Lockheed Martin Claims Fusion Breakthrough

[edhopper]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/williampentland/2014/10/15/lockheed-martin-claims-fusion-breakthrough-that-could-change-world-forever/

Lockheed Martin, the aerospace and defense conglomerate based in Bethesda, Md., is claiming to have made a major breakthrough in nuclear fusion, which could lead to development of reactors small enough to fit on the back of a truck within a decade.

Plenty of reasons to be skeptical, but this could be an event of huge import.

[spanone]

1. ...and Jesus wept.

or laughed.

[edhopper]

2. his isn't coming from a small lab

at the U of Utah.

It's a major areo-space/defence corp.

Would they make an announcement, just to have egg on their face?

Like I said, skeptical yes, but intriguing as well.

[dballance]

3. I Really Hope this is True

This would be very good news for human society.

Also, it'd be nice to think that all those billions and billions of dollars the US has given to Lockeed Martin have led to something more productive than the F-35.

[msongs]

4. and if developed using taxpayer money, it belongs to all us nt

[Warren DeMontague]

5. I hope they are onto something.

If true- big if- that could be a game changer for the human race.

[cloudbase]

6. Why, they could produce electricity

that's too cheap to meter.


Stop me if you've heard that one before.

[TheBlackAdder]

7. My luck, I'd invest only to find it was a hype to elevate the stock prior to a sell-off. nt

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. More here: Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-business/wp/2014/10/16/can-lockheed-martins-nuclear-fusion-reactor-work-some-scientists-doubt-it/

[jberryhill]

9. the back of whose truck?

[Rex]

10. Probably at least a king cab.

Need it to power my speakers.

[jberryhill]

12. still won't fit in a delorean

[Rex]

14. Good point.

[Marr]

11. Something like this would change global politics tremendously.

The Middle East would lose a hell of a lot of relevance. Saudi Arabia wouldn't last long. Neither would Israel, I expect.

[kentauros]

13. It's an interesting take on the "old" way of doing fusion.

That is, capturing the heat from the reaction, to boil water, to make steam, to turn a steam-turbine, to make electricity. That's simply the only way any of those forms of fusion can make electricity, much like fission reactors.

It is good that they are working on the technology, though. At the very least, whether it works or not, they'll gain some fine research engineering and information out of it.

Now, if you want to read a far better and more detailed article on this announcement, try this from Aviation Week:

[font size="3"]Skunk Works Reveals Compact Fusion Reactor Details[/font]
Lockheed Martin aims to develop compact reactor prototype in five years, production unit in 10

Personally, I'm holding out for Polywell Fusion, a form of fusion that directly converts the energy of the reaction into electricity. No need to boil water or use steam-turbines