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Monday 10 August 2009

You have been warned

The United States has finished constructing a huge physics experiment aimed at recreating conditions at the heart of the Sun.

The US National Ignition Facility is designed to demonstrate the feasibility of nuclear fusion, a process that could offer abundant clean energy.

The lab will kick-start the reaction by focusing 192 giant laser beams on a tiny pellet of hydrogen fuel. To work, it must show that more energy can be extracted from the process than is required to initiate it.

So like a hydrogen bomb. Isn't that dangerous? Professor Mike Dunne, who leads a European venture that is also pursuing nuclear fusion with lasers, says that if NIF was successful, it would be a "seismic event".

I hope that was just an unfortunate turn of phrase.

2 comments:

Demetrius said...

You never know, they may just recreate the conditions for another "Big Bang. See you in the next universe.

Steven_L said...

Or make a black hole, maybe it'll swallow up all the bad debts?