Breakthrough in Nuclear Fusion

[vacationtime247]

Might we be one step closer to 'free' energy? Hmmm..... perhaps?
VT247
Apparent breakthrough in nuclear fusion silenced by shutdown - CBS News

[oil pan 4]

My conspiracy theory sense is tingling.

[Piwoslaw]

Wasn't nuclear fission supposed to give us more free energy than we would ever need?
Or was that oil?

[vacationtime247]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

My conspiracy theory sense is tingling.

Not sure were the conspiracy would be.... Just curious if this is something that is viable or this post is posted right were it belongs. Is this truly something that can be done or is it akin to catching stardust to power lights in the night?
VT247

[t vago]

Well, if we go to the original story,

BBC News - Nuclear fusion milestone passed at US lab

We find no mention of shutdown theatre at all in the BBC article, which makes things a bit clearer. This paragraph stands out:

n 2009, NIF officials announced an aim to demonstrate nuclear fusion producing net energy by 30 September 2012. But unexpected technical problems ensured the deadline came and went; the fusion output was less than had originally been predicted by mathematical models.

Soon after, the $3.5bn facility shifted focus, cutting the amount of time spent on fusion versus nuclear weapons research - which was part of the lab's original mission.

Also, the CBSNews article contains this rather interesting sentence:

However, ITER (the French fusion effort) scientists aim to conduct experiments in burning plasma.

Which is markedly different from the BBC article, showing that the CBSNews article is factually incorrect.

However, ITER will take a different approach to the laser-driven fusion at NIF; the Cadarache facility will use magnetic fields to contain the hot fusion fuel - a concept known as magnetic confinement.

[cbaber]

The lengths that mainstream news outlets will go to capitalize on the latest political drama never ceases to amaze me. 90% of people would not read that article if it did not contain "silenced by shutdown". How can anyone take CBS seriously when they write this crap?

[bestclimb]

Originally Posted by cbaber

The lengths that mainstream news outlets will go to capitalize on the latest political drama never ceases to amaze me. 90% of people would not read that article if it did not contain "silenced by shutdown". How can anyone take CBS seriously when they write this crap?

Perhaps I am out of the loop, but I was under the impression that none of the major US media outlets were to be taken seriously.