1 00:00:03,960 --> 00:00:07,560 Speaker 1: Get in tech with technology with textile from how stuffs 2 00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:16,240 Speaker 1: that coming. Hey that everyone, and welcome to tech stuff. 3 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:19,320 Speaker 1: I'm Jonathan Strickland and I'm Lauren Bolkum, And today we 4 00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:24,439 Speaker 1: wanted to talk a bit about nuclear fusion fusion, which 5 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: is great because originally I thought it was fusion cuisine 6 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:31,840 Speaker 1: and I went and ate a lot of California cuisine, 7 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:34,960 Speaker 1: and um, it was delicious, but it wasn't very tasty 8 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:38,080 Speaker 1: and not necessarily a technological. Yeah. Then I thought was 9 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:41,000 Speaker 1: fusion jazz, and so I listened to some of that 10 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:45,400 Speaker 1: more technological, not not really less delicious. Yeah, but no, 11 00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:48,919 Speaker 1: we're talking nuclear fusion and to uh kind of give 12 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:51,840 Speaker 1: you an idea of what nuclear fusion is, how we 13 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:55,760 Speaker 1: are trying to harness nuclear fusion as a source of 14 00:00:55,920 --> 00:01:00,200 Speaker 1: energy production, really electricity production. Uh, and it's being towed 15 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:02,160 Speaker 1: as one of the technologies of the feature that is 16 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:04,760 Speaker 1: going to give us unlimited energy. And how far away 17 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:08,200 Speaker 1: is it twenty to thirty to fifty years and and 18 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:13,720 Speaker 1: every year it seems like we're years. Yeah. Yeah, it's 19 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:17,360 Speaker 1: that's one of those things that scientists will often Riley 20 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:20,319 Speaker 1: kind of joke about that the technology is always twenty 21 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:23,240 Speaker 1: years away and uh, and you know it's because the 22 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:28,039 Speaker 1: challenges that we need to overcome are quite impressive. Doesn't 23 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:31,240 Speaker 1: doesn't mean we won't do it because human beings are amazing, 24 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:34,800 Speaker 1: you know, we innovate and reinvent. But um, but let's 25 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:37,440 Speaker 1: let's kind of first of all, talk about the difference 26 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:41,160 Speaker 1: between fusion and fission. Fission is the kind of a 27 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:44,479 Speaker 1: nuclear process that is used in our nuclear power plants today. 28 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:47,360 Speaker 1: So if you are familiar with the nuclear power plants 29 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:49,360 Speaker 1: things like you know there, of course they're the famous 30 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:53,279 Speaker 1: ones that have suffered catastrophic failures like Three Mile Island 31 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:58,720 Speaker 1: or Chernobyl. Uh. But these are the the reactors where 32 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 1: they split up larger atoms into smaller atoms and as 33 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:04,960 Speaker 1: a result, a great deal of energy is given off 34 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 1: really in the form of heat, which is then harnessed 35 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:12,880 Speaker 1: to convert water into steam, which turns steam turbines which 36 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:17,440 Speaker 1: are connected to electrical generators generating electricity. So really it's 37 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 1: just a very very efficient way of heating up a 38 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:24,960 Speaker 1: lot of water really quickly and making it do work. Yes, 39 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:29,200 Speaker 1: a very efficient, very radioactive steam generator. Yeah. Yeah, And 40 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:32,840 Speaker 1: that's one of the big issues with the fission power 41 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:36,800 Speaker 1: plants obviously, is that it uses nuclear radioactive material, not 42 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:40,799 Speaker 1: just nuclear material radioactive material, and that it doesn't the 43 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:44,800 Speaker 1: radioactivity is still very much a factor once that reaction 44 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:48,920 Speaker 1: is finished four thousands and thousands of years, right, Yeah. 45 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:52,760 Speaker 1: You generally speaking, only about three percent of the uranium 46 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:57,320 Speaker 1: in a uranium rod is used up in a fission 47 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:01,639 Speaker 1: reactor before the waste has to be disposed of because 48 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:05,080 Speaker 1: it will continue to heat up until it reaches a 49 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:08,519 Speaker 1: point that's too hot and the reactor itself can suffer 50 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:11,920 Speaker 1: a failure. Yeah, that's what you have down. Yeah. Uh. 51 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:16,080 Speaker 1: There are some, uh, some approaches that are suggesting that 52 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:19,280 Speaker 1: we take another pass at that nuclear waste and use 53 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:22,040 Speaker 1: that in a second round by immersing it in a 54 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:26,480 Speaker 1: molten salt the waist annihilating molten salt reactor, which I 55 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 1: still I just can't I can't get over the the 56 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:32,600 Speaker 1: annihilator part of the waist annihilator. Uh. Yeah. So this 57 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 1: this reactor would it's still a fission reactor, but it 58 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:40,200 Speaker 1: would immerse the the radioactive material, the uranium in a 59 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:44,200 Speaker 1: molten salt and use that to control the heat in 60 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:46,160 Speaker 1: a in a way that would allow you to use 61 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 1: that material for longer, so you'd be able to get 62 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:52,440 Speaker 1: more use out of the same radioactive material and reduce 63 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 1: the life of the actual radioactive elements at the at 64 00:03:56,600 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 1: the final output, I think it would only be radioactive. 65 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:03,600 Speaker 1: It would only be reactive for another years. Yeah, so 66 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: still well beyond our lifetimes right now. But not something 67 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:11,160 Speaker 1: that you would say, all right, generations and generations and 68 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:13,080 Speaker 1: generations are going to have to be aware of that. 69 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:15,200 Speaker 1: You don't have to start, you know, programming things that 70 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:17,960 Speaker 1: people you know, languages that don't exist yet wanting to 71 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:19,919 Speaker 1: be able to understand, Right, how do I how do 72 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:23,480 Speaker 1: I create a pictograph that shows exactly do not go 73 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:26,839 Speaker 1: in here? We messed it up really hard. Right in 74 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:30,440 Speaker 1: ten thousand years, English may not even be a thing anymore. So, 75 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:32,600 Speaker 1: um so yeah, I mean that's that's one of those 76 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: possible solutions. But fusion is very different. Fission all about 77 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,120 Speaker 1: splitting atoms apart. Fusion is about being buddy buddy and 78 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:43,240 Speaker 1: bringing atoms together. And this is this is the kind 79 00:04:43,279 --> 00:04:47,200 Speaker 1: of of process that we see happening in stars, including 80 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:51,360 Speaker 1: the sun, the sun being a star. Yes, yes, well 