1 00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:08,160 Speaker 1: Hey, Daniel, do you ever wish you had a superpower 2 00:00:08,480 --> 00:00:10,640 Speaker 1: all the time? I wish I had lots of superpowers. 3 00:00:11,039 --> 00:00:14,760 Speaker 1: But you know, science has actually provided us with some real, 4 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:17,560 Speaker 1: honest to God powers that our ancestors might have thought 5 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:21,440 Speaker 1: were superpowers. Not quite yet, but you know, we can 6 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:24,520 Speaker 1: do some pretty amazing stuff. We'll listen to the podcast 7 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:27,080 Speaker 1: episode about teleportation before you decide, but we can do 8 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:29,760 Speaker 1: some pretty amazing stuff, stuff that would have limited to 9 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:32,960 Speaker 1: deities a thousand years ago. You know, things like harnessing 10 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:35,599 Speaker 1: the power of the sun. What do you mean, like 11 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:38,560 Speaker 1: we can create the sun here on Earth. Yeah, absolutely, 12 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:41,640 Speaker 1: we can create miniute your son's here on Earth. Not 13 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:44,400 Speaker 1: recommended to do in your at home kitchen, but it's 14 00:00:44,440 --> 00:01:02,120 Speaker 1: something science is capable of. Hi. I'm Jorge and I'm Daniel. 15 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:05,640 Speaker 1: Welcome to Daniel and Jorge explained the Universe our podcast 16 00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:09,160 Speaker 1: about the universe and everything in it and everyone in it, 17 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:12,399 Speaker 1: and even about aliens if they are in it. Yea, 18 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:15,959 Speaker 1: even about sons sons s U N and sons s 19 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:20,240 Speaker 1: O N, And we explain it all today on the program. 20 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:22,960 Speaker 1: We are actually talking about harnessing the power of the sun. 21 00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: Science has distilled the thing that happens inside the sun, 22 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:29,120 Speaker 1: the energy release, and made it available for us here 23 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:32,479 Speaker 1: on Earth with explosive results. That's right. So, if you 24 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:35,600 Speaker 1: are a dictator of your own little country looking to 25 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:39,000 Speaker 1: become a nuclear superpower, this is the podcast for you. 26 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:43,959 Speaker 1: Do they ever going to talk about nuclear weapons and 27 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:47,039 Speaker 1: specifically the nuclear bomb? How does it work? How do 28 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:49,080 Speaker 1: you build one in your garage? Should you build one 29 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:53,520 Speaker 1: in your garage? The answer is no, The answer is 30 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:57,320 Speaker 1: definitely no, one should you? But could you? Maybe? Maybe 31 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:01,680 Speaker 1: this podcast is about the science, not the ethics. I 32 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:04,120 Speaker 1: think we'll touch on both actually, because science is never 33 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:07,120 Speaker 1: free of ethics. It's it's always a complex mixture. So 34 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:11,119 Speaker 1: nuclear bombs is something that people, obviously we're very surprised 35 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:13,799 Speaker 1: to learn about in the mid forties, uh, and then 36 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:16,720 Speaker 1: there was a huge concern with the Cold War up 37 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:18,840 Speaker 1: until the eighties and nineties, but then it sort of 38 00:02:18,919 --> 00:02:21,640 Speaker 1: quieted down until a little bit recently. Right, there's been 39 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:25,120 Speaker 1: a lot of talk about rogue nations and the threat 40 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:28,600 Speaker 1: of nuclear bombs and nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. Well, 41 00:02:28,639 --> 00:02:31,720 Speaker 1: if you ask the Union of Concerned Scientists, I don't 42 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:34,040 Speaker 1: think they've quieted down at all. There's been a pretty 43 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:37,440 Speaker 1: consistent fear that we would destroy ourselves and kill everybody 44 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:40,560 Speaker 1: on basically since we've got the power to do so. Yeah, 45 00:02:40,639 --> 00:02:43,920 Speaker 1: I mean we had in the eighties, the USSR in 46 00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:48,000 Speaker 1: the USA had enormous nuclear stockpiles, tens of thousands of 47 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 1: nuclear weapons pointed at each other with hair triggers. And 48 00:02:51,919 --> 00:02:54,120 Speaker 1: these days we have fewer, you know, if in the 49 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:56,720 Speaker 1: number of thousands instead of tens of thousands, But still 50 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: there's plenty of power there to destroy each other very easy. 51 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:02,960 Speaker 1: Only are you saying scientists have a hard time relaxing 52 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:05,720 Speaker 1: in general, if you know, the more you know about 53 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:08,120 Speaker 1: the state of nuclear weapons, the harder it is to 54 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:11,320 Speaker 1: really relax. Yes, but you know your your point is taken. 55 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:14,400 Speaker 1: The big powers have not yet blown each other up, 56 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:16,679 Speaker 1: and we are worth these days about smaller powers and 57 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:19,680 Speaker 1: nuclear powers and terrorists in North Korea and all these 58 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:22,760 Speaker 1: folks who were developing these capabilities. So it kind of 59 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:25,160 Speaker 1: made us wonder, like, how many people out there actually 60 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:29,560 Speaker 1: know how a nuclear bomb works? And how do you 61 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 1: make one? And would it be a bad idea to 62 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:35,480 Speaker 1: explain to everybody exactly how to build a nuclear bomb? Yeah? 63 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:37,600 Speaker 1: Are we going to get arrested for this podcast or 64 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:42,720 Speaker 1: put on some kind of watch list surveillance. That's right. 65 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:45,480 Speaker 1: And to say we are not telling you everybody anything 66 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:49,720 Speaker 1: that wouldn't know in a physics class anyway. Yes, if 67 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:51,520 Speaker 1: we are going to get arrested for treason, you gotta 68 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:54,440 Speaker 1: lock up every professor out there, Yes, which I bet 69 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:56,360 Speaker 1: some people would like to do. That's right. That was 70 00:03:56,400 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 1: not a policy suggestion. H m hmmm. So we went 71 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:04,600 Speaker 1: out there and ask people, do you know how a 72 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:07,200 Speaker 1: nuclear bomb works? Yeah? So I think for a moment, 73 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:09,640 Speaker 1: how much do you know about a nuclear weapon? How 74 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:11,960 Speaker 1: does it actually work? If you had to? Could you 75 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:14,400 Speaker 1: build one in your garage? Here's what people had to say. 76 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:18,080 Speaker 1: I'm not sure. Honestly, I do not have no idea 77 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:25,479 Speaker 1: at all. Um, by smashing together particles cool? I'd only 78 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:27,680 Speaker 1: say yes, but I don't know how to say it 79 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:33,720 Speaker 1: in the English Chinese? Uh honevia. So there's a two 80 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:36,920 Speaker 1: kinds of nuclear bomb, right? Yeah? I combon and what 81 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 1: was that called hydridable? Yeah? So it's why is vision? Yeah? 82 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 1: Wha yeah? Yeah? Yeah? Yeah So that's interesting. I feel 83 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:50,680 Speaker 1: like not a lot of people know how nuclear bomb works. Yeah. 84 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:53,880 Speaker 1: Half the people had no idea um, and the other 85 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:55,680 Speaker 1: half had some idea that it was something about the 86 00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 1: power of the atom. I like, the guy who only 87 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:00,919 Speaker 1: knew the words in Chinese, keep is so excited to 88 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:03,000 Speaker 1: tell me what he knew. I was like, yeah, tell 89 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:06,040 Speaker 1: me Chinese, that's fine. He definitely knew something about the topic. 