Why Trump Won

[HeyYou]

Our government hasn't shown 'responsibility to the people' for decades, regardless of what party was in power. It's all about what is best for THEM, and what will make sure they get re-elected. The american people don't matter any more. Only those folks that provide the big money for political campaigns. And that applies to BOTH sides of the aisle.

[TheMastersSon]

Fusion? There has not been one proven successful attempt at fusion. By that I mean a repeatable experiment with identical lab results .

To the contrary, today it's hard to find examples of failed fusion experiments. Both major issues with the technology (plasma ignition and stability/confinement) have been addressed. Read up on the subject, because obviously you haven't recently. Not only attempts at fusion, working reactors now exist from California to France and China. SkunkWorks at Lockheed-Martin has had one for five years now. It fits in the back of a pickup truck and powers 80,000-100,000 homes:

 

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/products/compact-fusion.html

[Aurielius]

 

Fusion? There has not been one proven successful attempt at fusion. By that I mean a repeatable experiment with identical lab results .

To the contrary, today it's hard to find examples of failed fusion experiments. Both major issues with the technology (plasma ignition and stability/confinement) have been addressed. Read up on the subject, because obviously you haven't recently. Not only attempts at fusion, working reactors now exist from California to France and China. SkunkWorks at Lockheed-Martin has had one for five years now. It fits in the back of a pickup truck and powers 80,000-100,000 homes:

 

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/products/compact-fusion.html

 

Always willing to admit an error, interesting articles.

[TheMastersSon]

"As reported in an Artemis Project paper, about 25 tonnes of helium-3 -- or a fully-loaded Space Shuttle cargo bay's worth -- could power the United States for a year."

 

http://www.explainingthefuture.com/helium3.html

 

The article explains the background of why China is headed to the moon to mine helium-3.

Edited December 27, 2016 by TheMastersSon

[HeyYou]

The definition of "success" is a bit low though. I have yet to see a fusion reaction sustained for more than a few seconds. Sure, folks have gotten more energy out of the reaction than they put in, but, that still is a long way from being a practical power source.......

[TheMastersSon]

China's test last February sustained fusion plasma for 102 seconds:

 

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a19350/chinese-east-fusion-reaction-sustains-102-second-plasma-blast/

 

Also SkunkWorks is claiming it will take no more than five years to produce working, continuous-duty fusion reactors. China or France may get there first, especially with last month's elections in the U.S. Big Oil and their sponsored representatives in our federal government will be doing anything and everything to stop or at least delay it as long as possible.

Edited December 28, 2016 by TheMastersSon

[HeyYou]

China's test last February sustained fusion plasma for 102 seconds:

 

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a19350/chinese-east-fusion-reaction-sustains-102-second-plasma-blast/

 

Also SkunkWorks is claiming it will take no more than five years to produce working, continuous-duty fusion reactors. China or France may get there first, especially with last month's elections in the U.S. Big Oil and their sponsored representatives in our federal government will be doing anything and everything to stop or at least delay it as long as possible.

I've been hearing "We will have working fusion power within 5 years!" for better than three decades now. I will grant you that we are closer now, than we have been in the past, but, commercial viability within 5 years? I seriously doubt it.

[sunshinenbrick]

We either have passed or will reach a point where we will have to replace fossil fuels with something. The race is to find something that can replace the technology not only as an energy source but also as a building material et al. before it all runs out.

 

The tricky part will perhaps really be not killing ourselves in the process.

[HeyYou]

We either have passed or will reach a point where we will have to replace fossil fuels with something. The race is to find something that can replace the technology not only as an energy source but also as a building material et al. before it all runs out.

 

The tricky part will perhaps really be not killing ourselves in the process.

Yeah. "Peak Oil".... I have been hearing that one since the 70's..... And supply still outstrips demand, and we still have huge untapped reserves. Don't see that becoming an issue for several decades, at least. In that time, I would hope that we will finally achieve a commercially viable fusion reactor.... something small enough to power our personal vehicles......

[sunshinenbrick]

 

We either have passed or will reach a point where we will have to replace fossil fuels with something. The race is to find something that can replace the technology not only as an energy source but also as a building material et al. before it all runs out.

 

The tricky part will perhaps really be not killing ourselves in the process.

Yeah. "Peak Oil".... I have been hearing that one since the 70's..... And supply still outstrips demand, and we still have huge untapped reserves. Don't see that becoming an issue for several decades, at least. In that time, I would hope that we will finally achieve a commercially viable fusion reactor.... something small enough to power our personal vehicles......

 

 

I imagine that technology will enable oil production for a fair while, but not at no cost to human life and our environment. Perhaps it is likely that if we leave earth, it will be out of necessity and not choice... if the two are any different.

 

Still, monopolies can prove to be very dangerous beasts (i.e. too big to fail) and can seriously jeopardise the entire free-market if the invisible hand becomes *ahem*... too invisible. If we lose sight of our senses, to chance 'the big one' regardless... we might end up with nothing at all.

 

But yeah I think we are currently coming of an age and there are warning signs saying, "Whatever you do, just don't touch this button!"... but alas if we are not careful... well, we know what supposedly happens to the cat.

 

Speaking of cats, wouldn't the final irony be some sort of fusion experiment gone wrong in which we destroyed ourselves and gave birth to a new Big Bang! :laugh: