Wired has a fascinating article today:
Using 192 separate lasers and a 400-foot-long series of amplifiers and filters, scientists at Lawrence Livermore’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) hope to create a self-sustaining fusion reaction like the ones in the sun or the explosion of a nuclear bomb – only on a much smaller scale.
In doing this, they hope that this reaction will release more energy than the lasers use, thus providing insight into how fusion reactions work and possibly making a new form of nuclear energy possible.
The main advantage of fusion nuclear energy over fission nuclear energy is that very little radiation is released during fusion – whereas fission is a terribly “dirty” process in that respect.
While the science and technology geek in me is thoroughly fascinated by the lasers, amplifiers and sci-fi overtones of the installation, I can’t help but wonder if all the resources that went into this project couldn’t have been spent in a better way.
The ridiculous amounts of money – not to mention the time and brainpower that’s been spent on the construction of this somewhat megalomaniacal undertaking, could have made some real headway in other areas.
Such as renewable technologies that has been proven scientifically and practically to work, and really just need improvements to cost efficiency and a big push to get widely implemented.