90 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:09,280 Speaker 1: But yeah, people generally either didn't know anything or they 91 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:11,039 Speaker 1: knew that it's something to do with the adamant and 92 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:14,560 Speaker 1: they're right. Essentially, the way nuclear bomb works is that 93 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:18,240 Speaker 1: it releases energy stored inside the atom or lots of atoms, 94 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:22,839 Speaker 1: really really rapidly. M m. That's what's called the atomic bomb. Yeah. 95 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:25,600 Speaker 1: The early versions are called atomic bombs. So there's sort 96 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:28,720 Speaker 1: of two categories of nuclear weapons. There's the early ones 97 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:31,800 Speaker 1: that use fission where you split an atom apart. Those 98 00:05:31,839 --> 00:05:34,480 Speaker 1: are called atomic bombs, and the later ones that are 99 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:38,240 Speaker 1: called hydrogen bombs or h bombs. Those use fusion where 100 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:41,040 Speaker 1: you squeeze nucleon together. And we'll get into the nitty 101 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:43,800 Speaker 1: gritty of exactly all how that works and why it's interesting. 102 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:46,760 Speaker 1: So there are atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs. They're both 103 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 1: nuclear weapons. Oh, I see, and they weren't using different 104 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:53,840 Speaker 1: methods one of them is fizzy, the other one is fuzzy. 105 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:57,080 Speaker 1: That's exactly right, that's exactly right. One of them split 106 00:05:57,160 --> 00:06:00,440 Speaker 1: the atom opened, and the other one squeezes atom together. 107 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:03,280 Speaker 1: And it's sort of surprising. You might be thinking. Hold on, 108 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:07,040 Speaker 1: if splitting atoms open releases energy, how come the opposite 109 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:10,479 Speaker 1: thing of fusing them together also releases energy. Yeah. Well, 110 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:12,919 Speaker 1: before we get into the technical details, you mentioned you 111 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:18,600 Speaker 1: had some personal connection to the Manhattan Project and the 112 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:20,920 Speaker 1: nuclear industry here in the United States. Can you tell 113 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:22,960 Speaker 1: us about that. Yeah, it's not that I've ever built 114 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:26,679 Speaker 1: a nuclear bomb myself. No, certainly not about doctor Manhattan. 115 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:30,039 Speaker 1: I'm not Doctor Manhattan. But I did grow up in 116 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:32,640 Speaker 1: Los Angles, New Mexico, the home of the Manhattan Project, 117 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:36,360 Speaker 1: where in the forties all these scientists got together to 118 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:39,720 Speaker 1: crack this mystery. And you know, the history of this 119 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 1: is fascinating. It was in the late thirties that people 120 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:44,760 Speaker 1: figured out, oh, you can split the atom and release 121 00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:47,479 Speaker 1: some huge amounts of energy. I mean, much more energy 122 00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:50,279 Speaker 1: than is released when you blow up dynamite or burnt 123 00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:53,919 Speaker 1: coal or anything like that. And so immediately, even before 124 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:56,680 Speaker 1: the world was at war, people realized this is the 125 00:06:56,720 --> 00:06:59,400 Speaker 1: technology for a new weapon. This could be a devastating 126 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 1: new super happened, and so of course most people know 127 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:05,760 Speaker 1: the story. The US government gathered people together in the 128 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:08,520 Speaker 1: middle of nowhere in New Mexico. They chose Los Almos 129 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:10,960 Speaker 1: because it's a place basically no one would go on purpose, 130 00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:13,560 Speaker 1: and so no one would run into it. It wasn't 131 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:15,840 Speaker 1: because if they made a mistake, not that many people 132 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:20,480 Speaker 1: would would die in an active uh you know what. 133 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:23,160 Speaker 1: That's probably an aspect of it also being remote out 134 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:25,520 Speaker 1: in the middle of the desert um. But as a 135 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:27,840 Speaker 1: high schooler, you know, it wasn't much consolation to know 136 00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:30,080 Speaker 1: that you were living in a place that that the 137 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:32,000 Speaker 1: government thought was going to be super boring and no 138 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:33,679 Speaker 1: one would want to go to. And they were pretty 139 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:35,120 Speaker 1: much right. There's not a whole lot to do in 140 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:38,240 Speaker 1: Los Almos. And in fact, your parents worked for the 141 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:41,880 Speaker 1: Los Almos National Laboratory, right They worked on nuclear engineering 142 00:07:41,880 --> 00:07:44,440 Speaker 1: and physics. That's right. Both of my parents worked for 143 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:47,360 Speaker 1: Los Almos labs where the bombs were developed. What they 144 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:50,400 Speaker 1: work on, I can't tell you, not because I'm being 145 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:52,800 Speaker 1: secretive about it, but because I don't know. Both of 146 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:55,680 Speaker 1: them had Q clearances, they never told you. No, I 147 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:58,480 Speaker 1: never visited their offices. I never talked to them in 148 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:01,320 Speaker 1: any detail about their work. I never heard about it 149 00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:04,560 Speaker 1: because it was all behind the clearance fence, the security fence. 150 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:06,800 Speaker 1: It was all top secret. Wow, they saw you as 151 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:10,440 Speaker 1: a threat even then, that's right. They have to go 152 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:12,960 Speaker 1: through a laborate procedures to make sure they were trustworthy. 153 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:15,400 Speaker 1: We're not going to be spies for some enemy nation 154 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:18,160 Speaker 1: or something like that, or blackmail bull So like at 155 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:20,160 Speaker 1: the dinner table, what would you guys talk about, Like 156 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:23,560 Speaker 1: how is work? I can't tell you, don't ask me. 157 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:26,280 Speaker 1: We learned pretty quickly not to ask those questions exactly. 158 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:28,160 Speaker 1: And there was no you know, take your son to 159 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:32,200 Speaker 1: work day or this kind of stuff. And you know, 160 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:35,720 Speaker 1: it's interesting because when I was a kid, I learned 161 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:38,040 Speaker 1: about the history of Los Alamos. And in Los Almos, 162 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:41,320 Speaker 1: they teach you pride. They teach you this is the 163 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:43,640 Speaker 1: place the bomb was developed. This is the location of 164 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:46,640 Speaker 1: a great scientific discovery, and not just that, but that 165 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:49,720 Speaker 1: we should feel pride, national pride, and having developed something 166 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:53,400 Speaker 1: which won the war. Right, people in this town, scientists 167 00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:56,280 Speaker 1: and where your parents work, they won the war with 168 00:08:56,320 --> 00:08:59,520 Speaker 1: their brains and so this sort of like pride was 169 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:03,600 Speaker 1: really deeply um not moving into the curriculum in life 170 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:07,160 Speaker 1: in Los Almos. It's almost like propaganda. Definitely, it's exactly 171 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:09,760 Speaker 1: like propaganda, because it is propaganda. And it was only 172 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:12,440 Speaker 1: later that I heard about the controversy, like should we 173 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:17,120 Speaker 1: have dropped those bombs and killed hundreds of thousands of civilians? 