Noteworthy News

[Mister Agenda]

You misunderstand me. One of his daughters came out as bi last year. If that was the girl that cut herself, then the stress of growing up with a father who has constantly spoken out against LGBTQ rights must have been a nightmare. 

I have nothing but compassion for the girl and I hope she gets the help she needs.

I patiently await your apology.

Boru

I hope you're very patient.

I see I didn't give Tack enough credit. My apologies, Tack.

[Fake Messiah]

Guess who is not going to be held accountable

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Guess who is not going to be held accountable

Maybe I'm going down the rabbit hole here, but could this, coupled with the attacks on those power stations, be the start of a wave of environmental terrorism?

Boru

[Rev. Rye]

US scientists reach long-awaited nuclear fusion breakthrough, source say

 

For the first time ever, US scientists at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California successfully produced a nuclear fusion reaction resulting in a net energy gain, a source familiar with the project confirmed to CNN.

The US Department of Energy is expected to officially announce the breakthrough Tuesday.

The result of the experiment would be a massive step in a decadeslong quest to unleash an infinite source of clean energy that could help end dependence on fossil fuels. Researchers for decades have attempted to recreate nuclear fusion – replicating the fusion that powers the sun.

I've mentioned before that I believe nuclear power is probably the only sustainable alternate power source that has a realistic chance of replacing fossil fuels. Now we've actually reached a point where we have a self-sustaining reaction that's resulting in a net energy gain. Make no mistake, This is a big fucking deal.





Fun fact: Given that the news came so close to my birthday, this is probably the best "indirect birthday present" I've ever had. Right up there with the capture of Saddam Hussein and the time I aced a Quickbooks exam because the teacher accidentally gave everyone a version of the exam with the correct answers filled in.

[HappySkeptic]

The energy released is <1 kWH of heat, only some of which could be turned to electricity. The theoretical price of the pellets are around $0.50-$1 each. The lasers used are 1% efficient, so around 70 kWH were used to run the lasers per-ignition (better lasers do exist).

The efficiency of the lasers have to be increased by 10-20x (possible), and the efficiency of the ignition needs to increase by at least 20x (perhaps not possible). Furthermore, one would need 10 laser shots/second to generate enough energy to effectively harness, and this ignition facility can only do a few per day.

Few people think that this type of ignition is a viable solution.

[Fireball]

The energy released is <1 kWH of heat, only some of which could be turned to electricity.  The theoretical price of the pellets are around $0.50-$1 each.  The lasers used are 1% efficient, so around 70 kWH were used to run the lasers per-ignition (better lasers do exist).

The efficiency of the lasers have to be increased by 10-20x (possible), and the efficiency of the ignition needs to increase by at least 20x (perhaps not possible).  Furthermore, one would need 10 laser shots/second to generate enough energy to effectively harness, and this ignition facility can only do a few per day.

Few people think that this type of ignition is a viable solution.

I think that there may be better luck with tokamaks, but success may still be 20 years away. 

Reliable fusion power generation has been 20 years away for over 40 years. 

[LinuxGal]

Few people think that this type of ignition is a viable solution.

Lt. Commander Elon fanboy at work thinks Teslas drive themselves to the police station if they detect a carjacking, maybe Elon can put a button in one that says "Full Fusion Power Mode" and get the true believers to lap that up.

[arewethereyet]

COVID.gov/tests - Free at-home COVID-19 tests

Just saw that USians can order more free COVID tests.

[arewethereyet]

Jan. 6 committee condemns Trump as 'central cause' of insurrection in sweeping report (msn.com)

After investigating for more than a year, the House committee probing the  on the Capitol on Monday culminated its sweeping investigation by announcing it would make multiple criminal referrals to the Department of Justice against former President Donald Trump on multiple charges related to his actions surrounding riot at the Capitol.

[Rev. Rye]

The DoJ had better follow through on this recommendation. Shit could get terrible if Trump kept doing what he does with impunity.