81 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:55,800 Speaker 1: I'm just making sure people know that. And despite what 82 00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:59,440 Speaker 1: my one of my favorite Bands has said in a 83 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:02,480 Speaker 1: cover of a song, actually the Sun is not really 84 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:06,600 Speaker 1: a massive incandescent gas and gigantic nuclear fenness. But they 85 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:08,520 Speaker 1: did correct it in a later song and say it 86 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:12,039 Speaker 1: was a miasma of incandescent plasma. So they did go 87 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:14,560 Speaker 1: back and correct it. But they were actually quoting an 88 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:19,320 Speaker 1: old song from a science album for kids, which was 89 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:22,640 Speaker 1: to explain the process of fusion and how the Sun 90 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:26,159 Speaker 1: generates energy and light and uh. And the way it 91 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:30,000 Speaker 1: happens is it takes these hydrogen atoms, and because the 92 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:32,320 Speaker 1: Sun is so massive and dense, there's a huge amount 93 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:35,440 Speaker 1: of gravity there and it's creating an enormous amount of 94 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:40,040 Speaker 1: pressure and heat. So the heat is stripping those hydrogen 95 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:44,760 Speaker 1: atoms of their electrons, creating ions. That creates zions, and 96 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:48,560 Speaker 1: in a pure hydrogen atom is just a proton and 97 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:51,120 Speaker 1: an electron, so that electron goes away. Now you've just 98 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:55,080 Speaker 1: got a proton there, and so you have these protons 99 00:05:55,120 --> 00:05:59,200 Speaker 1: now that are zipping around in incredible speaks um and 100 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:04,039 Speaker 1: being press together really tightly by the amazing force of gravity. 101 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:06,839 Speaker 1: And at the Sun's core where this is the strongest, 102 00:06:07,279 --> 00:06:11,320 Speaker 1: these atoms are banging up against each other so fast 103 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:16,760 Speaker 1: and so close that one of the other fundamental forces 104 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:21,960 Speaker 1: in the universe overacts the electromagnetic force. Now, the four 105 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:24,719 Speaker 1: forces in the universe include gravity, which is the weakest 106 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:29,480 Speaker 1: but is the it is the most effective over huge distances. 107 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:33,880 Speaker 1: You have electromagnetic force, and then you have these strong 108 00:06:33,920 --> 00:06:37,120 Speaker 1: and weak nuclear forces. Now, the strong force is what 109 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:41,760 Speaker 1: holds nucleic particles together. It's like the glue that keeps 110 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:46,320 Speaker 1: a nucleus together. Right, So, if you were able to 111 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:51,760 Speaker 1: get two protons close enough to each other, uh, the 112 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:55,159 Speaker 1: strong nuclear force would be strong enough to counteract the 113 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:59,240 Speaker 1: electromagnetic force. That's that's naturally driving them apart. Because protons 114 00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:01,360 Speaker 1: both have a positive charge. And if you've ever taken 115 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:04,560 Speaker 1: two magnets and tried to stick the two positive ends together, 116 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:07,400 Speaker 1: it resists you. It doesn't want to do that thing. 117 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:10,640 Speaker 1: But when you get them to within one trillionth of 118 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:14,120 Speaker 1: a millimeter of each other, then that will that will 119 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:19,120 Speaker 1: go away or it will be overcome by the strong exactly. Yeah, 120 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:23,160 Speaker 1: so you have to get them really really close together. Now, 121 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:27,880 Speaker 1: at that point, when you have fused to hydrogen protons together, 122 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:31,680 Speaker 1: you have created a different element. Hydrogen has now become 123 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:37,800 Speaker 1: helium at a temperature millions of degrees. So yeah, we 124 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:40,440 Speaker 1: can't see. We might both be that, they might be giants. 125 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:43,840 Speaker 1: I'll be seeing them in a week to come into Atlanta. 126 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:45,760 Speaker 1: By the time you guys hear this, I've already seen 127 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:49,000 Speaker 1: it and the show was awesome, I guess. So anyway, 128 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:54,200 Speaker 1: the the protons have fused together to form helium. But 129 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:58,480 Speaker 1: here's the interesting thing. In that process. The mass of 130 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:03,520 Speaker 1: that helium atom is slightly less than the combined masses 131 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:07,480 Speaker 1: of the two hydrogen atoms that fuse together to make 132 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:10,800 Speaker 1: the helium. Why is that, Jonathan, Some of that mass 133 00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:15,000 Speaker 1: gets converted into energy. Now, there's a little equation you 134 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:19,600 Speaker 1: may have heard of called E equals MC squared. I 135 00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:22,119 Speaker 1: think I think some some guy named Einstein was talking 136 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:25,680 Speaker 1: about that. I don't know. Listen here Einstein. Yeah, Einstein 137 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:28,760 Speaker 1: came up with this idea where he came up with 138 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:32,240 Speaker 1: the theory and and turns out that it looks like 139 00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:37,960 Speaker 1: it's true energy equals mass times this square or the 140 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:40,600 Speaker 1: speed of light squared. Rather not the square speed light, 141 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:43,679 Speaker 1: but the speed of light sweared. So speed of light 142 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 1: is a big, big, big big number. Then you square 143 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:51,080 Speaker 1: it and it's even bigger, and you multiply, yeah, and 144 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:54,880 Speaker 1: multiply that times whatever the mass is, you get your 145 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:59,319 Speaker 1: energy output. And so essentially, what this equation tells us 146 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:03,520 Speaker 1: is a tiny little bit of mass, once converted into energy, 147 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:06,760 Speaker 1: will be an enormous amount of energy the same thing, 148 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:10,360 Speaker 1: and also that that mass and energy never really go away, 149 00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:13,840 Speaker 1: and they are simply converted. Exactly, we cannot create or 150 00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:17,920 Speaker 1: destroy energy, but what we can do is convert energy 151 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:21,360 Speaker 1: to mass and mass to energy. At least in theory. Now, 152 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:23,560 Speaker 1: if we were to convert energy to mass, it would 153 00:09:23,559 --> 00:09:25,679 Speaker 1: take an awful lot of energy to make just a 154 00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:28,480 Speaker 1: little bit of mass. Which is why I always go 155 00:09:28,559 --> 00:09:31,160 Speaker 1: crazy when I read the Harry Potter books and people 156 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:32,959 Speaker 1: conjure stuff out of thin air, because I think, do 157 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:36,440 Speaker 1: you you just destroyed like three solar systems in order 158 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:38,800 Speaker 1: to do that, clearly pulling them from a parallel dimension 159 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:41,040 Speaker 1: or something like that. Yes, so there's just a people 160 