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Nuclear fusion reactor in South Korea runs at 100 million degrees C for a record-breaking 48 seconds (www.livescience.com)
submitted 2 years ago by [M] to c/science@lemmy.world
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48 seconds. I predict a glut of helium. balloons for everyone

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[–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

Yeah, I mean it makes sense. My inner child wants there to be some sort of magic that splits the atomic nucleus (or in the case of fusion... well you know) and harnesses the energy through some sort of fancy magical-to-us-commonfolk process.

Kettles are great, but not whimsical or fantastic.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 child)

    How the heat is generated is still wicked-cool and is basically magic. Think about it this way: We are holding a toroid shaped micro-sun in place with magnets. Those magnets need to be adjusted hundreds of times a second to keep everything in its place. Sure, it just boils water, but how it boils water is where the real magic is.

    We are building atoms by taking control of the core of a star.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago

    That's fair! I'm not trying to downplay the accomplishment at all. In that way even nuclear fission is really cool.

    It was just a big dissilusionment moment for me way back when I learned how the electricity is actually generated.

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