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Internet skeptical as California scientists hit nuclear fusion milestone to harness UNLIMITED clean energy

'Feel like I’ve been hearing about breakthroughs in fusion my entire adult life. Hope you’re right,' said a skeptical user

PHOENIX, ARIZONA: Scientists claim to have found the source of unlimited clean energy by replicating the process of nuclear fusion. The researchers claim that they have successfully triggered a fusion reaction that is briefly self-sustaining. Scientists at the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Lab said they can now consider nuclear fusion as a major source of energy.

According to the Daily Mail, the experiment conducted in August was the first to generate more energy than was consumed to conduct the experiment. The unexpected heat generated by the experiment caused damage to some equipment.

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If these experiments could generate a good amount of fuel, they can move away from other energy sources such as coal, oil, etc. However, the ultimate goal will take years to fulfill. Scientists have used the world's largest laser, which has 192 beams and temperatures more than three times hotter than the center of the sun, and this process is called burning plasma. Meanwhile, Carolyn Kuranz, an experimental plasma physicist who wasn't part of the research, said, "Nuclear fusion presses together two types of hydrogen found in water molecules. When they fuse, a small amount (milligrams) of fuel produces enormous amounts of energy, and it's also very `clean´ in that it produces no radioactive waste. It's basically limitless, clean energy that can be deployed anywhere."

Another expert, Dr Arthur Turrell, a plasma physicist, said, "The exact yield is still being determined, and we can't confirm that it is over the threshold at this time. That analysis is in process, so publishing the information...before that process is complete would be inaccurate. If this is confirmed, we are witnessing a moment of history." "Scientists have struggled to show that fusion can release more energy than is put in since the 1950s, and the researchers at Lawrence Livermore seem to have finally and absolutely smashed this decades-old goal. It couldn't be more profound for fusion power," said Nicholas Hawker, chief executive of Oxford-based start-up First Light Fusion. The project costs around $3.5 Billion. 

Meanwhile, an expert, Michael Campbell, director of the LLE at the University of Rochester in New York, said, "It gives the US a lab capability to study burning plasmas and high-energy physics relevant for [nuclear weapons] stewardship. It's an enormous scientific achievement."

'Where did this energy come from?'

The Internet quickly reacted to the new update. A user said, "Created more energy? Where did this energy come from? The principle of conservation of energy says this is not possible. Until this is confirmed by others, I will be skeptical." Another added, "So how is this supposed to be harnessed into usable energy? The fusion reaction is basically an uncontrolled explosion after ignition, right? Are you supposed to just ignite hydrogen clump after clump in a bunch of pistons or something?." Another asked, "This was my question. Making something hot doesn’t make it usable. I guess it would be used to heat water to make steam to turn turbines to generate electricity. That’s fairly diluted. The magnitude of increase over input by the fusion would need to be great enough for that."

A user claimed, "Fusion has the potential to lift more citizens of the world out of poverty than anything since the invention of fire.” - only if governments manage it's implementation to benefit all, and don't allow corporations to control who gets access." Another user noted, "Commercial fusion energy is still 15 years away. Just like it was 15 years ago, and just like it will be 15 years from now. Meanwhile, another added, "Feel like I’ve been hearing about breakthroughs in fusion my entire adult life. Hope you’re right." A tweet read, "That is great! But.. the whole setup is so very complicated I have my doubts it will ever actually work as a method to produce real energy. One can hope though that it will become less complicated over time. Almost free energy would change everything in our world." "It'll never happen here if there's a chance it will hurt a billionaire's account," claimed a tweet. 

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online