00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:43,320 Speaker 1: in a parallel dimension, Like it's so cold, there's a 161 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:46,800 Speaker 1: there's a really huge room of requirement somewhere. That's okay, 162 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:50,280 Speaker 1: all right, now you're talking about language. So, yeah, a 163 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:52,120 Speaker 1: little bit of mass creates a lot of energy. So 164 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:57,040 Speaker 1: even though we're talking tiny atomic measurements here where we 165 00:09:57,120 --> 00:10:00,600 Speaker 1: have the helium atom, which has got a lower mass 166 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:03,720 Speaker 1: than the two combined hydrogen atoms, that still puts off 167 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:06,240 Speaker 1: quite a bit of energy. And and the Sun is 168 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:10,120 Speaker 1: doing this all the time with tons of hydrogen converting 169 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:14,559 Speaker 1: into helium every day. All right, so massive amount of 170 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:16,960 Speaker 1: energy that's being that's being emitted. I mean if it 171 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:19,240 Speaker 1: weren't being emitted, then there would be no life on 172 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:21,800 Speaker 1: this planet. Right. And and we know it works, you know, 173 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:24,480 Speaker 1: so we can serve this. This is this is as 174 00:10:24,520 --> 00:10:28,240 Speaker 1: far as we can tell real science. Yes, so we 175 00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:30,080 Speaker 1: know it works, We know we can do it. In fact, 176 00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:32,120 Speaker 1: we have done it. We've reproduced it here on Earth. 177 00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:34,560 Speaker 1: We'll get into that in a little bit. But the 178 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:37,880 Speaker 1: question was if the Sun does this, if that's how 179 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:40,480 Speaker 1: the Sun does this, could we create energy here on 180 00:10:40,520 --> 00:10:44,120 Speaker 1: Earth using a similar method. Knowing that on Earth the 181 00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:46,960 Speaker 1: conditions are very different from the core of the Sun, 182 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:49,000 Speaker 1: we don't have that gravity or that heat that is 183 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:54,400 Speaker 1: allowing the Sun to overcome the right electronic Yeah, this 184 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:57,080 Speaker 1: and the and the gravity is the really important part 185 00:10:57,160 --> 00:11:01,920 Speaker 1: because that gravity is what's allowing this nuclear fusion process 186 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:04,640 Speaker 1: to happen at a temperature that would actually be lower 187 00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:06,640 Speaker 1: than we would need here on Earth. Because we don't 188 00:11:06,679 --> 00:11:09,239 Speaker 1: have that gravity, we don't have the ability to compress 189 00:11:09,360 --> 00:11:13,080 Speaker 1: the atoms as tightly together as we would if if 190 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:15,720 Speaker 1: we had the Sun's gravity. We have to we have 191 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:19,240 Speaker 1: to overcome that with even more heat. Yeah, the Sun 192 00:11:19,280 --> 00:11:23,640 Speaker 1: only needs about fifteen million degrees kelvin. Only am easily 193 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:27,520 Speaker 1: fifteen million kelvin. Sorry sorry, yeah, yeah, yeah, my my bad. 194 00:11:27,559 --> 00:11:29,679 Speaker 1: I always do that. I did it once and one 195 00:11:29,679 --> 00:11:32,520 Speaker 1: of our great listeners corrected me. And that's the only reason, 196 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:35,000 Speaker 1: because our listeners are awesome and they let me know 197 00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:37,760 Speaker 1: when I've done something silly like that, completely ridiculous, the 198 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:41,360 Speaker 1: only reason I know, So, thank you listeners. Um so, so, yeah, 199 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:44,120 Speaker 1: the Sun only needs about fifteen million kelvin. In order 200 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:45,880 Speaker 1: to do this here on Earth, it would be something 201 00:11:45,880 --> 00:11:49,199 Speaker 1: like a hundred million. Yeah, so we're talking massive amounts 202 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:50,800 Speaker 1: of energy that we would need here on Earth to 203 00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:53,120 Speaker 1: compensate for the fact that we don't have that gravity 204 00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:56,440 Speaker 1: there to help us with this reaction. Um. Now, in 205 00:11:56,480 --> 00:12:01,280 Speaker 1: the Sun, you're talking about the pure high yrogen encountering 206 00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:04,840 Speaker 1: other pure hydrogen. So one proton one electron, the electrons 207 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:07,960 Speaker 1: get stripped away, the protons get fused together. But on 208 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:13,240 Speaker 1: Earth we've discovered that there's a better combination to go with. 209 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:15,839 Speaker 1: It requires less energy than it would if we were 210 00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:18,920 Speaker 1: to use pure hydrogen. Right, It's it's relatively difficult to 211 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:21,720 Speaker 1: run into pure hydrogen here. Yeah, you would have to 212 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:24,520 Speaker 1: you would have to essentially split the hydrogen off of 213 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:28,880 Speaker 1: something else. There's lots of hydrogen on Earth. We have 214 00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:31,240 Speaker 1: no shortage of it. Yeah, it's just connected to lots 215 00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:35,080 Speaker 1: of other stuff. So, um, the two types of the 216 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:38,920 Speaker 1: two isotopes of hydrogen and isotope, by the way, means 217 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:44,160 Speaker 1: that you have more or fewer neutrons than whatever the 218 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:46,800 Speaker 1: the atom typically has, but it's or it's it's a 219 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:51,120 Speaker 1: different number of neutrons than the base version of that atom, 220 00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:55,400 Speaker 1: but it's um same number of protons, same number of electrons. 221 00:12:55,440 --> 00:13:00,000 Speaker 1: So an isotope is one isotope of hydrogen is a deuterium, 222 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:03,040 Speaker 1: which is also known as heavy hydrogen, and it has 223 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:06,920 Speaker 1: one proton and one neutron, So typically you would not 224 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:10,040 Speaker 1: have a neutron with hydrogen. Deuterium does have a neutron, 225 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:13,280 Speaker 1: and then you have tritium, which is called also called 226 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:18,360 Speaker 1: heavy heavy hydrogen. So it's extra heavy. He's not heavy, 227 00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:21,280 Speaker 1: he's my tritium. Uh. And this is a proton that 228 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:26,000 Speaker 1: has two neutrons. Uh so same still the same element, 229 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:29,680 Speaker 1: it's just a different isotope. Now, deuterium, we've got a 230 00:13:29,679 --> 00:13:31,600 Speaker 1: lot of that here on Earth. Yeah, it can be 231 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:35,400 Speaker 1: extracted from seawater. It's not radioactive or anything. Yeah, it's 232 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:38,680 Speaker 1: not dangerous um that but yeah, you can you can 233 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:44,080 Speaker 1: find deuterium in in ocean water. Um. You cannot find 234 00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:49,000 Speaker 1: tritium very easily, mostly because it's not completely stable. It 235 00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:51,800 Speaker 1: does tend to decay and it's just it has a 236 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:53,800 Speaker 1: half life of about ten years that you can um. 237 00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:56,640 Speaker 1: You can get it from lithium. Yeah, you you if 238 00:13:56,640 --> 00:13:59,840 Speaker 1: you take lithium, the metal lithium, not the medication, the 239 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:03,600 Speaker 1: metal lithium, and you bombard it with neutrons, then one 240 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:06,040 Speaker 1: of the things you get out of that is tritium. 