174 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:19,640 Speaker 1: You know, that turns out to be quite a complex 175 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:23,000 Speaker 1: moral question, you know. And if you're a scientist working 176 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:25,720 Speaker 1: on these weapons, should you be should you be developing 177 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:27,240 Speaker 1: these weapons and then putting them in the hands of 178 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:30,040 Speaker 1: politicians who could use them to kill women and children? 179 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:32,040 Speaker 1: Did you ever talk to your that about that, like 180 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:36,320 Speaker 1: if he ever felt any feelings like that or how 181 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:38,240 Speaker 1: an your thoughts about that? You know. It's interesting is 182 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:40,360 Speaker 1: I didn't ask him about it until I was in 183 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:43,520 Speaker 1: my twenties, you know, like a decade after we lived 184 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:45,440 Speaker 1: in Los Alamos, and I asked him about and he said, 185 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:48,880 Speaker 1: you're the first person to ask me that question, and 186 00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:51,280 Speaker 1: that was sort of shocking. Also, like people most almost 187 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:54,080 Speaker 1: don't discuss it very much. His friends didn't ask him, 188 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:55,880 Speaker 1: his family is what the family didn't ask him. I 189 00:09:55,880 --> 00:09:57,679 Speaker 1: was a physics student. I knew all about this and 190 00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:00,000 Speaker 1: and never asked him until it's finally occurred to me. 191 00:10:00,679 --> 00:10:02,800 Speaker 1: And yeah, so I asked him, and he, um, you know, 192 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:06,560 Speaker 1: he's thought about it, he's balanced these things, and he thought, um, 193 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:09,120 Speaker 1: that the nation needed defending, and there are other people 194 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:12,280 Speaker 1: out there developing nuclear weapons, and that we needed to 195 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:16,240 Speaker 1: have our arsenal ready and needed to be a tip 196 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:18,800 Speaker 1: top shape, and we needed to have the same guns 197 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:20,800 Speaker 1: as the enemy had. And you know, this was in 198 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:23,000 Speaker 1: the eighties and nineties, and so the Cold War was 199 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:25,920 Speaker 1: a very recent memory, and it was not ridiculous to 200 00:10:25,960 --> 00:10:29,040 Speaker 1: think that the Russia could launch nuclear weapons against us. 201 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:31,080 Speaker 1: So I think he felt some sort of pride that 202 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:34,520 Speaker 1: he was helping the national cause. So like, what was 203 00:10:34,559 --> 00:10:41,720 Speaker 1: your high school mascot in your school radiation? That the fallout? Right, 204 00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:45,439 Speaker 1: probably the radioactive isotope. No, No, it was nothing so exciting. 205 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:46,959 Speaker 1: We lived in the top of a hill. It was 206 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:49,720 Speaker 1: almost the top of mountains. So are high school mascot 207 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:54,200 Speaker 1: is the hilltoppers? Yeah, not not terribly exciting. Um, But 208 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:57,640 Speaker 1: my reaction to this, this moral quandity, was totally different. 209 00:10:57,720 --> 00:10:59,200 Speaker 1: I didn't want to have anything to do with it, 210 00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:01,079 Speaker 1: and so want. I had to choose a field of 211 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:04,160 Speaker 1: physics to study, I chose something very far away from 212 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:07,199 Speaker 1: any practical applications, which is, you know, Higgs boson and 213 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:11,200 Speaker 1: dark matter and particle physics. And so it's a selling 214 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:13,640 Speaker 1: point to me that none of my research could ever 215 00:11:13,679 --> 00:11:17,800 Speaker 1: have any practical, immediate practical application and therefore probably not 216 00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:19,880 Speaker 1: be used to kill any babies. And you know that 217 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:22,400 Speaker 1: helps me sleep at night, not killing babies for my work, 218 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:27,120 Speaker 1: just avoid all responsibility. Yeah, you almost could say I'm 219 00:11:27,160 --> 00:11:31,560 Speaker 1: a cartoonist, right have have any of your cartoons ever 220 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:35,880 Speaker 1: killed any babies? Not that I know of. Maybe you 221 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:37,760 Speaker 1: should look into that, wholegs and you should have a 222 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:40,719 Speaker 1: more definitive answer to that question. I feel like this 223 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:43,840 Speaker 1: is a great recruiting of audio for physicists, you know, 224 00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:46,839 Speaker 1: looking to avoid responsibility, don't want anything to do with 225 00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:51,440 Speaker 1: the real world, like the particles, don't like killing babies. 226 00:11:51,880 --> 00:11:55,200 Speaker 1: Go into particle physics. We have killed zero babies to date. 227 00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:00,160 Speaker 1: So you're you're tied to sort of the history of 228 00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:03,520 Speaker 1: nuclear energy in this country. Yeah, absolutely, And you know, 229 00:12:03,559 --> 00:12:06,280 Speaker 1: my parents were supported by the Department of Energy, and 230 00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:09,439 Speaker 1: now actually the Department Energy supports my research. So I've 231 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:11,760 Speaker 1: basically been supported by the Department of Energy directly or 232 00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:15,240 Speaker 1: indirectly since I was ten um, so I'm pretty totally 233 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:17,680 Speaker 1: closely tied into what I can say. I'm completely morally 234 00:12:17,679 --> 00:12:20,280 Speaker 1: insulated from it. I mean, I ate food which was 235 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:24,840 Speaker 1: paid for by the programs which funded nuclear weapons development, etcetera, etcetera. 236 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:27,480 Speaker 1: So my hands are not clean. Yeah, so I feel 237 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:29,520 Speaker 1: this personal connection, and I used to feel this pride, 238 00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:31,680 Speaker 1: and now I feel, you know, a lot shame. But 239 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:35,080 Speaker 1: it's definitely more complicated, definitely not happy. When I imagine 240 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:38,400 Speaker 1: all those people in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, I'm going about their 241 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:43,120 Speaker 1: day and then being suddenly destroyed by nuclear bombs. It's 242 00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:46,480 Speaker 1: definitely complicated how these bombs work. But before we get 243 00:12:46,480 --> 00:13:00,640 Speaker 1: into it, let's take a quick break. All right, let's 244 00:13:00,679 --> 00:13:03,839 Speaker 1: talk about how exactly a nuclear bomb works. So how 245 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:07,240 Speaker 1: you said there's two kinds. Actually there is fusion and 246 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:09,520 Speaker 1: there is fission bombs, So that's two different kinds of 247 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:12,040 Speaker 1: nuclear bombs. How do they work? That's right? And so 248 00:13:12,120 --> 00:13:14,640 Speaker 1: if you are the director of a rogue nation's nuclear 249 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:16,440 Speaker 1: weapons program, this is where you're gonna want to start 250 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:18,760 Speaker 1: taking notes. Okay, So I like how do you choose 251 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:22,280 Speaker 1: which one. It's fascinating because a fusion bomb actually requires 252 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:25,320 Speaker 1: a fission bomb to ignite it. Yeah, but we'll talk 253 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:27,000 Speaker 1: about that in a minute. So you should start with 254 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:29,440 Speaker 1: if you're developing a new technology, you start with fission 255 00:13:29,440 --> 00:13:32,240 Speaker 1: because it's easier. All the fusion is much more powerful. 