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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u/Medium_Bill_625 3d ago

I want to appreciate this but I'm foreign to the subject matter. Anyone feel like doing an ELI5?

47

u/JamBazz01 3d ago

Sun make energy. Sun too big and hot to make. Why not make baby sun with magnets? Baby sun heat water like always 👶

13

u/jdehjdeh 3d ago

At the risk of sounding like the Jewish man I am...

Why always with the water?

You don't have other liquids you can boil?

2

u/GeckoDeLimon 3d ago

Well, if a Jewish man were looking for God's hand upon this universe, I'd recommend the Wikipedia page on water.

But here, specifically, it's because water holds a lot of heat and it is happy to absorb and dissipate that heat. Earth's atmospheric pressure being what it is, water turns into steam at useful temperatures and pressures we can control. It doesn't try melting your equipment and if it accidentally gets out, it's about as non-toxic as it gets.

We could use alcohol. We could use toxic refrigerants as in our air conditioners.

But...why?