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243 points greesil | 6 comments | 21 Jul 25 15:18 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source | bottom
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apples_oranges ◴[21 Jul 25 15:30 UTC] No.44636362[source]▶
Looking at the picture, I wonder if complexity of these devices will significantly be reduced once it finally works. I assume a lot of the bells and whistles are needed to find the way, but once it's found..
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StevenWaterman ◴[21 Jul 25 15:38 UTC] No.44636480[source]▶
Your question reminds me of the image showing how SpaceX raptor motors evolved https://imgur.com/a/4w3q3lS
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ortusdux ◴[21 Jul 25 15:41 UTC] No.44636512[source]▶
I'm not keen on the idea of applying a 'keep subtracting things until it blows up' mentality to fusion reactors.
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xorxornop ◴[21 Jul 25 15:48 UTC] No.44636626[source]▶
I wouldn't be concerned about this, personally, for the precise reason that it is a fusion device - not fission!

Fusion is incredibly difficult just to start, let alone keep burning - unlike fission, which is only too happy to enter runaway conditions if not very carefully regulated. Fusion is like a little ember in your fireplace you have to carefully blow on to keep alight; fission is like keeping a fireplace lit by pouring gasoline into it.

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1. grues-dinner ◴[21 Jul 25 16:06 UTC] No.44636867[source]▶
I'd say (older-generation) fission is more like having an indoor swimming pool filled with burning gasoline, but keeping the windows shut so there's only enough air for it to burn at the rate you want to heat the house.
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2. HPsquared ◴[21 Jul 25 16:36 UTC] No.44637190[source]▶
Or a swimming pool full of those spicy rocket propellents discussed in the book Ignition! which have combustion products like hydrogen fluoride.
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3. exe34 ◴[21 Jul 25 17:14 UTC] No.44637690[source]▶
"Things I will not work with" - "at this point hydrogen fluoride loses its gentle nature".
4. sheepscreek ◴[21 Jul 25 17:18 UTC] No.44637727[source]▶
Would love to take a look at your library.
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5. grues-dinner ◴[21 Jul 25 17:32 UTC] No.44637939[source]▶
Neither of the hypergolics described in Command and Control seem chill either: the fuel reacts with atmospheric water and oxygen, the oxidizer is in the highest category of poison (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.co.za/extracts/command-and-co...).

Indeed there's no such thing as a free launch, and that is rocket science.

6. FiatLuxDave ◴[21 Jul 25 22:26 UTC] No.44641094{3}[source]▶
Not the poster above, but as someone who also has a copy of Ignition! in their library, I think you might enjoy the pdf version:

https://library.sciencemadness.org/library/books/ignition.pd...