256 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:35,280 Speaker 1: So fission is breaking the nucleus of an atom, and 257 00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:38,559 Speaker 1: fusion is putting together the nucleus of an atom. That's 258 00:13:38,559 --> 00:13:41,480 Speaker 1: the difference, right, That's right. Fusion is fusing together and 259 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:45,320 Speaker 1: a nucleus, and fission is breaking it apart, exactly, fizzing 260 00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:48,439 Speaker 1: it or phisiling it or physicisting it or whatever the 261 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:53,480 Speaker 1: verb is fizzing. Okay, thank you, and um so. But 262 00:13:53,559 --> 00:13:55,839 Speaker 1: a nuclear bomb works essentially the same way as another bomb, 263 00:13:55,840 --> 00:13:58,400 Speaker 1: and that its goal is released a lot of energy. Right, 264 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:00,360 Speaker 1: So you have to find some stored and ergen and 265 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:02,400 Speaker 1: release it. And you can do that in dynamite with 266 00:14:02,520 --> 00:14:05,760 Speaker 1: this stored chemical energy, or something in oil with this 267 00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:09,840 Speaker 1: stored stored energy in the gasoline or whatever. But nuclear 268 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:12,600 Speaker 1: energy is much more powerful because it has a lot 269 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:15,240 Speaker 1: more energy stored in it. Because that's all a bomb is, 270 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:18,120 Speaker 1: It's just the release of a lot of energy at 271 00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:21,600 Speaker 1: the same time in a small space, right, Exactly, anything 272 00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:24,120 Speaker 1: you use for power you can also turn into a bomb. 273 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:27,160 Speaker 1: Just release that energy really really quickly. Right. You can 274 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:29,960 Speaker 1: slowly burn the gasoline in your car, or you can 275 00:14:29,960 --> 00:14:31,560 Speaker 1: put it in a vocal bottle and set it on 276 00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:34,480 Speaker 1: fire like a Molotov cocktail. It's the same process. It 277 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:36,400 Speaker 1: just happens more rapidly. And if you release all that 278 00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:39,800 Speaker 1: energy really quickly, then it creates a shock wave, right, 279 00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:42,960 Speaker 1: And that's what's destructive, is creating all this energy release 280 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:45,640 Speaker 1: at once creates this shock wave of heat and air, 281 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:48,040 Speaker 1: and that's what blasts things apart. I see. So, like 282 00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:50,640 Speaker 1: the batteries in my phone have a lot of energy 283 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:53,080 Speaker 1: stored in it into it, but there's no reaction that 284 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:56,360 Speaker 1: will cause it to like be released all quickly at 285 00:14:56,400 --> 00:14:59,000 Speaker 1: the same time, exactly unless you have the Galaxy notes 286 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:02,080 Speaker 1: seven with Jack. If you have it, please at least 287 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:04,720 Speaker 1: take it back in right. But as far as I'm aware, 288 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:06,800 Speaker 1: there's no nuclear bomb app that which will set your 289 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:09,440 Speaker 1: phone on fire or anything. So where does that energy 290 00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:12,280 Speaker 1: come from? And so our interviewees were correct, and that 291 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:15,080 Speaker 1: energy comes from the atom itself. That is, if you 292 00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:17,840 Speaker 1: take uranium, for example, and you split it in half, 293 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:22,560 Speaker 1: energy is released. And so that that's the basic idea. 294 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:25,800 Speaker 1: You might wonder all wise, energy released, right, Well, so 295 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:30,360 Speaker 1: uranium breaks into two other things, krypton and barium, and 296 00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:34,680 Speaker 1: so those two things are released. And the reason energy 297 00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:38,200 Speaker 1: is released is because there's more energy stored in uranium 298 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:40,720 Speaker 1: than in the sum of krypton and barium, and so 299 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:43,440 Speaker 1: when you break it into crypton embarium, there's extra energy 300 00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:45,800 Speaker 1: left over. But it's it's kind of weird to grasp 301 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:48,040 Speaker 1: because if I take a stick of wood and I 302 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:51,920 Speaker 1: split it in half, I don't get energy released, that's right. 303 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:54,440 Speaker 1: But imagine you had a stick of wood that was 304 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:58,280 Speaker 1: in two pieces and it was held together by a spring, right, 305 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:01,760 Speaker 1: Then there's stored energy g in that configuration, and when 306 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:04,760 Speaker 1: you break it, that's released. The sprain will sprung out. Yeah, 307 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:06,480 Speaker 1: it'll spring out and will push the two things apart. 308 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:09,640 Speaker 1: For example. So if there's stored energy in the configuration 309 00:16:09,680 --> 00:16:12,320 Speaker 1: and you break it, then that energy is released. And 310 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:14,880 Speaker 1: so that's what happens when you break uranium atom. There's 311 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:18,480 Speaker 1: energy stored in the arrangement, right, and then energy is released, 312 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:21,720 Speaker 1: meaning and it that's what it does it that energy 313 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:25,800 Speaker 1: that's stored then pushes the two pieces apart really fast. Yeah, 314 00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:29,120 Speaker 1: and it actually sends out neutrons. You get you get 315 00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:31,440 Speaker 1: two other smaller atoms and a bunch of neutrons which 316 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:33,920 Speaker 1: fly out. Okay, and the neutrons were actually part of 317 00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:38,000 Speaker 1: the original nucleus. Yeah, exactly, part of the uranium nucleus. 318 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:41,160 Speaker 1: You got to start with something which can break into 319 00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:44,960 Speaker 1: two smaller pieces and release energy. That's the goal if 320 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:48,080 Speaker 1: you want to do fission, and uranium is great for that. 321 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:51,960 Speaker 1: There are other things that can do it also, plutonium, amersium, 322 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:55,200 Speaker 1: other ones, but uranium is the one which works best. Okay, 323 00:16:55,280 --> 00:16:57,880 Speaker 1: why why is it good for? Why is uranium good? 324 00:16:57,880 --> 00:16:59,880 Speaker 1: What's special about uranium? Well, it just so happens that 325 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:02,920 Speaker 1: is an isotope of uranium, uranium two thirty five, which 326 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:06,240 Speaker 1: is really unstable, and so it's easier to get it too. 327 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:09,639 Speaker 1: I'm looking for that verb again. Fizz fizz ile vision 328 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:13,760 Speaker 1: eight split, vision eight split. Thank you. It's easier to 329 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:16,159 Speaker 1: get uranium two thirty five to split than uranium two 330 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:21,919 Speaker 1: thirty eight or whatever. Each is, like it's across breaking 331 00:17:21,920 --> 00:17:24,920 Speaker 1: apart itself, so it's easy to make it split up exactly, 332 00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:28,119 Speaker 1: it's less stable exactly, right. Yeah, and so that's fission. 333 00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:30,800 Speaker 1: That's why you always hear uranium and uranium cakes and 334 00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:35,720 Speaker 1: uranium enrichment. Exactly, uranium enrichment because the kind of uranium 335 00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:38,480 Speaker 1: that you normally find in the ground a uranium mine 336 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:40,880 Speaker 1: is not uranium two thirty five is not the kind 337 00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:43,560 Speaker 1: we want for nuclear weapons. That kind is pretty rare. 338 00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:46,560 Speaker 1: It's you know, one in I don't know the number, 339 00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:49,399 Speaker 1: but one in a zillion atoms of uranium that you 340 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:51,040 Speaker 1: find in the ground is the kind of unique for 341 00:17:51,119 --> 00:17:54,080 Speaker 1: nuclear weapons, which is why one of the big obstacles 342 00:17:54,080 --> 00:17:56,800 Speaker 1: to making a nuclear weapon is not knowing how to 343 00:17:56,840 --> 00:17:59,520 Speaker 1: do it, because this physics is pretty widely known. But 344 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:03,480 Speaker 1: hitting the fuel these that's why, for example, Iran was 345 00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:06,000 Speaker 1: working on centrifuges, because they're trying to separate out the 346 00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:08,439 Speaker 1: different isotopes uranium to get the one that's good for 347 00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:13,800 Speaker 1: the bomb. I believe the numbers zero point Daniel. Wow, 348 00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:23,200 Speaker 1: it's like your Siri or Wikipedia or something. Okay, So, yeah, 349 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:25,359 Speaker 1: so uranium is about to split and has a lot 350 00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:27,760 Speaker 1: of energy. That's why they use it for fission bombs. 