Has technological progress stalled?

This sounds good news where will it lead

2 Likes

Yes! We (I !) should concentrate more on the nearly miraculous things that tech is providing.

Wouldn’t it be great in our life time

1 Like

A good development but likely not quite within our lifetime.

“While these initiatives use innovative technologies to reach fusion and could deliver operational reactors fast, deploying a fleet of reactors throughout the world is bound to take time.

If development follows an accelerated track, nuclear fusion could amount for about 1% global energy demand by 2060.

So while this new breakthrough is exciting, it’s worth keeping in mind that fusion will be an energy source for the second part of the century – at the earliest.”

Greg DeTemmerman
Associate researcher at Mines ParisTech-PSL.
CEO of Zenon Research, Mines Paris

Fusion, sadly, is one of those technologies that is always “just around the corner”.

Mind you there’s a pretty successful fusion reactor a mere 93 million miles away.

2 Likes

Lots of Americans on youtube have been getting more energy out of the machines they contruct for years. Over unity machines.

We will get there one day, I am a great fan of A C Clarke. I knew a man who was involved in developing wireless pictures in the 1930’s. He said then he had no idea for what purpose, now it is everywhere. Getting back to fusion energy that will change the world almost free energy, no nation can ever exert power on another Fossil fuels will be dead

1 Like

If he had seen where its decended to (love island, the unreal housewives of … I’m a minor celeb, TOWIE ) I am sure he would have invented something else!
A C Clarke also helped NASA as an advisor having written 2001 before they sent someone to the moon.

You may find this interesting

Project Cassandra was to use fictional writings to predict real future events.

I do think there is something in this but the Project may be now tucked away after recent events in Germany have put too much thinking under a cloud. :face_with_diagonal_mouth:

He was also the first to suggest that a communication satellite could be placed in a geosynchronous orbit in order to be seen as a fixed point in the sky. This was in 1945.

2 Likes

As it’s the Daily Fail, I’m not going to read this, but if it’s about the NIF at Lawrence Livermore supposedly generating more power than it used, then it’s very misleading. In reality, it didn’t, and it was only one ‘shot’ that generated enough energy to boil a thimble of water. That’s assuming you could extract the energy successfully, which they can’t. I never understood why the US poured so much time and energy into laser fusion as it seems to be a complete dead end compared to other methods.

We should never discount science fiction as a source of insight. Freeman Dyson was inspired to his hypothesis by a story written in 1937. There are still papers being published more than 60 years after his original article in Science about the concept of a Dyson sphere and a Dyson swarm.

1 Like

Literature is frequently predictive of subsequent future developments - not only science fiction, and not only technology, but also scientific ‘paradigms’, social formations, politics, economics, etc…

1 Like

It can be formative as well as predictive. Famously the clamshell style of mobile phone is based on the depiction of the hand held communicators in Star Trek.

1 Like

While the announcement is welcome, tidal and wind power will be far more relevant for at least a couple of generations.

Apropos, I’ve not noticed anyone in Westminster politics realising that what remains of ‘Scotland’s oil’ in the North Sea is probably going to be replaced by Scotland’s wind and, more interestingly tidal generation on its north and west coasts. I can envisage a future where an independent Scotland is a net exporter of clean energy to Western Europe (including England?)

1 Like

Well I am delighted with modern goods after great service for 22 years the old micro wave has gone .The new one is brilliant grill and micro waves crispy hot nems in a few minutes and no washing up

2 Likes

Yes, but what about the rounded corners ?

1 Like

It’s really not. Complete waste of time. NIF that is.

The Pentlands between the mainland and South Ronaldsay/Hoy have phenomenal potential for tidal energy. They have some of the most powerful tidal stretches in the world. You would not believe how powerful the tides there are. At it’s peak, the water looks as if it’s boiling.

1 Like

? The Pentlands are hills sw of Edinburgh. Shetlands?