241 00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:08,920 Speaker 1: So that is one way to get the treatium. And 242 00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:11,320 Speaker 1: it we found out that tritium and deuterium, if you 243 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:14,440 Speaker 1: try to fuse those two together, then you get helium 244 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:18,720 Speaker 1: and a neutron out of that reaction. And uh, it 245 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:23,160 Speaker 1: requires less energy than than other combinations. Do write these 246 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:25,920 Speaker 1: are the current forms of fusion that are possible on 247 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:29,800 Speaker 1: our planet. Are our deuterium tritium. Yeah, and we're going 248 00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:33,360 Speaker 1: to talk about how, you know, generating a nuclear fusion 249 00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:35,800 Speaker 1: reaction here on Earth, what kind of challenges we encounter, 250 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:38,720 Speaker 1: and and how we've worked around them in just a moment. 251 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:40,840 Speaker 1: But before we do, let's take a quick moment to 252 00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:44,520 Speaker 1: thank our sponsored All right, let's get back to fusion. 253 00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:47,840 Speaker 1: So we've got the deuterium in the sea water. We 254 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:50,560 Speaker 1: can bombard some lithium with some neutrons and get some 255 00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:54,840 Speaker 1: tritium out of that. We're ready to introduce the deuterium 256 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:58,600 Speaker 1: to the tritium and uh and and make a date 257 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:02,080 Speaker 1: and have them fused together in a single unit of 258 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:05,520 Speaker 1: helium and shoot off an extra neutron and a lot 259 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:08,280 Speaker 1: of energy. What do we need to do? So we 260 00:15:08,400 --> 00:15:11,120 Speaker 1: know that we're going to be using deuterium and tritium, 261 00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:14,640 Speaker 1: because that's the the most efficient way that we've found 262 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:17,280 Speaker 1: so far to be able to It's the easiest for 263 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:19,880 Speaker 1: for us to use deuterium. Deuterium would actually be more efficient, 264 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:22,880 Speaker 1: but it's more difficult to get started. I see, I 265 00:15:22,920 --> 00:15:25,760 Speaker 1: see so right, so we we might get more energy 266 00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:28,400 Speaker 1: output with deuterium deuterium, but it would also require more 267 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:31,000 Speaker 1: energy to get the whole thing started, right, which is 268 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:33,400 Speaker 1: kind of the entire problem with fusion. Yeah, In fact, 269 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:35,440 Speaker 1: that's that's that's the biggest all right, we'll just go 270 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:37,240 Speaker 1: ahead and say that one of the biggest challenges we 271 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:40,240 Speaker 1: face with fusion is the fact that in order to 272 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:42,560 Speaker 1: make a fusion reaction here on Earth, you have to 273 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:45,120 Speaker 1: pour in a great deal of energy so that you 274 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:49,600 Speaker 1: can create the the the the situation you need to 275 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:51,920 Speaker 1: You're you're replicating what goes on in a star that's 276 00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:55,000 Speaker 1: really a lot of temperature, a lot of pressure. So 277 00:15:55,040 --> 00:15:57,280 Speaker 1: in order to do that without all that pressure here 278 00:15:57,280 --> 00:15:59,479 Speaker 1: on Earth, we've got to pour and even more temperature. 279 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:02,360 Speaker 1: So that's the big challenge is how do you create 280 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:05,480 Speaker 1: a reaction that's going to generate more energy through the 281 00:16:05,520 --> 00:16:08,840 Speaker 1: output than it required to start it. So if it 282 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:11,560 Speaker 1: requires more energy to go in, then you get out, 283 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:14,600 Speaker 1: you have an energy sync. You actually in the red 284 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:17,480 Speaker 1: and that's not really useful. I mean, it's it's pretty 285 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:20,760 Speaker 1: it's still pretty cool, yeah, but just doesn't commercially viable. 286 00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:23,400 Speaker 1: I guess if you want to make helium. Uh, they're 287 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:29,400 Speaker 1: probably we are running out, I mean, but still that's 288 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:32,120 Speaker 1: a lot of energy you're pouring into making some balloons 289 00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:35,440 Speaker 1: float or cooling the large Hadron collider, however you want 290 00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:37,160 Speaker 1: to think about it, right, But so so we do 291 00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:39,760 Speaker 1: have we do. There's two main ways that we are 292 00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:42,720 Speaker 1: experimenting with this on Earth, and one of those it's 293 00:16:42,760 --> 00:16:46,920 Speaker 1: called magnetic confinement. Right. So, magnetic confinement is what was 294 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:51,840 Speaker 1: used in the joint European Torus or jet fusion reactor. 295 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:54,880 Speaker 1: And this was sort of a test reactor. It wasn't 296 00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:59,320 Speaker 1: meant to be uh like an electrical generator, right right, 297 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:01,160 Speaker 1: It wasn't a power plant. It was more science is 298 00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:03,760 Speaker 1: cool than anything else. But and this is a good 299 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:06,560 Speaker 1: point to say that, you know, ultimately the way we 300 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:09,720 Speaker 1: would generate electricity with these is not that we have 301 00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:14,959 Speaker 1: some magical like yeah that just plug into the bolts 302 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:18,040 Speaker 1: and then it pulls. Yeah. This is still a steam generator. Yeah, 303 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:20,119 Speaker 1: which is which is really interesting to me because you know, 304 00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:22,880 Speaker 1: this is technically this is steam punk. I mean, yeah, 305 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:29,639 Speaker 1: we're essentially harnessing the power of them, yes, the stars themselves, 306 00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:33,360 Speaker 1: to turn water into steam. Yeah, it's still it's still 307 00:17:33,440 --> 00:17:37,359 Speaker 1: converting water to steam to turn steam well really efficiently, 308 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:39,520 Speaker 1: and a lot of water because you're talking about a 309 00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:42,040 Speaker 1: lot of heat. So then that's the That's the other 310 00:17:42,119 --> 00:17:43,840 Speaker 1: thing is that if if you could have used the 311 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:46,680 Speaker 1: same amount of energy you used to start the reaction 312 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:52,080 Speaker 1: to heat up some water and get a better effect 313 00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:54,600 Speaker 1: than Obviously this makes no sense. I mean, that's the 314 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:56,480 Speaker 1: whole point is that we have to find a way 315 00:17:56,520 --> 00:17:59,920 Speaker 1: to do a fusion reaction where we're getting more energy 316 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:02,440 Speaker 1: then we're putting into it. Otherwise, just take the reactor 317 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:05,800 Speaker 1: out and just direct your energy to water directly, take 318 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:10,000 Speaker 1: out the middleman. But m magnetic confinement you mentioned. It 319 00:18:10,119 --> 00:18:15,800 Speaker 1: uses a really powerful magnetic field to hold the ionized 320 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:20,000 Speaker 1: gas in place. An Ionized gas is plasma. So plasma 321 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:22,320 Speaker 1: is a gas where you've got free roaming electrons. That 322 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:25,080 Speaker 1: is what the sun is. That's you know, all that 323 00:18:25,119 --> 00:18:27,919 Speaker 1: heat has stripped away the electrons, you've poured energy in, 324 00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:31,840 Speaker 1: You've pushed the electrons away, You've got these free flowing 325 00:18:32,359 --> 00:18:37,360 Speaker 1: uh nuclei uh inside the plasma, and then the magnetic 326 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:41,760 Speaker 1: field starts to press all of these nuclei together until 327 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:44,399 Speaker 1: you are able to fuse them and what you get 328 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:49,520 Speaker 1: our helium adams and free neutrons. The neutrons fly off 329 00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:54,119 Speaker 1: and they hit what they call blankets, blankets of lithium. Ye, blankets. 