There is no gas shortage

[Level42]

Didn't know that.....I too thought it was fission....

[patrickl]

Didn't know that.....I too thought it was fission....

Well technically it's a combination, but isn't it at least part fusion?

:edit:  OK, checked it on Wiki (Wiki: Teller-Ulam design or Wiki: Nuclear weapon design) and indeed fusion is part of the design of the H-bomb, but it's goal is to boost the fission rather than using the energy of the fusion itself. So that doesn't really qualify it as a fusion weapon. I stand corrected.

Apparently the bombs that use fusion are called thermonuclear weapons and the pure fission bombs are called nuclear wapons. Cute little detail

[danny_galaga]

im surprised only patrickl picked up on that. the pic is of a US hydrogen bomb test. those little black lines are decommisioned warships lined up around the exposion to gauge the effects of the explosion. a hydrogen bomb is the simplest form of fusion. a nuclear device is used to compress hydrogen atoms together (more or less) so they fuse. the release of energy is much, much greater than the energy of the fission bomb used to detonate it.

'cold' fusion is a dream. nowadays i hate to say 'never' but- NEVER! how can you possibly do fusion in a controlled way, without using MORE energy than you put in.

besides, we already have the technology to collect fusion energy from a source that puts out millioons of hydrogen bombs worth per second

[patrickl]

I'm getting confused now. One wiki page says that the h-bomb is mostly (boosted) fission and only to a lesser extent fusion:

There are three basic design types. In all three, the explosive energy is derived primarily from nuclear fission, not fusion.

Rereading the other page it says that in the biggest bomb "evar" 97% of the energy came from fusion:

The Soviets demonstrated the power of the "staging" concept in October 1961, when they detonated the massive and unwieldy Tsar Bomba, a 50 Mt hydrogen bomb which derived almost 97% of its energy from fusion. It was the largest nuclear weapon developed and tested by any country, but was far too large for the Soviets to use as a weapon.

But then maybe that's just the boost effect since elsewhere they claim that the Teller-Ulam design multiplies the energy of the primary (fission explosion) by a factor of 30.

[Edgedamage]

Who cares!! When the blackhole generator goes online this spring it's all over. But if the time machine theory works just go back in time and claim the middle east first.
http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008/03/time-machine-worlds-biggest-particle.html

[Level42]

Who cares!! When the blackhole generator goes online this spring it's all over. But if the time machine theory works just go back in time and claim the middle east first.
http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008/03/time-machine-worlds-biggest-particle.html

OMG, that WILL go wrong, they use freaking Windows XP !!!!



And why don't I have tech colleagues like that ?

[patrickl]

And why don't I have tech colleagues like that ?

The link is not working, but I'm pretty sure I know which picture you were talking about

It reminded me of that Bond movie with Denise Richards.

[shmokes]

OMG, that WILL go wrong, they use freaking Windows XP !!!!

It could be worse.  They could be using Vista.

BTW, just look at those pictures.  If those people want to make some real money they ought to forget black holes and start renting it out as a set for Hollywood sci-fi movies.