351 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:30,159 Speaker 1: That's right. But there's another key element, which is you 352 00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:32,320 Speaker 1: can't just release the energy of one atom. I mean, 353 00:18:32,359 --> 00:18:34,159 Speaker 1: you can do that, but it's not very it's not 354 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:37,040 Speaker 1: going to be a very good bomb, right. And what 355 00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:38,800 Speaker 1: you need is, as we said, is to release a 356 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:40,800 Speaker 1: lot of energy all at once, and for that you 357 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:42,920 Speaker 1: need not just one atom to go, but a lot 358 00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:45,840 Speaker 1: of atoms to go. So for that to happen, you 359 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:48,800 Speaker 1: need to create a chain reaction. So meaning you take 360 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:51,560 Speaker 1: a lot of this enriched uranium, so uranium that has 361 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:54,399 Speaker 1: a lot of this U to thirty five, and you 362 00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:57,640 Speaker 1: put it onto this one spot and then you cause 363 00:18:57,720 --> 00:19:00,640 Speaker 1: a chain reaction. That's the idea of a bomb, right, yeah, exactly. 364 00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:03,439 Speaker 1: And so the neutrons that fly out and carry some 365 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:06,719 Speaker 1: of this leftover energy then bump into other uranium two 366 00:19:07,119 --> 00:19:14,120 Speaker 1: five atoms which then phizzle, physicate, physicate, thank you, and um. 367 00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:16,520 Speaker 1: And then it goes on and on and on, and 368 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:19,240 Speaker 1: you get more neutrons and more neutrons, and pretty soon 369 00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:21,160 Speaker 1: you have a huge number of neutrons flying out, which 370 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:25,159 Speaker 1: create which causes a huge amount of atoms to split 371 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:27,800 Speaker 1: all at the same time, and that's your explosion right there. 372 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:29,800 Speaker 1: In order that to happen, you. You need to have 373 00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:32,479 Speaker 1: enough fuel and it needs to be dense enough so 374 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:35,400 Speaker 1: the neutrons bump into the other atoms. So that's called 375 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:37,760 Speaker 1: the critical mass. When you have enough fuel and a 376 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:40,159 Speaker 1: dense enough location, And that's really all you need to 377 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:42,280 Speaker 1: do to start the bomb off. Like a rumor or 378 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:44,399 Speaker 1: like a panic and a crowd. You need enough people 379 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:47,480 Speaker 1: jamp together to really cause a big panic. Yeah, exactly. 380 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:49,679 Speaker 1: For your analogy, you need something to trigger the other thing. 381 00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:52,000 Speaker 1: It's like that seen in Stand By Me. You know, 382 00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:56,280 Speaker 1: where they're vomiting vomits. Smell causes to other people to vomit, 383 00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:58,320 Speaker 1: which costs four of the people to vomit, and pretty 384 00:19:58,320 --> 00:20:02,520 Speaker 1: soon everybody, ah yeah that movie. Yeah, but if if 385 00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:05,320 Speaker 1: people were not close together, then you wouldn't this reaction 386 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:07,800 Speaker 1: wouldn't catch fire, right Like, it wouldn't catch on. So 387 00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:09,840 Speaker 1: you need you need a lot of people together, a 388 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:13,320 Speaker 1: lot of these atoms together to cause this chain reaction. Exactly. 389 00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:15,520 Speaker 1: And all you need to do to create a nuclear weapon. 390 00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:17,119 Speaker 1: People might be wondering, how do you start it to 391 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:19,680 Speaker 1: like have a pile of uranium and you like light 392 00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:22,000 Speaker 1: a match or put a lighter on it or something. 393 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:24,200 Speaker 1: All you need to do is have enough fuel all 394 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:26,880 Speaker 1: put together, and one of the atoms inside it will 395 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:29,160 Speaker 1: be unstable enough to just fall apart on its own 396 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:31,240 Speaker 1: and that will trigger the chain reaction, which it leads 397 00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:33,760 Speaker 1: to the explosion. And so the way the nuclear bomb 398 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:37,000 Speaker 1: actually works is you basically have two subcritical masses, like 399 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:39,200 Speaker 1: a chunk uranium here and a chunk uranium there, and 400 00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:42,439 Speaker 1: you just slam them together and uh, and then it 401 00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:47,800 Speaker 1: goes off. And that's it. So um, for those of 402 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:49,800 Speaker 1: you out there looking to build a nuclear weapon, all 403 00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:52,040 Speaker 1: you need to do is get enough uranium two thirty 404 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:54,679 Speaker 1: five and arrange it in two pieces to slam together 405 00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:58,800 Speaker 1: in the right concentration, in the right concentration the right purity. Yeah, okay. 406 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:01,240 Speaker 1: And some of the original designs that were like, well, 407 00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:03,560 Speaker 1: let's make one of the pieces sort of like a 408 00:21:03,640 --> 00:21:05,760 Speaker 1: cup and the other piece sort of like a ball, 409 00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:08,040 Speaker 1: and we'll just like drop the ball in the cup. Um, 410 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:10,880 Speaker 1: and and that worked really, So just bringing these two 411 00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:14,439 Speaker 1: things together will suddenly cause the reaction to start. Yeah, exactly, 412 00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:16,480 Speaker 1: that's all you need to do. So separately, what happens. 413 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:19,160 Speaker 1: Why don't they start separately, Well, they do start separately. 414 00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:22,520 Speaker 1: They just don't take off, So you have atoms in 415 00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:24,359 Speaker 1: their decaying all the time, but they don't start the 416 00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:27,200 Speaker 1: chain reaction because it's not density, just doesn't catch fire. Yeah, 417 00:21:27,240 --> 00:21:28,800 Speaker 1: you need to You need essentially to have these two 418 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:31,399 Speaker 1: pieces and have them be dense enough to squeeze them 419 00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:33,640 Speaker 1: a little bit. And so what they actually they don't 420 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:34,800 Speaker 1: call it a ball in a cup. They call it 421 00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:37,720 Speaker 1: a gun assembly because they basically shoot one piece of 422 00:21:37,840 --> 00:21:40,800 Speaker 1: uranium into another and that creates this density. You need 423 00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:43,560 Speaker 1: to have the chain reaction. So that's a fission bombs, 424 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:46,160 Speaker 1: that's it's splitting. That's the one that splits atoms. There's 425 00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:49,359 Speaker 1: also one that fuses atoms. Yeah, and it's fascinating to me. 426 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:53,359 Speaker 1: It's a totally different process um and that sticking atoms 427 00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:56,520 Speaker 1: together can also release energy the same way splitting an 428 00:21:56,520 --> 00:22:00,320 Speaker 1: atom can, Right, that's really counterintuitive. Yeah, but the way 429 00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:02,919 Speaker 1: it works is you take two pieces of hydrogen, so 430 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:06,680 Speaker 1: the lightest element there is, and you stick them together 431 00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:08,800 Speaker 1: and you get helium. And you don't just get helium, 432 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:11,359 Speaker 1: you get extra energy left over. So where did this 433 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:15,359 Speaker 1: energy come from? The energy comes from the configuration of 434 00:22:15,359 --> 00:22:20,200 Speaker 1: the helium atom versus the configuration of the hydrogen atom. 435 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:24,000 Speaker 1: What is helium. It's basically just two hydrogen atom stuck together, right, 436 00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:27,360 Speaker 1: and so you've got those protons, you got those neutrons 437 00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:30,800 Speaker 1: all mixed together. It takes more energy to break helium 438 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:34,320 Speaker 1: apart than it does to break hydrogen atom apart, and 439 00:22:34,359 --> 00:22:37,400 Speaker 1: so when you put the helium together, that energy has 440 00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:40,439 Speaker 1: to get released somewhere. It's like you've put two hydrogen 441 00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:43,480 Speaker 1: atoms into a hole, right, and that you would need 442 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:46,160 Speaker 1: to use energy to take them out again. So when 443 00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:48,560 Speaker 1: you put them in that hole, some energy is released. 