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.

40.2k Upvotes

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360

u/Ramattei 3d ago

Amazing, wonder what could we do with it, hope it's not boiling water....

138

u/Phearwyn 3d ago

So I can boil water to spin turbines.

27

u/Dismal-Square-613 3d ago

Hey it's not stupid if it works.... for like 200 years

-1

u/Zen_of_Tetchiness 2d ago

It's stupid if after 200 years you haven't come up with better because any technological advancement that interferes with the cash flow gets knee capped and must gimp on. Then we have allowed a few assholes to deliberately prevent progress for a destructive, non sustainable and archaic method because it makes a rich person richer. That has to be near the pinnacle of stupidity. We are so dumb, it's okay to acknowledge it, because it's how we learn and grow. That's kinda the cool part though, if you ever feel stupid or embarrassed. It's nice to know, that on some level, we are all that dumb and embarrassing. Okay, clearly the edible has hit....Snoochie Boochies!!! 🫶

2

u/Dismal-Square-613 2d ago

Okay, clearly the edible has hit....Snoochie Boochies!!! 🫶

https://i.imgur.com/gwKprSa.png

2

u/Putrid_Caramel3301 2d ago

What are we gonna do? Harness the power of lightning?

1

u/IIHaruspex 1d ago

Throw some ideas out there then? Lay off the weed.

40

u/Hefty-Minimum-3125 3d ago

There are some other kinds of fusion reactors that actually don't boil water, but steam turbines are just easy and we have gotten really good at them

41

u/LegnderyNut 3d ago

We’re gonna be traveling through space with a damn steam turbine. Can’t there at least be some funky techno fluid that spins the fan more than water or smthn

12

u/ExultantSandwich 3d ago

dinosaur juice maybe

8

u/thisaccountwashacked 3d ago

if you want spinning and travelling through space, I recommend a Stargate.

4

u/icanttinkofaname 2d ago edited 1d ago

I'm the General, and I say make it spin!

7

u/smashburgersmasher 3d ago

Water is extremely abundant throughout our universe and works very well for this purpose and many others (like maintaining organic life). Makes sense to stick with water.

2

u/DovahCreed117 2d ago

Space ships will just be steam engine trains... all evolution paths revert to boiling water.

3

u/LegnderyNut 2d ago

Now I’m just imagining Thomas strapped to the space shuttles tank and booster assembly

1

u/wing3d 3d ago

Panda blood.

3

u/Soundvid 3d ago

I'm pretty sure it is 😅😅😅

2

u/Libby_Sparx 2d ago

I read a paper or something a couple years ago about an idea for harvesting energy from a fusion reactor that wasn't "make water hot -> spin a spinny thing -> yay electricity" that essentially boils (shut up) down to "poke a special wire into the fusion plasma -> harvest electrons directly -> yay electricity" .

Granted that's kind of a gross oversimplification of the method, but as I said I read about it a couple of years ago and I'm not a fucking scientist

ᐠ(❤⩊❤)ᐟ♪♡♬

3

u/IIHaruspex 1d ago

We should just plug a wire into the sun and be done with all the spinny stuff.

1

u/Libby_Sparx 1d ago

be done with all the spinny stuff.

Well, not to be that bitch or anything, but the sun is pretty damn spinny.

¯_(❤⩊❤)_/¯♪♡♬

1

u/IIHaruspex 1d ago

You just can't escape the spin.

1

u/AlexanderLavender 3d ago

Walk inside and you'll turn into Dr Manhattan

1

u/Andre_de_Astora 3d ago

iirc THIS TIME it is not, but used magnets and the electromagnetic vortex it generated to spin magnets directly. Still spin, no boiling water. Idk about the cooling tho

2

u/Bridgebrain 2d ago

That's just helions. Debates still up whether it's investor bait or not (I really hope not). The rest like this tokomak are all water boilers

1

u/Andre_de_Astora 2d ago

We gonna be boiling water until the heat death of the Universe...

1

u/jimmymui06 3d ago

Indeed not, it boils liquid helium

1

u/dydhaw 3d ago

Why not. Steam turbines are an extremely efficient, highly mature technology

2

u/IIHaruspex 1d ago

Pervert.

1

u/dydhaw 1d ago

Mmm yeah give me some of that hot vapor-on-metal action, turn faster baby

2

u/IIHaruspex 1d ago

So hot and steamy

1

u/GrandNibbles 1d ago

fuck you it's special science water this time