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It is hard to seperate the svience from the stories we all have read from the greats. You hear Nano and Quantum and instantly think of cool applications like internalized triage nanobots (able to give you stitches when needed as soon as you injure yourself, be able to LITERALLY clear out cholesterol blockages in real time, etc etc).
The reality is that I do not think we are in for any ONE major breakthrough. I think we are advanced enough now that "fire" does not hold the same importabnce I did to the caveman, or fission held to the Oppenheimer (I hope I picked the right guy!) crew.
We have had more scientific development in the past 50 years than throughout almost all time before it, but our relative change in life has been relatively small. (Relatively speaking, of course! )
That, combined with the communication technology we have achieved today, unless some private company has an "AH HA!!!!" moment and develops portable containable cold fusion, I think we will simply see progression to continue at its contemporary pace, faster than what was before, but slow as compared to what is still needed to be learned and has been revealed by current discoveries.
I do think, however, if you wanted to generalize, that Nanotechnology holds some of the greatest real-world applications. How far that would be used is still o be seen, but microsurgery, increased computer technology, better fabrics, and possibly even TRUE recyclables are somethnig to look forward to.
And with the interconnectivity, theyer is always Nano-bio-technology as well. Both pure and hybridized with nano-technology on the inanimate level. The Bionic Man may look like a wuss compared to what we could come up with.....
I have the understanding that the 'break-even' is a term used to describe power used vs power out. Not an economic term or condition. It has been over 30 years to my knowledge of huge funding the basic science to get to the energy break-even point with fusion power.
It may well take the rest of your life for fusion power to reach the economic break-even point. They are expensive to build, expensive to operate (cost of manpower et al), and the public today still has a "Not In My Backyard" mentality toward anything 'nuke' (read: cost of lawyers.) Maybe in one or two generations; but not in my lifetime.
Here's hoping you a long lifetime, and you get to enjoy such things as I can only dream about as Fusion Power plants on the power grid. But you knew this already, didn't you.
Phil
I know what break even means!!!!!!!!....and we have already gotten 100 megawatts past that point...i.e. net power PRODUCTION...of course this only was one run of the device.
It takes at least one day to set up; a commercial reactor would need to run continously to keep the plasma in place and output power. I made no mention of economic break-even....you read that into my statement.
I don't get your economic statement, it makes no sense....I thought I made it clear that the process is feasible but needs scaled up for commercial production. I'm 50+ so I may not see it, but depending on your age , you might.
If we ran the program "Apollo" style then we would see the technology mature faster. PS...Laser Inertial Confinement may supplant the Tokamak Approach. You cannot have an economic "breakeven" point if the process is still experimental. It is still purely reaearch.
Last edited by PITTSTON2SARASOTA; 10-16-2009 at 10:21 AM..
Pit, maybe there needs to be a way to CAPTURE that 100MW and utilize it before it can be considered any kind of break-even.
I am not familiar with the stats on that, but that may be what he is getting at (or what the article he may be coming from is saying).
It's a possibility.....but the one in Britain...I think JET....last year claimed 100 megawatts net power output.....they did not need additional energy to contain the plasma. That time they actually achieved ignition and remember the fuel used is less efficient than other isotopes of Deuterium. The other isotopes of Deuterium are more difficult to work with and harder to "ignite";but produce more energy output. I just got ticked because I thought I made it clear that we were already past break even and 100 megawatts that could have been put on the grid. Mind you this was one run of a few seconds....you should see how cool it looks inside the torus as the fuel ignites.....SPECTACULAR! Also there is a D-T cycle, which is even better and also uses Tritium with Deuterium; but even more efficient and more difficult to ignite. We are trying to start easy and work our way up...LOL.
Last edited by PITTSTON2SARASOTA; 10-16-2009 at 09:51 AM..
Unlocking the details of Neutrinos and figuring ways to harness the insane energy they have is looked at (not sure if in those exact words) highly in the science world. They are currently putting millions of $ in to an underground lab (DUSEL) in my area (Lead SD) to work on this. The lab hasn't even been constructed yet (the holes/tunnels are there) but large corp. and colleges are chomping at the bit to by time in the lab(s) which will be will be over a mile under the surface.
I thought it could NEVER be determined; because the moment you make the observation, the particle changes and also it will appear different in to different observers with varying frames of reference.
It is called the Heisenburgh Uncertainity Principle.....a tenet of modern science.
DNA manipulation. Life extension will be possible for only the wealthy.
Maybe not as research advances it will drive down costs of some of these new medicines/compounds etc.
Currently Geron Corp. is working on this for Telomeres regeneration as these are the Chromosomal End Caps that are believed to be involved in aging and life extension.
Sirtris Biotech is working with compounds that mimic Resveratrol that effect the Sirtuin Genes that are also believed to be involved in aging and possibly life extension.
It is called the Heisenburgh Uncertainity Principle.....a tenet of modern science.
You sure about that?
Actually, the whole thing is the wave-partical duality thing. The fact that particles, even released one at a time, will produce interference patterns on walls when projected through a grate.
Leads me to believe that "time" is not a dimension anymore once you reach light speed. I am not talking about distention and all that other funky stuff, but simply that time may be the thing that gives the other dimensions their meaning....
I gotta stop thinking philosophical science at work!!!!
... I don't get your economic statement, it makes no sense....I thought I made it clear that the process is feasible but needs scaled up for commercial production. ... You cannot have an economic "breakeven" point if the process is still experimental. It is still purely reaearch...
My economic point is REALLY simple..... It has been 30+years to get to where we are now.... It will take another 30+ years before, IMHO, to reach the point where utility companies can make a profit from a fusion energy plant. The only other option would be to shove a massive rate hike down the throats of the consumer.
I have no interest in your age. No, really, I don't care how old you are. And since you object, well then I withdraw my wish and blessing for you to have a long and healthy life. I was attempting to be polite and offer you my wish that you live long enough to see fusion power on America's power grid. I know I won't live that long, Period. It ain't going to happen in my lifetime.
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PS...Laser Inertial Confinement may supplant the Tokamak Approach. You cannot have an economic "breakeven" point if the process is still experimental. It is still purely reaearch.
