pretty sharp on this stuff based on some documentaries I have seen about him.

 

[-CarlHungus-]

If I'm the mayor of Detroit I'm getting on the phone and volunteering my city to be the first one to allow this reactor to go in there.

If it works, it's revolutionary, if it doesn't and fails catastrophically, you just melted down and destroyed Detroit - so no big loss.

 

[HerdandHokies]

Originally posted by -CarlHungus-:
If I'm the mayor of Detroit I'm getting on the phone and volunteering my city to be the first one to allow this reactor to go in there.

If it works, it's revolutionary, if it doesn't and fails catastrophically, you just melted down and destroyed Detroit - so no big loss.

I know you're joking, but a fusion reactor wouldn't melt down like that. A (badly designed) fission reactor can break and go into a runaway reaction where it melts down, but if something went wrong in a fusion reactor the reaction would just stop. People standing near it might get hurt or die, but it isn't going to damage the area around the reactor.

 

[-CarlHungus-]

Originally posted by HerdandHokies:

Originally posted by -CarlHungus-:
If I'm the mayor of Detroit I'm getting on the phone and volunteering my city to be the first one to allow this reactor to go in there.

If it works, it's revolutionary, if it doesn't and fails catastrophically, you just melted down and destroyed Detroit - so no big loss.

I know you're joking, but a fusion reactor wouldn't melt down like that. A (badly designed) fission reactor can break and go into a runaway reaction where it melts down, but if something went wrong in a fusion reactor the reaction would just stop. People standing near it might get hurt or die, but it isn't going to damage the area around the reactor.

I know, I was kidding (about the melt down thing, not Detroit).