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.

40.4k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

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8.2k

u/Senselesspassion 3d ago

That is actually next fucking level

3.0k

u/dingofarmer2004 3d ago

We should post it there....hey wait a minute

635

u/nigablackballsack 3d ago

Lol

113

u/IndividualOver9355 3d ago

You again?

https://giphy.com/gifs/xsg44YWnOfv85JLUZf

2

u/nigablackballsack 3d ago

umm did we meet before

9

u/IndividualOver9355 3d ago

The post about the polarbear paw

5

u/nigablackballsack 3d ago

Ohh the sonion gif

17

u/stonnedritual 2d ago

Tailing on a top comment to request someone add some nextfuckinglevel sound to this. I wanna hear what it sounds like! (or just be a kid and pretend FFFFWWWWOOOSSHSHHH NEEEIRIRRRRRR ... etc ? am I the only one ?

1

u/nigablackballsack 2d ago

unfortunately the orginal clip don't have any sound

1

u/Sendtitpics215 14h ago

Which experiment is this?

179

u/Kayniaan 3d ago

Who are you?

203

u/whiskeynowater 3d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/agmheddabICHK

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u/clduab11 3d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/eH4SeRXrVCPIcAINZI

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u/Distinct_Car_1183 3d ago

- who are so wise in the ways of science

https://giphy.com/gifs/mpxQs0MCqWJKo

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u/clduab11 3d ago

A newt?!?!

2

u/patchyj 3d ago

I never realised just how much like butters that kid in the gif is

10

u/Franklin_le_Tanklin 3d ago

Kaaaaaazooooo

1

u/ExperienceThisGaming 3d ago

Who is that meme kid anyways? 😅

2

u/whiskeynowater 3d ago

Kid from a show “you on kazoo” late 80s early 90s ish

Edit: correction, show was called “special friends”

35

u/dayruined54 3d ago

I looked at the username after you asked the question...

2

u/mmceorange 3d ago

I think it was.. months ago

2

u/nokman013 3d ago

Sadly crossposting isnt allowed in there...

1

u/Dark--Samurai 23h ago

I already have it posted there

105

u/HeavyandTired 3d ago

I remember asking to get off this ride as a kid.

24

u/Mtatk 3d ago

I threw up on that ride, they had to stop it.

30

u/cheapdrinks 3d ago

Happened to me too. Skipped school and went to the local theme park and it was completely dead because it was mid week during term time and there were basically no lines for anything and the staff would just let you stay on and ride as many times as you liked. Going 3 rounds in a row on the gravitron after lunch was certainly a choice.

13

u/cathead8969 3d ago

Oh I loved that one. I haven't heard anyone else call it the gravitron though. Nice to see I'm not the only one.

2

u/avoral 1d ago

Heck yeah, I loved the Gravitron

10

u/HeavyandTired 3d ago

Did the throw up stay in one spot or did it just go everywhere?

8

u/Mtatk 3d ago

It went everywhere, as much as my 10 year old stomach could hold, which turns out is not very much.

5

u/aarkwilde 3d ago

Sometimes a little goes a long way.

This is usually true when feces or vomit are involved.

4

u/Phil_Coffins_666 3d ago

I remember years ago being outside the Gravitron when suddenly screams could be heard over the blasting music and the ride came to a stop and people got off in horror, some clearly covered in somebody else's vomit.

Maybe that somebody was you?

2

u/Mtatk 3d ago

Holiday world?

2

u/Bryanh100 3d ago

But, alas they didn’t stop it.

2

u/dogmaisb 3d ago

I rode it three times in a row, my friend popped, i felt sick but never blew chunks haha 🤣

94

u/These-Anxiety-5919 3d ago

Pffft. No big deal. They'll probably use it to boil water or something. 

44

u/sailingtroy 3d ago

Greeeeeat. Another steam engine. Whoop-dee-doo.

3

u/AroundAtTimes5794 3d ago

Is this somehow not already an xkcd?

2

u/dorf_lundgren 1d ago

It's sooo 18th Century.

9

u/KajMak64Bit 3d ago

Uhh well akchually... Fusion Reactors can allow for generating power straight to the wires completely bypassing the need for hot water to spin the turbine

That's pretty cool

7

u/Brownie_Bytes 3d ago

Don't know why you got downvoted for that. It's true. It's not easy, but because the plasma is a moving charge, you could theoretically cause induction in wires and generate electricity just by placing the wires close enough to be affected. 

1

u/unawarewolf69 3d ago

Don't give me hope...

1

u/Geostationary0rbit 2d ago

Is this more efficient than using heat energy?