330 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:56,840 Speaker 1: Lithium is in the blanket as well. Yes, and that 331 00:18:56,840 --> 00:18:59,720 Speaker 1: that means that because remember, if you bombard lithium with 332 00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:02,199 Speaker 1: a new tron, you create tritium, which means that you 333 00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:05,240 Speaker 1: can continually create part of the fuel source you need 334 00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:08,040 Speaker 1: for this reactory while you're in the middle of the process. Yeah. 335 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:10,439 Speaker 1: It's pretty pretty neat. Yeah. And it's also giving off 336 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:12,200 Speaker 1: a lot of energy in the form of heat which 337 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:15,280 Speaker 1: has been heating up the water to turn into steam, etcetera, etcetera. 338 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:19,640 Speaker 1: So that's magnetic confinement. Um and we use different things 339 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:22,800 Speaker 1: to heat up the plasma, like we might use microwaves 340 00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:26,840 Speaker 1: or lasers or electricity or I think that that accelerator 341 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:31,240 Speaker 1: driven neutral particle beams are our our integral in the 342 00:19:32,119 --> 00:19:36,080 Speaker 1: international through nuclear experimental reactor or either, which is the 343 00:19:36,119 --> 00:19:40,440 Speaker 1: one in France. Yes, it comes from France. That one, Yes, 344 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:45,680 Speaker 1: it does. That one is still being built. It's it's 345 00:19:45,680 --> 00:19:50,160 Speaker 1: projected to be finished and protected, projected to be online 346 00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:53,760 Speaker 1: by although whether or not that is a true fact 347 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:56,640 Speaker 1: or not is you know, remains to be seen. Yeah. Yeah, 348 00:19:56,640 --> 00:19:59,560 Speaker 1: so if it stays on target, then we'll be able 349 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:03,480 Speaker 1: to a by you know, if this is actually a 350 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:07,400 Speaker 1: viable means of generating electricity for us. By the way, 351 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:12,240 Speaker 1: the chamber has a special name. It's a it's a 352 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:17,280 Speaker 1: how did how do we decide to tacomac? Yeah, we've 353 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:19,640 Speaker 1: got tacomax here in Atlantic. Yeah, so it keeps throwing 354 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:22,440 Speaker 1: me out. Taco Mac is a is a restaurant chain 355 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:27,119 Speaker 1: in Atlanta that has obviously tacos. But this is tacomac. 356 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:31,320 Speaker 1: It's actually a Russian acronym for toroidal chamber with axial 357 00:20:31,359 --> 00:20:34,520 Speaker 1: magnetic field, which basically means it's a donut. It's a 358 00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:41,159 Speaker 1: magnetic it's a magnetic donut, magnetic donut. Yeah. And granted 359 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:42,960 Speaker 1: this is this is a you know, the Eider version 360 00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:45,680 Speaker 1: is a is a hundred foot tall, twenty three thousand 361 00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:51,320 Speaker 1: ton million part donut, enormous magnetic donut. Yeah. And the 362 00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:53,720 Speaker 1: reason for the donut shape is they've found that that 363 00:20:53,920 --> 00:20:58,520 Speaker 1: is the most effective way of of containing the plasma 364 00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:02,200 Speaker 1: in this really tight field so that you can have 365 00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:05,840 Speaker 1: these fusion reactions take place. So we've got magnetic confinement. 366 00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:10,560 Speaker 1: There's another method which has receives some some attention early on, 367 00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:12,480 Speaker 1: and there's still some labs, like there's some in the 368 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:15,359 Speaker 1: United States that are still looking at this approach. And 369 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:17,640 Speaker 1: it may even turn out that this ends up generating 370 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:21,080 Speaker 1: more energy in the long run than the magnetic confinement, 371 00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:23,840 Speaker 1: but we're still trying to figure that out. It's called 372 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:27,240 Speaker 1: inertial confinement, right, and this is using laser beams or 373 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:30,640 Speaker 1: ion beams to squeeze and heat that hydrogen plasma. Yeah. 374 00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:35,320 Speaker 1: In this case, really they take a pellet a frozen hydrogen, 375 00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:39,000 Speaker 1: so you have deuterium and tritium in an actual physical pellet. 376 00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:42,480 Speaker 1: So you're talking super cold yeah yeah, and and piece 377 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:44,680 Speaker 1: eyed I mean like little bitty thing. Yeah. And you're 378 00:21:44,760 --> 00:21:47,919 Speaker 1: using these these lasers or ions to heat that pellet 379 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:51,920 Speaker 1: into a plasma almost instantaneously. I mean, you're just you're 380 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:56,160 Speaker 1: bombarding it with an enormous amount of energy. And essentially 381 00:21:56,160 --> 00:21:59,280 Speaker 1: what's happening is that all right, if you've ever seen 382 00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:03,119 Speaker 1: the match trick where the magician walks up to the 383 00:22:03,119 --> 00:22:05,800 Speaker 1: the the dining table with all the beautiful glassware and 384 00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:09,159 Speaker 1: everything that's perched perfectly on the tablecloth and then he 385 00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:11,000 Speaker 1: grabs the table cloth, gives it a quick jerk, and 386 00:22:11,040 --> 00:22:15,160 Speaker 1: everything stays there. Kman failed to do and exactly. Yeah, 387 00:22:15,760 --> 00:22:18,080 Speaker 1: it's the same same sort of idea here, and that 388 00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:21,920 Speaker 1: you are heating it up so fast that because it's 389 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:25,159 Speaker 1: because this is a compressed pellet and the lasers are 390 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:27,879 Speaker 1: actually compressing it. Our ions are compressing it even further 391 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:32,440 Speaker 1: as it's being heated up. Before the electromagnetic force has 392 00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:35,360 Speaker 1: the opportunity to push the atoms apart, the strong nuclear 393 00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:38,359 Speaker 1: force fuses them together and so kind of implodes. Yeah, 394 00:22:38,359 --> 00:22:42,560 Speaker 1: so you gotta do. I mean, it's happening super fast. Now, 395 00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:45,879 Speaker 1: the the fraction and like one millionth of a second, 396 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:48,919 Speaker 1: I think, is how fast this happened. It's insane and 397 00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:52,159 Speaker 1: and uh, it's there are other differences between the initial 398 00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:55,560 Speaker 1: confinement and magnetic confinement. With magnetic confronment, the goal is 399 00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:59,640 Speaker 1: to find a way to have ongoing fusion reactions so 400 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:03,000 Speaker 1: that you don't have to just generate electricity or generate 401 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:05,920 Speaker 1: heat and spurts. That you could actually have a maintained 