this post was submitted on 26 Apr 2024

110 points (93.0% liked)

Futurology

1779 readers

97 users here now

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

110

‘Cheap and simple’ Bill Gates-backed fusion concept surpasses heat of the Sun in milestone moment (www.rechargenews.com)

submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

30 comments fedilink hide all child comments

all 37 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] [email protected] 53 points 6 months ago (2 children)

That's a silly title.

The sun doesn't produce a lot of energy because it is hot. The sun produces energy because it is big. All functional experimental fusion reactors operate at much higher temperatures than the sun.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago

Like 10x for takamak iirc

[+] [email protected] -6 points 6 months ago (2 children)

It's a straight up factually incorrect title. Heat is a measure of energy. The sun produces 3.9e26 joules of heat per second. So no, they did not surpass the heat of the sun.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

Nah, that's a nitpick. In common English heat is just presence of high temperatures, and there's no specific word for thermal energy.

Also, that would be heat/time, so power basically. The sum of all heat currently in the sun would be larger, considering how slow the convection is among other things.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

We're talking about energy generation, so the distinction is pretty important. I think a layperson can understand that it takes far more heat to boil a pot of water than a match can produce, even if the match is at a higher temperature than the stove top.

A layperson would describe the heat of a campfire as being much higher than the heat of a candle, even if theyre the same temperature.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

Yeah, I guess that's fair. They're definitely talking about temperature, and I think most would understand it that way, because the layman might not even know the connection between higher temperatures and better heat engines, but economically speaking it's not super relevant. The actual power output is probably negligible; it's a research machine.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Heat in terms of temperature is a measure of molecular kinetic energy, so you can say two things are the same temperature regardless of the total energy of the system, which is a function of the change in temperature, mass and specific heat of a substance.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Its actually pretty "easy" to get hotter than the sun

[–] [email protected] 13 points 6 months ago (2 children)

An electrical arc is as hot as the surface of the sun.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago (1 children)

your mom ... no wait 😅

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago

Continue...

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

Even if you get as hot as the core, you're not doing the same amount of fission unless you have similar pressure at the same time, and no you don't. It's a bit complicated by the fact the sun is mostly protium, and has low volumetric energy output as a result, but that's the gist.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Did it produce surplus energy?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

Shhh, we're talking about heat generation

[–] [email protected] 14 points 6 months ago (1 children)

How many billionaires can be put inside at the same time? Asking for no reason.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago (1 children)

“…$30,000 a gram in 2022, almost as precious as a diamond.” 🤨

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago

I though that was strange too. I'm sure you can get a gram of industrial diamond dust for much cheaper.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago (2 children)

BP and Shell: 👀

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

Article says Shell invested $160m in Zap in 2022.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

The smart ones are investing in renewables.