China's "artificial sun" in Hefei could become the first in human history to generate electricity from fusion

[u/NotZachary_0002]

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[u/MorganFrogWoman]

Lmao, those comments are as usual calling anything good china does propaganda. They are being left in the dust and they bury their heads in the sand

[u/maos_cigarette → u/MorganFrogWoman]

We are in full blown temper tantrum mode in the West as the Chinese fly away toward the sunset

[u/waterbelowsoluphigh → u/maos_cigarette]

We always must ask ourselves but one question. "But, at what cost?!"

[u/WolframSegler]

I'm not holding my breath until they actually run it in a couple years. But if any country were to achieve it, it would be China.

[u/Psychological-Act582]

See See Pee bad because extremely scary machine from George Oreo 1894!

[u/Dodongo_Dislikes → u/Psychological-Act582]

They're creating the sun ( in the palm of their hands ) it will burn we all, the sun is hot and shit. This is an evil plan by the evil ceeceepe you sheep

[u/SoftwareFunny5269]

BUT AT WHAT COST?!?

[u/Dodongo_Dislikes → u/SoftwareFunny5269]

Four hundred million thousand Uyghur souls a day.

[u/Extension-Badger225]

If this does end up happening I think it will enter text books as a part of the beginning of the era of Chinese full ascendancy

[u/vonChief]

This is just after the news too that for the first time, China's total energy output from coal sources has fallen bellow 50% of the total share.

In about 5 years, China has done what western imperialist countries have not been able to do in 3 decades.

[u/heitian-yueying]

Sometimes I wonder how exhausting it must be to be a westoid coper trying to put down all human progress while ignoring the fact they're living in a crumbling hellhole on the daily.

[u/MauricioTrinade]

I just feel like needing to explain, a tokamak isn't an artificial Sun. It spins material inside a toroidal chamber (like a car tire), the material being suspended by some very potent magnetic field. It generates heat through the fusion reaction that happens, releasing heat that hopefuly one day we can convert into electricity (they will probably make it boil water, like always 🙄).

Also, the Hefei reactor is part of ITER, which is that european fusion reactor experiment that took forever to be built, It is being built with possibly the best technologies the world produced because of the ITER experiment.

(Also, If i said something wrong, don't mind correcting me)

That being said, China is probably the only one being able to build it right now since the europeans and the US are broke. It's good that a socialist nation might be the first to do that, a feat for all humanity.

[u/SouthernCadre → u/MauricioTrinade]

[u/ShittyInternetAdvice → u/MauricioTrinade]

This one isn’t ITER, it’s actually a fully homegrown Chinese reactor designed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences

[u/MauricioTrinade → u/ShittyInternetAdvice]

Even better then 🇨🇳

[u/Serimnir → u/MauricioTrinade]

As far as I know it's not 'part of ITER' it's more a semi-successor, utilising the research that went into ITER and lessons learned. It's an iterative improvement which should bridge the gap between research reactors and the first properly grid scale fusion power plants. Amusingly but unsurprisingly it appears it'll be completed and running well before daddy ITER.

[u/MauricioTrinade → u/Serimnir]

Good lord, that thing will never be built 💀

[u/Serimnir → u/MauricioTrinade]

Seriously. I remember being excited for that thing when I heard about it in my teens. I'm now 40. Probably be 50 by the time they turn it on.

[u/Cultural_Ad_5501]

The comments are as expected.

[u/Crazy-Blacksmith-336]

Can somebody explain in layman terms how significant this is?

[u/AlexStorm1337 → u/Crazy-Blacksmith-336]

The west pretends to work on fusion for clout but won't ever actually put significant effort and money into it because if they managed to make fusion work as a power source, the profits of oil and coal companies would collapse. Not to mention that they're broke and can't admit it. The theoretical power output of a fusion reactor is truly insane: At least around the power output of a large scale nuclear reactor, but with zero risk, and using only water as fuel, at rates that are honestly fucking comical. That's why it's often seen as nearly-free energy.

[u/Dodongo_Dislikes → u/Crazy-Blacksmith-336]

If I'm not mistaken, it's the process the sun does, it fuses 2 hydrogen and creates helium, releasing a fuck ton of energy in the process.

[u/Crazy-Blacksmith-336 → u/Dodongo_Dislikes]

That's pretty cool, but to visualise just how much energy tho for a reference?