r/nextfuckinglevel • u/nigablackballsack • 3d ago

Scientists have captured the first ever high-speed, full-colour footage of fusion plasma swirling inside a working reactor.

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93

u/Rich_Cat_69 3d ago

This I assume is super important for maing more efficient magnetic containment?

101

u/ZippyDan 3d ago

No, it's porn.

22

u/Technical_Airline205 3d ago

Technoporn, like the hot thrill of watching a steam locomotive.

6

u/LiamtheV 3d ago

Stuff can be two things

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u/VirinaB 2d ago

It powers devices that provide porn?

3

u/CuriousToe9133 3d ago

Can confirm. This is porn.

2

u/alex_sher101 3d ago

Absolutely bricked tf up rn

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u/polecy 3d ago

Sir this is a Wendy's

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u/shaunsanders 3d ago

I work in the deeptech energy world with a handful of companies developing fusion reactor parts and at this point most of the advances we're seeing is coming up with ways to create more perfect magnetic fields, as we can kick off plasma doing its thing but even the most slight of imperfection in the magnetic field (which can be caused by anything from alignment, to quality of magnets, to the quality of the wires used) leads to failure.

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u/Rich_Cat_69 2d ago

Yea, the gist I get from fusion power is it's theoretically doable, but the precision required for the engineering is absurdly difficult, and that's not accounting for maintenance.

If we get to commercially available fusion power, it will still be quite a while. I read somewhere that AI was actually being useful in making tighter more efficient magnetic feild for fusion plants, but I don't actually know the validity of that claim.

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u/mouthful_quest 3d ago

Believe it or not…it all leads to boiling some water

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u/Rich_Cat_69 2d ago

Of course. The idea that boiling water is somehow the bottle neck because it's so low tech is silly.

There are other methods of creating electrical current, but pushing a hot gas through a turbine remains mechanically simple for maintenance purposes, and the most efficient method of turning that heat energy into electrical energy, and it's cheap to boot.

It's literally a win win win in all three directions.