444 00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:50,800 Speaker 1: It's like you drop them in the hole and they 445 00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:53,760 Speaker 1: turn a lever which generates some electricity or something. It's 446 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:55,880 Speaker 1: kind of like if you're single, you have to pay 447 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:58,399 Speaker 1: a certa amount of taxes, but if you get married, 448 00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:00,600 Speaker 1: then you have to pay maybe a little bit less 449 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:05,480 Speaker 1: of taxes. Right, yeah, exactly right, exactly right. But that 450 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:09,760 Speaker 1: kind of marital fusion doesn't usually cause um weapons of 451 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:12,160 Speaker 1: mass destruction though. Yeah, but it's kind of the same idea. 452 00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:14,480 Speaker 1: It's like, separately, um, you have a you make a 453 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:18,320 Speaker 1: certain amount of money, but together, because you're the configuration together, 454 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:21,080 Speaker 1: you have extra money left over. Yeah, and it all 455 00:23:21,119 --> 00:23:24,760 Speaker 1: depends on the configuration of the atoms inside. And so 456 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:27,960 Speaker 1: it just so happens that helium takes more energy to 457 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:31,840 Speaker 1: break apart than hydrogen does. And so when you build 458 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:35,200 Speaker 1: helium out of hydrogen, energy is released. Then you could 459 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:37,520 Speaker 1: take that energy and put it back in to break 460 00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:41,040 Speaker 1: the helum apart and get your hydrogen back. So it 461 00:23:41,080 --> 00:23:42,800 Speaker 1: makes more sense if you think about it the other direction. 462 00:23:43,119 --> 00:23:45,760 Speaker 1: Take helium, you need to put energy and to break 463 00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:49,119 Speaker 1: it into hydrogen. I see, it's not like uranium, where 464 00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:51,280 Speaker 1: if you break it it releases energy. This time it 465 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:55,320 Speaker 1: causts you energy to break helium apart. That's right. Imagine 466 00:23:55,359 --> 00:23:57,080 Speaker 1: you know, for example, you have two magnets and they're 467 00:23:57,080 --> 00:23:59,960 Speaker 1: stuck together, right. Obviously it takes energy to pull the 468 00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:03,000 Speaker 1: two magnets apart, right, So that means that when you 469 00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:07,080 Speaker 1: when the two magnets stick together, energy is released. And 470 00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:09,840 Speaker 1: that's exactly what happens. So I said that some atoms 471 00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:12,400 Speaker 1: cost energy to break apart, and others give you energy 472 00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:14,200 Speaker 1: when you break them apart. It's all in the nitty 473 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:17,720 Speaker 1: gritty details of how quantum chromodynamics work. This energy of 474 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:21,520 Speaker 1: the strong nuclear force, various arrangements of protons and neutrons, 475 00:24:21,560 --> 00:24:24,480 Speaker 1: are different energy it it's really technical. But the fascinating 476 00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:27,679 Speaker 1: thing is that if you fuse atoms together as long 477 00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:30,280 Speaker 1: as they're light, anything lighter than iron. If you fuse 478 00:24:30,359 --> 00:24:34,159 Speaker 1: them together and an energy is released, anything heavier than iron. 479 00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:37,480 Speaker 1: If you split it apart, energy is released, so lighter 480 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:40,720 Speaker 1: than iron, you can fuse heavier than iron you can split. 481 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:44,080 Speaker 1: So iron kind of sits in the middle. Iron iron, Yeah, 482 00:24:44,119 --> 00:24:50,199 Speaker 1: iron ironically, And that's why, for example, iron is the 483 00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:52,320 Speaker 1: heaviest thing that's made in the sun because the sun 484 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:55,560 Speaker 1: is just a big fusion bomb and it's making heavier 485 00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:58,919 Speaker 1: and heavier elements, but it stops at iron because after 486 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:02,240 Speaker 1: iron and cost you energy to bake, make anything bigger. 487 00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:04,840 Speaker 1: But if you have something bigger and you break it, 488 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:07,080 Speaker 1: then that gives you the energy back. And that's that's 489 00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:10,720 Speaker 1: where the bomb comes from, exactly exactly. So a hydrogen 490 00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:13,720 Speaker 1: bomb is like, you gotta stick these two things together, right, 491 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:16,359 Speaker 1: But you know hydrogen is positively charged, So how do 492 00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:19,159 Speaker 1: you get two hydrogens to stick together. It's not easy. 493 00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:21,600 Speaker 1: You've gotta squeeze them really really hard. That's why the 494 00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:26,000 Speaker 1: cost energy. No, that's why dizzy energy. It's complicated because um, 495 00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:28,760 Speaker 1: when they're really close together, the strong nuclear force takes over, 496 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:30,960 Speaker 1: and the process we talked about the releases energy takes 497 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:34,160 Speaker 1: over When they're a little further apart. It's the positive 498 00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:36,760 Speaker 1: charges that take over. So it's sort of like have 499 00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:39,040 Speaker 1: you ever been to um put putt golf? Right, and 500 00:25:39,080 --> 00:25:40,760 Speaker 1: you have to get the ball into a hole, But 501 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:42,560 Speaker 1: the hole is at the top of a little hill. 502 00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:45,399 Speaker 1: If you get it just right, boom, it'll stick in 503 00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:47,480 Speaker 1: the hole and stay there. If you miss a little bit, 504 00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:50,320 Speaker 1: the hill will push you away. So getting fusion to 505 00:25:50,359 --> 00:25:52,280 Speaker 1: work is a little bit like that. You've gotta squeeze 506 00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:54,200 Speaker 1: the hydrogen outs together. If you get them close enough, 507 00:25:54,359 --> 00:25:56,520 Speaker 1: they will stick and they will release energy. That's like 508 00:25:56,880 --> 00:25:59,400 Speaker 1: the golf ball falling the hole. If you don't get 509 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:04,879 Speaker 1: them close enough, they're just gonna push each other apart. So, 510 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:08,119 Speaker 1: the first atomic bombs that we made were hydrogen bombs 511 00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:12,120 Speaker 1: right now. The first ones were fission bombs or uranium, 512 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:14,800 Speaker 1: and then later we made hydrogen bombs. Yeah. And the 513 00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:17,800 Speaker 1: only way we could make hydrogen bombs was by setting 514 00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:21,919 Speaker 1: off an atomic bomb. Yeah, So you you need to 515 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:26,719 Speaker 1: surround a bunch of hydrogen with nuclear weapons, blow those up, right, 516 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:29,920 Speaker 1: so you set off a fission bomb, which creates enough 517 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:33,760 Speaker 1: energy density to squeeze the hydrogen to cause it to fuse, 518 00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:37,119 Speaker 1: which sets off the hydrogen bomb. So hydrogen bomb is 519 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:39,919 Speaker 1: really a two step process. It's first, let's do an 520 00:26:39,920 --> 00:26:43,320 Speaker 1: old fashioned atomic bomb, and that's like the ignition switch 521 00:26:43,359 --> 00:26:47,280 Speaker 1: for the hydrogen bomb, right, like yesterday's super weapon is 522 00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:52,080 Speaker 1: today's ignition switch. And so both of these types of 523 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:56,200 Speaker 1: bombs have are more explosive than say, dynamite, just because 524 00:26:56,240 --> 00:27:00,800 Speaker 1: there's more energy inside of the atom then in the 525 