402 00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:08,640 Speaker 1: reaction that goes on for an extended amount of time 403 00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:12,520 Speaker 1: to generate as much electricity as is needed, whereas inertial 404 00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:15,600 Speaker 1: confinement you'd have to set up multiple, essentially multiple targets, 405 00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:18,040 Speaker 1: right right, because the way that the way that one 406 00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:21,359 Speaker 1: of them works at the National Ignition Facility of Lawrenceville 407 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:24,600 Speaker 1: Livermore Laboratory in the United States in California, I believe 408 00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:27,760 Speaker 1: UM it uses a hundred ninety two laser beams to 409 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:30,640 Speaker 1: focus on a single point in a test chamber. UM 410 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:32,920 Speaker 1: and this single point is where that little piece sized 411 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:37,119 Speaker 1: bit of hydrogen hydrogen is sitting. And and so you know, 412 00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:40,399 Speaker 1: they're they're working on ways to focus the lasers better 413 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:44,360 Speaker 1: and essentially have multiple pellets and and and also yeah, 414 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:47,000 Speaker 1: and and to have to have chambers, multiple chambers with 415 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:49,480 Speaker 1: multiple pellets that are going off in succession so that 416 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:52,359 Speaker 1: you create a continuous in quoting quotation marks in the 417 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:56,320 Speaker 1: air reaction. So it's it's a challenging thing. And if 418 00:23:56,359 --> 00:23:58,399 Speaker 1: if they are able to crack it, it has the 419 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:02,040 Speaker 1: potential to create quite a bit of electricity, uh so 420 00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:05,440 Speaker 1: much so that we could start to really take the 421 00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:09,719 Speaker 1: load off of things like fossil fuel based power plants. 422 00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:13,520 Speaker 1: Right right, They're they're talking about UM with with inertial confinement, 423 00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:17,719 Speaker 1: a fifty two hundred times more energy um output than 424 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:20,560 Speaker 1: than you would have to put in, whereas the numbers 425 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:22,320 Speaker 1: that I've seen for it or anyway are more like 426 00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:26,320 Speaker 1: seven times. So you know, either way, you're still getting 427 00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:29,760 Speaker 1: a lot of energy out and and we're not there yet. 428 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:32,360 Speaker 1: No one has No one has created a fusion reactor 429 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:35,359 Speaker 1: here on Earth that has been efficient enough for it 430 00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:39,159 Speaker 1: to be a meaningful way to create electricity, uh it, 431 00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:42,320 Speaker 1: because you would be losing energy on the deal. So 432 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:45,800 Speaker 1: if these work out, it's going to be fantastic. There 433 00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:47,479 Speaker 1: are there are a lot of challenges here. I mean, 434 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:50,240 Speaker 1: you can imagine, if we're talking about using these incredible 435 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:51,960 Speaker 1: amounts of heat, you have to be able to design 436 00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:55,560 Speaker 1: a reactor that can withstand handle it. Yeah, and that's tough. 437 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:57,760 Speaker 1: It's not an easy thing to do. So that's a 438 00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:00,480 Speaker 1: big challenge. And then well we've got other ones as well. 439 00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:04,040 Speaker 1: And again scientists will say like it's about twenty years away. 440 00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:07,480 Speaker 1: Hopefully they're right right now. I think one of the 441 00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:11,160 Speaker 1: challenges is almost a societal challenge because people hear fusion 442 00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:15,480 Speaker 1: and they think fission and radioactive and meltdown and not 443 00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:19,840 Speaker 1: in my backyard and etcetera. Whereas fusion is potentially anyway 444 00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:24,040 Speaker 1: loads safer than a fission reactor. You don't you're not 445 00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:27,480 Speaker 1: talking about you know, your output is a neutron and helium. 446 00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:30,680 Speaker 1: It's not a heavy radioactive material that's going to have 447 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:34,960 Speaker 1: a half life of several thousand years. It's stuff that 448 00:25:35,119 --> 00:25:39,120 Speaker 1: is harmless once you have harnessed it. Uh So, really 449 00:25:39,119 --> 00:25:40,359 Speaker 1: the question would be, you know, as long as the 450 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:43,280 Speaker 1: reactor is well made and solid, you don't have to 451 00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:47,639 Speaker 1: worry about this heat escaping or the other kind of 452 00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:51,359 Speaker 1: of a mechanical failure. Well, like like any other steam 453 00:25:51,520 --> 00:25:54,720 Speaker 1: turbine generator, it's going to have an impact on the 454 00:25:54,800 --> 00:25:56,640 Speaker 1: environment and that you know, you're going to be taking 455 00:25:56,680 --> 00:25:59,159 Speaker 1: in water and and that's an impact, and it's going 456 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:01,280 Speaker 1: to be putting off steam, which is an impact. And 457 00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:02,720 Speaker 1: there are a lot of there are a lot of 458 00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:06,360 Speaker 1: designs I've seen where they have built in a system 459 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:08,880 Speaker 1: where they condense the steam back down into the water, 460 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:11,479 Speaker 1: so it becomes a closed loop. So at least then 461 00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:13,960 Speaker 1: you are I mean, you still probably have a loss. 462 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:17,240 Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's hard to create a perfectly closed loop, 463 00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:19,800 Speaker 1: but if you could, then you could just essentially use 464 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:22,480 Speaker 1: the same water over and over and over again, because 465 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:23,800 Speaker 1: you know, the steam is just going to condense in 466 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:25,520 Speaker 1: the water, and then the water will go back into 467 00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:27,760 Speaker 1: steam once you heat it up. Yeah, and and and again. 468 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:29,159 Speaker 1: You know, even if you do have even if you 469 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:31,040 Speaker 1: do have a loss, you're not going to be having 470 00:26:31,119 --> 00:26:33,439 Speaker 1: Blanky the three eyed fish in the river outside, right, 471 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:36,480 Speaker 1: So so yeah, there's you know, and and who knows, 472 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:40,479 Speaker 1: maybe that'll really generate enough helium for us. I mostly 473 00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:43,560 Speaker 1: joke about that because I seriously doubt there's any useful 474 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:46,680 Speaker 1: way to harness and a huge amount of helium from 475 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:50,240 Speaker 1: these reactions. But that brings us to an idea called 476 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:54,280 Speaker 1: cold fusion. And cold fusion is kind of what it 477 00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:56,320 Speaker 1: sounds like. I mean, the idea is what it sounds like, 478 00:26:56,400 --> 00:26:59,600 Speaker 1: and it's it's not actually cold. It's more room temperature. 