Speaker 0: nuclear fusion. the new idea is an off the shelf reactor that you put together like ikea furniture. Speaker 1: yeah. so it's not i wouldn't say it's too groundbreaking because i think it's taken from a design from the seventies. so for those of you that don't know, fusion is not a viable technology right now. what is currently being used is fission. so we have nuclear fission reactors all over the world. fusion is still that, holy grail of energy, but there's a new approach to fusion reactor construction that's being developed, which is kind of like if you think about putting together ikea furniture, assembly required. so, it's called an off the shelf stellarator. and so for those of you who don't know, i don't know if you have a picture of it, but a stellarator, it's a device designed to combine plasma using magnetic fields for the purpose of achieving controlled nuclear fusion. it kinda looks like a snake donut, but you know a wavy donut kind of thing. it's really cool. but yeah. so, the cool thing about this is it could significantly reduce the cost and complexity of building fusion reactors, which could potentially accelerate the development fusion in. Speaker 0: yeah. there's a couple of pictures. you can see this one here is a sixteen copper coil electromagnetic resembling a giant slices of pineapple wrapped around the stellinator shell. so that's kind of the hosey looking thing in the middle. Speaker 1: yeah. Speaker 0: yeah. this was really interesting. they offer a different approach to fusion unlike traditional tol tokamak react, devices, tokamak reactors. i always have a hard time saying tokamak. yeah. the advanced algorithm, stellanears possess twisted coils that create stable plasma without, continual adjustments. they're compact, and they're constructed using standardized, modular components, reducing cost significantly. so this is very cool where we're moving towards. are we gonna see real fusion soon? Speaker 1: i think so. we haven't covered too much fusion lately, but, there have been a few articles where there have been some achievements and some advancements in fusion technology as far as sustaining and power output. but we're talking these huge large reactors that are, just kind of prototypes. so, the cool thing about this is the standardization of these components for this that could lead to economies of scale in fusion reactor construction, which means that other countries, other, like, other, companies could get involved and start helping to, accelerate the development of fusion. and so just a quick, thing with fusion, what it's doing is you're fusing two molecules together, two atoms. right? so that's why you need all these heavy magnets and stuff. it's because you need to fuse those two to create energy, if that makes sense. so as opposed to fission where you're splitting atoms. Speaker 0: and, apparently, one of the primary utility of the stellarators is their prolonged operational stability. Speaker 1: oh, cool. okay. i didn't read that. yeah. Speaker 0: yeah. so i guess they don't need adjustments. they just stay functional, for longer periods of time. public outreach on nuclear fusion safety and efficacy is gonna be crucial. but as we see with mobile nuclear reactors we've been talking about that seem to be, all the rage these days that, you know, this shouldn't be too far behind? Speaker 1: i think it is behind, because it's a whole different way of nuclear of creating energy. Speaker 0: so when i say it shouldn't be from an advocacy point of view, there shouldn't be it as what i'm saying is, like, everyone's afraid of this type of technology because we don't know what to do. but now that everyone's buying their own nuclear plants, apparently, that this shouldn't be a barrier. so i'm saying Speaker 1: you know what? that's a great point. yeah. yeah. like, with the more widespread adoption of nuclear fission technology, absolutely. i think that this is, it'll help with the adoption and the advancement of fusion technology for sure. Speaker 0: costing only six hundred and forty thousand in the us and built in less than a year, the device stands in contrast to prominent stellar stellarators like the germany wenzel wendelstein x seven x, a massive tentacle machine that took one point one billion dollars and more than twenty years to construct. Speaker 1: yeah. and i think too, with the advancement of ai and integration with ai, i think that's gonna help the development as well. Speaker 0: you know, just take a think about that for a minute. one point one billion in twenty years. we are now doing it for, just over half a million Speaker 1: yeah. Speaker 0: in less than a year. Speaker 1: it's crazy. Speaker 0: yeah. you know, we're advancements are crazy. the cost is going down exponentially. the time it takes to build these things are going down exponentially. yeah. fusion reactions have powered the sun since it formed an estimated four point six billion years ago. i've seen a lot of fusion energy skeptics. i assume you're not one of them? Speaker 1: no. i don't think so. so the reason being is is, obviously, i'm not an expert in the field, but, if you look at any research, the materials that are used that are, and and how the things are constructed. like, these things are, like, they're able to withstand. i can't remember the ridiculous amount of temperature, but it's crazy. i'm, i i think this is, viable, and we just need our technology and our research to get us there. Speaker 0: yeah. because currently, right now, it's not whether fusion can work. physics laboratories and even individuals have successfully fused nuclei of hydrogen liberating energy, but to produce more power than is consumed in the process. Speaker 1: yeah. Speaker 0: and currently, right now, fusing atoms isn't enough. so we'll have to see where this goes. i liked it. but now that we can take what was twenty years and one point one billion dollars, you know, the next version of this is gonna be half a year and less than five hundred thousand, it becomes more, accessible to people. more testing can be done. more work can be done. and all of a sudden, you're leaping forward, in months what takes years before. Speaker 1: yeah. Speaker 0: i'm really, excited about this. and, you know, containment obviously is important in fusion energy, and that's why, you know, you're saying there's a lot of cost in that heavier items and the stuff that keep, the containment and keep it secure. Speaker 1: yeah. exactly. yeah. Speaker 0: alright. so, many com magnet, confinement designs, including a twenty four point five billion i i two reactor under construction in two thousand ten uses internal current flowing. but this current can create instabilities, and even small instabilities in the plasma can cause it to escape confinement leading to energy loss and potential damage to hardware. so these tellers, you know, are great, for confinement. and yeah. so that stuff doesn't happen. and it costs, like, again, so much less than these other products so far. Speaker 1: mhmm. yeah. Speaker 0: amazing. there's great articles over here. anything else you wanna say about this, john? Speaker 1: nope. no. i'm good. yeah. exciting, exciting fusion or fission or fusion. i'm sorry. yeah. Speaker 0: absolutely. and there's an article on toronto starts dot com about this and, a little piece of, like, looking like something you could assemble. right. and that goes into all of these things we just talked about, you know, that the tokamak was originally developed in the late nineteen fifties, has been proved by stellator's design by introducing, toroidal magnetic field combine with current, strong current through the plasma. there's a bunch of stuff. so if you wanna understand it and dive deep, there's an article here on trial stars dot com where this podcast is located. so definitely go check that out. Speaker 1: yeah.