Why do people keep saying the NIF experiment was a net gain? People focus on the laser input at the end of the line, which was 20MJ and produced 25MJ. But the input power to charge the capacitors was 422MJ.
The whole experiment produced 5% of what was put in.
In theory, the charging cost only needs to be spent on ignition.
Isn’t it a very old laser? Modern ones are way more efficient. They’re just doing research.
Fusion is now 20 years away instead of 20 years.
Its just proof that its making progress.
I’ve been so excited for this! Every day we’re getting closer to such a massive achievement. I remember having to learn a teensy bit about radiation in school. To this day it’s still magic to me.
It may only be two atoms, but it’s yet another tiny step in the right direction. It may still be generations before fusion is a scalable and reliable power source, but at this point I think we’ve proved it isn’t impossible.
Maybe I’m just over-hopeful, but I think “generations” is far too much of an over
understatement. With the way that technology moves, I don’t think we’ll be waiting that long.deleted by creator