479 00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:02,359 Speaker 1: Room to a sure fusion, but that's less of a 480 00:27:02,359 --> 00:27:06,000 Speaker 1: fun buzzword, so compared to a hundred million degree reaction, 481 00:27:06,160 --> 00:27:11,080 Speaker 1: it's um but no. Cold fusion is the idea that 482 00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:15,199 Speaker 1: you would be able to create these reactions, these fusion 483 00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:19,520 Speaker 1: reactions at essentially room temperature and still get energy off 484 00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:21,840 Speaker 1: of them, which if it were true, would be huge 485 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:23,840 Speaker 1: because that would mean that we wouldn't have to pour 486 00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:26,959 Speaker 1: in so much energy to start the reaction. You just 487 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:30,959 Speaker 1: have to set up the right situation and harnessly uh 488 00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:34,800 Speaker 1: the energy that comes off of it and make free 489 00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:37,960 Speaker 1: energy for everybody. Proponents of it, I like to call 490 00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:41,959 Speaker 1: it low energy nuclear reactions. Yeah, because cold fusion definitely 491 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:47,320 Speaker 1: has a stigma against it now and the reason for that. Alright, So, 492 00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:49,880 Speaker 1: so there were a pair of scientists, Pons and Fleishman, 493 00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:56,719 Speaker 1: who published a paper that was that that became really famous, 494 00:27:56,760 --> 00:27:59,119 Speaker 1: and it was that this they were talking about a 495 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:03,160 Speaker 1: reaction that they observed that gave off more energy than 496 00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:07,600 Speaker 1: it should have based upon what they did. What happened 497 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:11,040 Speaker 1: was they put an electrode of pollitium into a thermis 498 00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:14,680 Speaker 1: of heavy water of tridium oxide um and charged it 499 00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:19,760 Speaker 1: with an electrical current. And I supposedly the pollitium catalyzed 500 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:23,680 Speaker 1: fusion by allowing the du tritium atoms to snuggle up. So, 501 00:28:24,119 --> 00:28:26,440 Speaker 1: in other words, they were able to create a fusion 502 00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:29,600 Speaker 1: reaction at a at a very low temperature comparatively speaking, 503 00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:33,000 Speaker 1: and the temperature and and that they observed an excess 504 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:35,200 Speaker 1: of energy being given off by this. So they were 505 00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:38,959 Speaker 1: like Eureka, we have found a way to create electricity 506 00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:42,720 Speaker 1: or really to create energy through this reaction. And then 507 00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:46,600 Speaker 1: a few labs tried to replicate their results, and early 508 00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:50,280 Speaker 1: results seemed to replicate it, at least in a couple 509 00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:54,760 Speaker 1: of instances, but upon further study, it seemed like most 510 00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:58,959 Speaker 1: of those successes were due to either mechanical error like 511 00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:04,000 Speaker 1: someone someone misread something, or it was a poorly calibrated 512 00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:07,840 Speaker 1: or yeah, exactly like like there was there always seemed 513 00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:11,440 Speaker 1: to be something wrong with the experiment that put whatever 514 00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:14,000 Speaker 1: the results were within the margin of error, and if 515 00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:16,600 Speaker 1: it's within the margin of error, you cannot really be 516 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:22,200 Speaker 1: sure that you've got an actual positive result. So Ponds 517 00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:25,640 Speaker 1: and Flashman continued to talk about their studies and continue 518 00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:31,000 Speaker 1: to be proponents of this idea, but it increasingly became 519 00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:36,200 Speaker 1: sort of kind of a pathological science is what other 520 00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:39,280 Speaker 1: scientists were calling it, you know, which essentially means joke 521 00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:41,920 Speaker 1: in science talk. Now they were saying that there was 522 00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:45,480 Speaker 1: no real proof of it working, that the results were 523 00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:48,120 Speaker 1: not replicable, which is something that's important in science, as 524 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:51,440 Speaker 1: it turns out, and that there doesn't doesn't seem to 525 00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:54,880 Speaker 1: be any support based upon our understanding of the universe, 526 00:29:55,200 --> 00:29:58,200 Speaker 1: that cold fusion could actually be a thing, And this 527 00:29:58,280 --> 00:30:00,400 Speaker 1: wasn't the only time that it's been attempted. Back in 528 00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:04,000 Speaker 1: two thousand five, U c l A. Researchers were working 529 00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:08,600 Speaker 1: without hyro electric crystals um to to create electric fields 530 00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:12,400 Speaker 1: in in water, normal normal, old stuff. And in two 531 00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:15,480 Speaker 1: thousand nine the U. S. Navy's UH Space in Naval 532 00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:18,840 Speaker 1: Warfare Systems Department was was trying some stuff. Yeah, and 533 00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:21,640 Speaker 1: just it doesn't seem to have ever panned out. Now 534 00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:25,840 Speaker 1: there are conspiracy theorists who suggests that perhaps big energy 535 00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:30,600 Speaker 1: companies are suppressing information about cold fusion and have compromised 536 00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:35,840 Speaker 1: the scientific community as such. Uh and therefore cold fusion 537 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:37,280 Speaker 1: could be a thing, but we don't know about it 538 00:30:37,280 --> 00:30:40,360 Speaker 1: because people are actively working against us from learning about it. 539 00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:42,520 Speaker 1: I would not go so far as to say that. 540 00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:45,920 Speaker 1: I will say that there is enough of a stigma 541 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:49,880 Speaker 1: against cold fusion and low energy nuclear reactions within the 542 00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:55,840 Speaker 1: literature world that most magazines won't scientific consider publishing right, 543 00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:58,360 Speaker 1: so they just they dismiss it out of hand. Now 544 00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:01,320 Speaker 1: that I think people can make a legitimate argument that 545 00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:05,120 Speaker 1: that is probably shortsighted, that that they should they should 546 00:31:05,120 --> 00:31:07,880 Speaker 1: at least consider them so that other scientists have the 547 00:31:07,920 --> 00:31:11,680 Speaker 1: opportunity to observe the to to learn about the results, 548 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:14,960 Speaker 1: try and replicate it, and then that's how we can 549 00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:17,479 Speaker 1: at least let's at least make a consideration about it 550 00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:20,600 Speaker 1: before rather than dismissing it out of hand as Yeah, 551 00:31:20,640 --> 00:31:22,560 Speaker 1: I think I think dismissing it out of hand ends 552 00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:26,160 Speaker 1: up just creating more fuel for the conspiracy theorists. Now, personally, 553 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:29,440 Speaker 1: I don't think there's anything to it counter counter culture. 554 00:31:29,560 --> 00:31:32,200 Speaker 1: What's the I was I was lectured about the terminology 555 00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:35,840 Speaker 1: conspiracy theorists. I'm sorry that the conspiracy theorist hate the 556 00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:40,680 Speaker 1: term conspiracy theorist. I'm really sorry about that. Um So anyway, Yeah, 557 00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:43,000 Speaker 1: we're gonna have Ben and Madden here on he bring 558 00:31:43,080 --> 00:31:46,360 Speaker 1: them on. I will bends my arch nemesis. Everyone knows that, 559 00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:48,920 Speaker 1: so uh And if you didn't know that, now you do. 560 00:31:49,280 --> 00:31:51,520 Speaker 1: I called him my arch nemesis the very first day 561 00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:54,840 Speaker 1: I met him, six years ago. So and it has 562 00:31:54,880 --> 00:31:58,000 Speaker 1: held true. We, by the way, share trains to train 563 00:31:58,080 --> 00:31:59,880 Speaker 1: rights together and chat all the way and talk about 564 00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:03,400 Speaker 1: using very very very little actual arch nemesis theory. He's 565 00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:06,640 Speaker 1: about as lazy a hero as I am lazy as supervillain. 