00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:04,440 Speaker 1: reaction between atoms. That's right. All the other kinds of bombs, 526 00:27:04,520 --> 00:27:07,320 Speaker 1: dynamite and and you know, gas bombs, whatever, those are 527 00:27:07,359 --> 00:27:10,399 Speaker 1: just releasing the energy and chemical bonds, which is not 528 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:13,080 Speaker 1: a lot compared to the energy stored inside the atom. 529 00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:15,480 Speaker 1: And that's because the strong nuclear force is a super 530 00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:18,320 Speaker 1: duper strong force, and it just happens that there's a 531 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:20,679 Speaker 1: huge amount of energy stored inside the atom. Okay, so 532 00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:22,960 Speaker 1: it sounds sort of simple. So does that mean that 533 00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:26,800 Speaker 1: anyone can make a nuclear bomb? It's tricky. You need 534 00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:29,560 Speaker 1: to get the materials right. Even for a hydrogen bomb, 535 00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:32,640 Speaker 1: which just requires hydrogen, you need to create fusion, which 536 00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:36,960 Speaker 1: means creating a vission explosion. So basically the gatekeeper for 537 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:40,920 Speaker 1: creating nuclear weapons is getting the nuclear fuel. These days, 538 00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:43,440 Speaker 1: we rely on the fact that uranium is hard to find. 539 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:45,199 Speaker 1: You have to mind it and then you have to 540 00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:48,080 Speaker 1: enrich it. And so basically, if you want to build 541 00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:52,000 Speaker 1: a nuclear weapon, then you have to get enough uranium 542 00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:54,920 Speaker 1: two thirty five. After that, it's not too complicated. Well, 543 00:27:54,920 --> 00:27:57,159 Speaker 1: well let's get into it. But first let's take a 544 00:27:57,240 --> 00:28:13,080 Speaker 1: quick break. What prevents just anyone from building a bomb 545 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:15,359 Speaker 1: in their backyard, not a whole lot. If you can 546 00:28:15,359 --> 00:28:17,159 Speaker 1: get your hands on the fuel, you know, if you 547 00:28:17,240 --> 00:28:20,560 Speaker 1: have enough uranium two thirty five or plutonium or some 548 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:24,200 Speaker 1: other material which is good at at splitting, then you 549 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:26,320 Speaker 1: can build a nuclear bomb. It's not too complicated. Their 550 00:28:26,359 --> 00:28:29,439 Speaker 1: schematics out there. If you're really into engineering. Um, but 551 00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:32,600 Speaker 1: if you want to yeah, um, that part is not secret. 552 00:28:33,119 --> 00:28:35,000 Speaker 1: Um you used to be. I mean in the fifties, 553 00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:37,520 Speaker 1: this kind this level of information would get you thrown 554 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:40,800 Speaker 1: in jail or executed for treason. Yeah. Probably broadcasting a 555 00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:43,160 Speaker 1: podcast about how to make one would probably get your 556 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:47,760 Speaker 1: arrested too. Let's check with legal before we distribute this 557 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:50,800 Speaker 1: podcast anyway, because I'm not so indispending the rest of 558 00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:53,920 Speaker 1: my life in jail. But it's really just the limitation 559 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:56,320 Speaker 1: is the fuel, which is why countries like Iran and 560 00:28:56,360 --> 00:28:59,840 Speaker 1: North Korea and those folks are building centrifuges. Um, And 561 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:01,600 Speaker 1: the way to stop them is to try to stop 562 00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:03,720 Speaker 1: them from getting the material. You know, one of my 563 00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:07,800 Speaker 1: favorite stories about geopolitics is the way the Israeli sabotaged 564 00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:10,440 Speaker 1: the Iranian centrifugures. How did they do it? They wrote 565 00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:14,240 Speaker 1: a computer virus which specifically targeted the people working at 566 00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:16,760 Speaker 1: that facility to get them like downloaded and click it 567 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:19,440 Speaker 1: and get it to control the centrifugues. It's pretty slick, 568 00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:23,960 Speaker 1: and it got the centrifuges to spin wrong. So, Um, 569 00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:26,200 Speaker 1: the difficulty in building a bomb isn't getting the new 570 00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:28,800 Speaker 1: ger materials, because I mean, it's kind of a big 571 00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:31,520 Speaker 1: effort not just to mind it, find out where it 572 00:29:31,600 --> 00:29:33,920 Speaker 1: is minded, and then you have to process it right. 573 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:35,640 Speaker 1: And so to do that you need a lot of 574 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:39,080 Speaker 1: infrastructure and a lot of factory and money. And so 575 00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:40,920 Speaker 1: at some point people are going to notice that what 576 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:43,080 Speaker 1: you're doing right. Yeah, it's hard to keep that kind 577 00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:44,920 Speaker 1: of stuff secret. There's not that many people in the 578 00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:48,520 Speaker 1: world who are good at it, at filtering nuclear materials, 579 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:52,000 Speaker 1: and that technology, I read is actually what has kept 580 00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:55,600 Speaker 1: secret a lot, right, Like the technology actually enriched uranium 581 00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:57,160 Speaker 1: and what to do it and how to handle it. 582 00:29:57,520 --> 00:29:59,200 Speaker 1: That one is not like you can't just find that 583 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:02,680 Speaker 1: on the internet, right, And if somebody developed a new, cheap, fast, 584 00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:05,280 Speaker 1: easy way to enrich uranium, we would all be in 585 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:08,880 Speaker 1: trouble because that's really the gatekeeper to lots of people 586 00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:11,600 Speaker 1: get nuclear weapons, because you don't need that much. I mean, 587 00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:14,880 Speaker 1: you can get a suitcase size bomb that could blow 588 00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:17,240 Speaker 1: up a major city if you had the nuclear materials. 589 00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:19,640 Speaker 1: If you had it's pretty terrifying. It's hard to find 590 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:22,600 Speaker 1: it in pross it. That's the hopefully the only thing 591 00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:25,800 Speaker 1: that's keeping us from going up in a big ball 592 00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:28,840 Speaker 1: of fire. That's right exactly. And so you know, you 593 00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:30,960 Speaker 1: had to think about the scientists who are working on 594 00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:32,600 Speaker 1: this kind of stuff, and you know, how do they 595 00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:36,040 Speaker 1: feel about having developed this technology? You know, Jay Robert Oppernheimer, 596 00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:38,600 Speaker 1: the guy who led the Manhattan Project, he's famous for 597 00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:40,640 Speaker 1: having felt both ways about this when he saw the 598 00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:42,960 Speaker 1: first nuclear bomb go off in New Mexico. You know, 599 00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:48,600 Speaker 1: he said, I am become death, the destroyer of worlds. Um. 600 00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:51,720 Speaker 1: That's pretty serious stuff, right. Um. I've never created something 601 00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:54,200 Speaker 1: so dangerous, but I would wonder about how I would 602 00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:56,320 Speaker 1: sleep at night if I created a super weapon. I 603 00:30:56,360 --> 00:31:00,080 Speaker 1: had to write an article once about nuclear proliferation in 604 00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:04,480 Speaker 1: and what keeps countries from making these bombs and what's 605 00:31:04,520 --> 00:31:07,280 Speaker 1: the world order that kind of prevents all this from happening. 