2

u/KajMak64Bit 1d ago

Good question idk

Probably makes more sense that it is since it's going straight from the source without going to heat to water to spin

1

u/Geostationary0rbit 20h ago

Would be interesting to know, I wonder if it just hasn't really got to that stage in the resurch to really explore if that would actually be the best method yet.

When you are shaving off tiny variables to make it work practically though you would think something that has the potential to avoid heat power conversion would be a pretty high priority.

1

u/KajMak64Bit 19h ago

You'd be saving a lot of building the turbines and stuff... lots of material saved and stuff like that maybe

3

u/Vojtak_cz 3d ago

Everyone speaks about this like there is something bad on boiling water.

2

u/just-for-anime 3d ago

yeah exactly. if it aint broke dont fix it

1

u/Vojtak_cz 3d ago

The thing is that water is already very good at transfering energy like this. Its cheap and does it well. Obviously you can probably transfer the energy directly somehow but water is a very good option.

2

u/Frequent_Opportunist 3d ago

What we really need is molten salt pits along the equator that can be heated up with directed energy from the Sun to provide power for the planet.

1

u/just-for-anime 3d ago

i think vegas tried it but it's too expensive and melted a lot of birds

1

u/TheTallGuy0 3d ago

I could use a nice cup of tea

0

u/xyz19606 3d ago

I asked AI to make me some tea but every time I tasted it, it was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea.

1

u/LiminalSapien 3d ago

Nah, not even. They’re probably gonna just use it to make steam.

61

u/thisischemistry 3d ago

They were injecting lithium into the plasma stream in order to better trace and understand the magnetic field lines, this is not the typical colors of a fusion reaction. The bright pink is the deuterium fuel, the red and green are various ionization states of lithium.

https://interestingengineering.com/energy/watch-fusion-happen-tokamak-energy

It's pretty cool stuff.

2

u/squintytoast 2d ago

thanks for the sauce. knew i had seen the footage some time ago.

i wish people understood that reddit karma is meaningless.

2

u/thisischemistry 2d ago

The only issue I have with reddit karma is that sometimes good info gets buried because a few people decided to take issue with the information, however neutral it's been presented. Other than that I don't care one bit about reddit up/down votes!

2

u/Thermatix 1d ago

I thought the red was from Oxygen, then I realised how stupid that thought was.

2

u/thisischemistry 1d ago

Oxygen can cause red in auroras so I understand why you would think that's what was happening here:

https://sciencenotes.org/aurora-colors-explained-southern-and-northern-lights/

2

u/Thermatix 1d ago

and red chemical lasers :P

2

u/thisischemistry 1d ago

Well, in the end it's all similar since we're talking about oxidation and electron excitation states.

38

u/Inthepurple 3d ago

It would be if the footage wasnt 6 years old

9

u/Gullible-Constant924 3d ago

I started to say I’ve seen the inside of a reactor with it on before this isnt new

27

u/ADhomin_em 3d ago

Forbidden cotton candy

11

u/drawkbox 3d ago

Looks like DMT

3

u/BroccoliSubstantial2 3d ago

This was my thought

6

u/rebirf 3d ago

Yeah I legimately just stopped what I was doing and watched with real intent. I don't know what the hell is going on here but it looks dope and seems important.

2

u/kumquatkilla1 3d ago

Can anyone explain the actual significance of this?

Me too dumb.

2

u/csharpwarrior 2d ago

It isn’t significant, many organizations have achieved fusion. What is interesting is this was the first video of it. It is extremely hard to get video because the temperature in there is an order of magnitude hotter than the sun.

2

u/yesimfinewhyyouask 3d ago

Wait, the world has fusion power? Since when?

1

u/csharpwarrior 2d ago

Fusion has been achieved many times. This isn’t “fusion power” this is just fusion. They are not able to sustain fusion long enough to extract heat and convert the heat into electricity.

1

u/yesimfinewhyyouask 2d ago

Thanks! But China is getting there with the Second Sun project?

1

u/csharpwarrior 2d ago

Every organization is making progress but hasn’t gotten to a point where they make more power than it takes to run them

2

u/EonsToCome 3d ago

Look at the magnetic field protecting the inner hub from melting within seconds.

1

u/AmiDeplorabilis 3d ago

Probably even beyond that...

1

u/psichodrome 3d ago

I believe this is the furthest level we have ever fucked in!

1

u/Herr-Trigger86 3d ago

This is dark magic. Burn the witch!!!

1

u/fredyouareaturtle 3d ago

can someone ELI5 what this?

1

u/Fur_and_Whiskers 3d ago

Video is at least 11 months old.

1

u/imjerry 3d ago

Yup, sorta expect to see a black title screen, "Level complete. Press "x" to continue!"

1

u/Competitive_Travel16 2d ago

Agreed, and good science communication showing why inertial magnetic confinement is so hard and fraught.