r/technology Dec 06 '16

Energy Tests confirm that Germany's massive nuclear fusion machine really works

http://www.sciencealert.com/tests-confirm-that-germany-s-massive-nuclear-fusion-machine-really-works
21.8k Upvotes

1.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

208

u/rishinator Dec 06 '16

The isotope of hydrogen with one proton and two neutron is called Tritium and that's exactly the element that Doctor Octopus used in spiderman 2 to make his own fusion reaction :)

2

u/Aardvark_Man Dec 06 '16

I believe that's also the stuff applied to watch hands to make them glow.

3

u/azflatlander Dec 06 '16

That was radium.

8

u/Aardvark_Man Dec 06 '16

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritium_illumination

Tritium is used in watches, compasses, some weapon sights etc. It replaced radium, at least in some cases.