606 00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:09,360 Speaker 1: And what's kind of interesting is that you can take 607 00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:12,440 Speaker 1: uranium and you start to enrich it, and if you 608 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:14,440 Speaker 1: reach a certain point, then that you can use the 609 00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:17,440 Speaker 1: uranium for good, Like if it reaches about I think 610 00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:19,720 Speaker 1: it's something like when I say five to seven percent 611 00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:23,040 Speaker 1: of the uranium to thirty five in it, then that's 612 00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:25,520 Speaker 1: the stuff you can use for actually good purposes. You 613 00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:31,640 Speaker 1: mean nuclear power, like generating electricity, generating electricity or medical equipment. Um. 614 00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:34,040 Speaker 1: But if you leave the machine on longer, if you 615 00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:36,440 Speaker 1: keep enriching it, then you get to like nine and 616 00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:39,000 Speaker 1: that's the stuff you can use for weapons. So it's 617 00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:42,880 Speaker 1: a really tricky balance of like letting people use and 618 00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:45,800 Speaker 1: make uranium for good stuff, but then you have to 619 00:31:45,800 --> 00:31:48,400 Speaker 1: watch out to see if they keep going and make 620 00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:51,000 Speaker 1: it into the bomb type. So it's like that knob 621 00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:52,920 Speaker 1: on your dryer where you're like, how dry do you 622 00:31:52,920 --> 00:31:59,360 Speaker 1: want your good for society dry? Or evil destructive? Dry? Yeah? 623 00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:03,800 Speaker 1: I always choose maximum gry. You always, Yeah, But I 624 00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:06,280 Speaker 1: like your anecdote because it tells the story. You know 625 00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:09,640 Speaker 1: that not only is nuclear power potentially the source of 626 00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:13,000 Speaker 1: superweapons that will eradicate all life on Earth, but also 627 00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:15,720 Speaker 1: it's a possible source of energy that we need, you know. 628 00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:19,000 Speaker 1: And everybody's familiar with fission as a source of nuclear power. 629 00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:22,040 Speaker 1: And you know, a bomb is releasing energy rapidly, but 630 00:32:22,120 --> 00:32:24,880 Speaker 1: a batteries, you say, is releasing energy slowly. So you 631 00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:29,360 Speaker 1: can also create a chain reaction that and control it 632 00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:31,800 Speaker 1: in a way that doesn't run It's not a runaway reaction. 633 00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:35,840 Speaker 1: Very gradually releases energy. And so that's what they do 634 00:32:35,880 --> 00:32:37,520 Speaker 1: in power plants. And you know when you hear they 635 00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:41,080 Speaker 1: have a meltdown, that's because the uranium has gotten too hot, 636 00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:44,520 Speaker 1: and it's it's uh, chain reaction is started and uh 637 00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:46,000 Speaker 1: and that's not what you want. You don't want to 638 00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:49,600 Speaker 1: be blowing up nuclear bombs inside your facility. Yea. And 639 00:32:49,720 --> 00:32:53,480 Speaker 1: fusion also has tremendous possibilities for the future because fusion 640 00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:56,720 Speaker 1: is much more powerful, huge amount of energy potentially released. 641 00:32:57,120 --> 00:32:59,440 Speaker 1: The source of fuel is not this like weird metal 642 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:02,000 Speaker 1: you have to dig up the ground uranium. It's just hydrogen, 643 00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:04,760 Speaker 1: which is everywhere. And the best thing is that there's 644 00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:08,640 Speaker 1: no radioactive waste fission as a nuclear power source. You 645 00:33:08,640 --> 00:33:11,240 Speaker 1: get uranium, it turns into this other radioactive crap which 646 00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:13,560 Speaker 1: lasts for ten thousand years, etcetera. What you can do 647 00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:15,480 Speaker 1: with it? Well, I think that the cool thing is 648 00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:18,360 Speaker 1: that the same reaction that makes this bomb, right, like, 649 00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:21,440 Speaker 1: that's happening in the Sun right now, zillions of times. Yeah, 650 00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:26,080 Speaker 1: it's just like this continual, simmering giant nuclear bomb. It's 651 00:33:26,120 --> 00:33:29,600 Speaker 1: going off constantly. Yeah, that's the whole reason we hear. Like, so, 652 00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:32,280 Speaker 1: so the same idea, like this chain reaction that doesn't 653 00:33:32,400 --> 00:33:35,000 Speaker 1: have to be this kind of always explosive, you know, 654 00:33:35,120 --> 00:33:37,440 Speaker 1: destructive things. I mean, the Sun is just like it's 655 00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:41,200 Speaker 1: just they're burning, continually exploding, and so we could have 656 00:33:41,280 --> 00:33:43,320 Speaker 1: that on Earth too, right, Like, that's the idea behind 657 00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:45,760 Speaker 1: fusion energy is that if we could create a mini 658 00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:49,880 Speaker 1: sun basically like a continual mini nuclear explosion, then think 659 00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:52,360 Speaker 1: about all the energy we could get from that, that's right, 660 00:33:52,400 --> 00:33:55,240 Speaker 1: And that was actually my first science job. My first 661 00:33:55,240 --> 00:33:58,920 Speaker 1: science work ever was in in college. I went into 662 00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:01,520 Speaker 1: an internship at Los Alamos and worked on their fusion 663 00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:03,960 Speaker 1: energy program because I thought this would be a good 664 00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:05,880 Speaker 1: application of this kind of research, This would be a 665 00:34:05,880 --> 00:34:09,920 Speaker 1: way to help humanity. And it's true, and it's very promising. 666 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:12,239 Speaker 1: And as I was saying before, there's no radio back 667 00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:15,080 Speaker 1: to fall out or or or waste. It just produces helium. 668 00:34:15,320 --> 00:34:17,840 Speaker 1: The problem is that it's hard to do. You know, 669 00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:19,359 Speaker 1: they're working on it. We could do a whole other 670 00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:22,040 Speaker 1: podcast about how to build a little sun on Earth 671 00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:24,320 Speaker 1: and keep it from turning into a bomb and burning 672 00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:27,000 Speaker 1: everybody will that'd be cool. So if they make it work, 673 00:34:27,200 --> 00:34:30,400 Speaker 1: it will not just give energy for everybody, but everybody 674 00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:33,680 Speaker 1: will get a helium balloon. That's all right, We'll I'll 675 00:34:33,680 --> 00:34:39,880 Speaker 1: talk kind of like this, Yeah, exactly, lots of side benefits. No, seriously, 676 00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:44,840 Speaker 1: If fusion becomes feasible and accessible, then we're talking about 677 00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:48,040 Speaker 1: basically free energy because the cost will just drop very 678 00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:51,480 Speaker 1: very quickly. And uh, and that would change society. Right. 679 00:34:52,040 --> 00:34:54,719 Speaker 1: If energy is free, then almost everything is possible. If 680 00:34:54,840 --> 00:34:57,279 Speaker 1: energy is free, you can make as much drinking water 681 00:34:57,320 --> 00:34:59,200 Speaker 1: as you like. Right. If energy is free, you can 682 00:34:59,239 --> 00:35:01,280 Speaker 1: build whatever hole as you like, You can make concrete, 683 00:35:01,280 --> 00:35:03,480 Speaker 1: you can do all sorts of things. So many problems 684 00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:05,799 Speaker 1: would be solved if you could get cheap energy, and 685 00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:07,960 Speaker 1: fusion is the way to do it. It's just really 686 00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:11,719 Speaker 1: technically tricky. Well, I think the takeaway is that inside 687 00:35:11,719 --> 00:35:14,840 Speaker 1: of each and every atom there's just an enormous amount 688 00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:18,040 Speaker 1: of energy, and so that can be either very destructive 689 00:35:18,600 --> 00:35:22,479 Speaker 1: or very promising to make an incredible future. That's right. Yeah, 690 00:35:22,680 --> 00:35:26,280 Speaker 1: and so there are both positive and negative potential energies 691 00:35:26,280 --> 00:35:29,680 Speaker 1: for all the scientific research. Well, I hope that through 692 00:35:29,719 --> 00:35:33,320 Speaker 1: your mind it fews some ideas in your head together 693 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:38,400 Speaker 1: it's split your view of the world. And jokes aside, 694 00:35:38,440 --> 00:35:40,600 Speaker 1: Please do not try to build a nuclear weapon in 695 00:35:40,640 --> 00:35:43,120 Speaker 1: your garage. It will not end well. And if you 696 00:35:43,160 --> 00:35:45,360 Speaker 1: listen to this podcast, be very careful about what you 697 00:35:45,400 --> 00:35:50,480 Speaker 1: Google is always listening. They were listening. Yeah, Well, thank 698 00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:52,520 Speaker 1: you so much for joining us, See you next time. 699 00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:02,799 Speaker 1: If you still have a question after listening to all 700 00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:06,040 Speaker 1: these explanations, please drop us a line. We'd love to 701 00:36:06,080 --> 00:36:08,480 Speaker 1: hear from you. You can find us at Facebook, Twitter, 702 00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:12,239 Speaker 1: and Instagram at Daniel and Jorge That's one word, or 703 00:36:12,360 --> 00:36:25,000 Speaker 1: email us at Feedback at Daniel and Jorge dot com