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For real this time, NSF, I swear it's the last time. (mander.xyz)

submitted 11 months ago by fossilesque@mander.xyz to c/science_memes@mander.xyz

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[-] lol3droflxp@kbin.social 15 points 11 months ago

This isn’t properly calculated though. They only count the actual laser energy inside the reacttvs output. They don’t account for the huge amount of energy thatch’s needed to run the lasers in the first place or the rest of the facility. It’s nowhere near putting out more energy than it consumes and it’s also a reactor for nuclear weapons testing so they don’t really try to produce energy anyway.

[-] Ranvier@sopuli.xyz 8 points 11 months ago

You're not wrong. It's still an important step for the field though. Having a net positive within the reaction itself could theoretically mean eventually the energy from the reaction can help sustain the reaction after the initial higher activation energy. But with the poor state of science journalism the result was reported with extreme hyperbole.