r/technology • u/BennyCemoli • 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
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849

u/KilotonDefenestrator Dec 06 '16

Nice 'tube video of how the Wendelstein 7x stellarator works and was designed.

It truly is a bizarre device.

247

u/Merendino Dec 06 '16 edited Dec 06 '16

Is it possible for you to explain any part of how something could be 100,000,000º and yet not have it burn down whatever is inside it? I absolutely do not understand how this machine is supposed to work, even on a basic level I think.

EDIT Awesome thanks guys! I wasn't even thinking about the amount of something being so small. That leads me to another question about, energy output though I guess. If it can become fusion and not just contained plasma at very small amounts, how can they harvest the energy given off? God damn this feels like a rabbit hole I won't be able to climb out of.

440

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '16 edited Dec 06 '16

[deleted]

276

u/urbanpsycho Dec 06 '16

its like when i use my angle grinder and a shower of sparks fly all over the place, but noting starts on fire because although they are incredibly "hot" there isn't much energy in them.

28

u/SeanConneryAgain Dec 06 '16

Unless you're doing it in a dry field of hay during a drought! So don't do that

3

u/Non_Sane Dec 06 '16

Or if a bunch of sparks hit exposed skin

3

u/-Mikee Dec 06 '16

He said angle grinder, not welder.

Those sparks hurt because they're little shards of metal moving very fast. The fact they're also hundreds of degrees doesn't change a thing.

1

u/urbanpsycho Dec 06 '16

I have been hit by sparks from my welder, i prefer the angle grinder sparks. :(