566 00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:09,160 Speaker 1: So really nothing happens, really is that? Is that how 567 00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:11,120 Speaker 1: it works out? He's he's the hero, You're the villain. 568 00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:15,520 Speaker 1: I mean you're you're That's that's the problem, right, I 569 00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:17,560 Speaker 1: mean I have to be the villain by default by 570 00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:21,200 Speaker 1: Star Trek rules. We got off on a tangent. So anyway, anyway, 571 00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:24,080 Speaker 1: the science does not seem to hold up cold fusion. 572 00:32:24,120 --> 00:32:25,800 Speaker 1: It just doesn't seem to be. There doesn't seem to 573 00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:29,360 Speaker 1: be any support there. Now, maybe that there actually is 574 00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:32,160 Speaker 1: a way of doing it. Maybe there is, and it's 575 00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:36,080 Speaker 1: just that whatever results were found were due to something 576 00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:40,400 Speaker 1: else and it just hasn't been discovered in the other examples. 577 00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:43,400 Speaker 1: And maybe it'll turn out that that is the answer, 578 00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:46,400 Speaker 1: which would be amazing, and I think everyone really wants 579 00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:50,080 Speaker 1: that world to exist. It would it would mean that 580 00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:52,160 Speaker 1: our energy problems, we would we would be in an 581 00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:56,480 Speaker 1: energy surplus to the point where when you have energy surplus, 582 00:32:56,600 --> 00:32:58,960 Speaker 1: so many things become possible. Yeah, it's it's one of 583 00:32:58,960 --> 00:33:00,880 Speaker 1: those things that you know that you kind of start 584 00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:03,360 Speaker 1: seeing in something like Star Trek, where it's it's just 585 00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:06,600 Speaker 1: this perfect utopian universe where a lot of people don't 586 00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:09,480 Speaker 1: have to work anymore because we have we have free energy, 587 00:33:09,520 --> 00:33:11,880 Speaker 1: so we have free transportation, so we have free food. 588 00:33:12,080 --> 00:33:15,000 Speaker 1: So yeah, and so obviously this would be a pretty 589 00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:18,120 Speaker 1: great world. And I think it's pretty cynical, maybe not 590 00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:21,360 Speaker 1: completely unrealistic to say that corporations would suppress such a 591 00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:23,920 Speaker 1: world for their own gain, because I actually think they 592 00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:26,640 Speaker 1: would have more to gain in the utopia version of 593 00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:29,160 Speaker 1: the world than in the current one. But I don't know. 594 00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:31,600 Speaker 1: I'm not a I'm not a CEO of a major corporation, 595 00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:33,800 Speaker 1: so maybe I would think in a different way if 596 00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:35,760 Speaker 1: I were. I can I can see how how changing 597 00:33:35,760 --> 00:33:37,800 Speaker 1: the status quo could be a scary thing. Yeah, and 598 00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:41,640 Speaker 1: I'm too lazy to try again, super villain lazy. So 599 00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:46,360 Speaker 1: um yeah, anyway, it'll I'm interested to see how the 600 00:33:46,360 --> 00:33:51,160 Speaker 1: the fusion reactors like it turn turn out over the 601 00:33:51,200 --> 00:33:55,760 Speaker 1: next couple of decades um. If anyone does make advances 602 00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:59,160 Speaker 1: in the cold fusion field, that would be phenomenal. And 603 00:33:59,200 --> 00:34:02,160 Speaker 1: you know, I am a skeptic, and I fully admit 604 00:34:02,200 --> 00:34:04,480 Speaker 1: that I'm a skeptic. I'm also a person who if 605 00:34:04,560 --> 00:34:07,920 Speaker 1: you show me evidence that really supports the claim and 606 00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:11,319 Speaker 1: it's replicable then I'm going to say, like, okay, you're right. 607 00:34:11,360 --> 00:34:14,000 Speaker 1: I mean, that's that's how science works. That's all right. 608 00:34:14,360 --> 00:34:17,960 Speaker 1: I am willing to say like, Okay, my my skepticism 609 00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:21,880 Speaker 1: was was not well founded because here we have proof, right, 610 00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:24,279 Speaker 1: but until then, yeah, until then, I'm a skeptic. One 611 00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:26,120 Speaker 1: of my one of my favorite stories about that, there's 612 00:34:26,160 --> 00:34:30,879 Speaker 1: a Scottish physicist named Douglas Morrison who would attend these 613 00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:34,200 Speaker 1: cold fusion conferences every year and and and listen and 614 00:34:34,239 --> 00:34:38,120 Speaker 1: from what I understand, really genuinely listen to these people 615 00:34:38,120 --> 00:34:40,600 Speaker 1: who had these brilliant ideas about about how these things 616 00:34:40,719 --> 00:34:43,200 Speaker 1: might work and how they were supposedly working in their 617 00:34:43,200 --> 00:34:46,319 Speaker 1: own labs. And he would stand up and say can 618 00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:48,440 Speaker 1: you please make me a cup of tea? And they 619 00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:50,640 Speaker 1: would go, well, I can't produce that much heat yet, 620 00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:53,919 Speaker 1: and he would go, oh yeah, yeah. That's the other 621 00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:56,719 Speaker 1: thing is that if cold fusion, if these reactions are 622 00:34:56,760 --> 00:35:00,160 Speaker 1: actually happening, if if there really is something too it, 623 00:35:01,040 --> 00:35:03,560 Speaker 1: the problem would be can it be scaled up to 624 00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:06,600 Speaker 1: something that's useful? And if it can't be scaled up, 625 00:35:06,600 --> 00:35:08,839 Speaker 1: then it may be that all right, well, we've learned 626 00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:12,280 Speaker 1: something interesting that we didn't know before, which is always valuable. 627 00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:15,759 Speaker 1: But if it's not practical to use this in any 628 00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:19,080 Speaker 1: way of generating electricity, it doesn't actually meet the problem 629 00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:22,239 Speaker 1: that we're trying to solve. So that's something else to 630 00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:25,279 Speaker 1: keep in mind, although personally I'm always like knowledge for 631 00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:29,160 Speaker 1: knowledge sake, bring it on. So anyway, that kind of 632 00:35:29,160 --> 00:35:32,360 Speaker 1: wraps up this full discussion about fusion. If you guys 633 00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:35,000 Speaker 1: have any suggestions for future articles, If you want to 634 00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:37,960 Speaker 1: berate me for the use of the term conspiracy theorist, 635 00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:41,920 Speaker 1: you can write me. That's fine. My well are out 636 00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:45,839 Speaker 1: addresses tech stuff at Discovery dot com. You can also 637 00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:48,160 Speaker 1: find us on Facebook and Twitter are handled. There is 638 00:35:48,239 --> 00:35:52,359 Speaker 1: text stuff h s W. Please let us know if 639 00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:54,200 Speaker 1: you have anything you want us to talk about. We 640 00:35:54,280 --> 00:35:57,279 Speaker 1: are loving the submissions for keeping track of them and 641 00:35:57,320 --> 00:35:59,440 Speaker 1: it's really helping us out when we plan out our 642 00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:02,520 Speaker 1: episodes coming and Lauren and I will talk to you 643 00:36:02,560 --> 00:36:09,000 Speaker 1: again really soon for more on this and thousands of 644 00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:20,680 Speaker 1: other topics because it hastof works dot Com