Archives

http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/../photos/data/2/AmericanFlag.jpg When the world's most powerful laser facility flicks the switch on its first full-scale experiments later this month, a tiny star will be born on Earth. (http://money.cnn.com/2009/05/27/autos/gm.bankruptcy.fortune/?postversion=2009052716)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Nuclear_Plant.jpgJonathan Fildes - BBC News - May 22, 2009

It could lead to advances in Cosmology, Energy, or both. Billions and Billions of megawatts? :D -- Ed

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) in California aims to demonstrate the feasibility of nuclear fusion, the reaction at the heart of the Sun and a potentially abundant, clean energy source for the planet.

But whilst many eyes at the facility will be locked on the goal of satisfying humanity's energy demands, many scientists hope to answer other fundamental questions for mankind.

"In recreating the process of fusion it was always understood that we could pursue three areas of interest and value," explained Dr Erik Storm of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), the home of NIF.

First and foremost, NIF has been built for national security purposes, to study the conditions that exist in nuclear explosions and the way that nuclear weapons perform....http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8044620.stm

Link goes to a CNN money article on GM bkr....

I was there in '98 and saw pieces of the new laser facility being assembled. At the time, the target being used was the size of a pea. Fusion only lasted femto-seconds after the laser bombardment was turned off. The "Holy Grail" of fusion is to trigger it in a target massive enough to sustain the reaction for some reasonable period of time.

IIRC, they have their own nuclear reactor onsite to produce enough power to run the laser! :eek:

Clicked the link and got a story about GM...

Link goes to a CNN money article on GM bkr....links fixed

Well, fusion's probably a very long ways off, but the only way to get there is to keep moving towards it. Glad to hear that's happening.