How Developments In Nuclear Fusion Change Everything | Neil deGrasse Tyson Explains...

What is thermonuclear fusion? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice discuss the Department of Energy’s breakthrough in nuclear fusion and what it means for our energy future.

Can we do nuclear fusion in a controlled setting? Find out how the worlds most powerful lasers at The Lawrence Livermore Lab got hydrogen atoms to come together. How do you get two protons to join the same nucleus? Learn about the fundamental forces that make nuclear fusion possible as well as really difficult. We explore E = MC2 and how it continues to transform civilization. What does unlocking nuclear fusion mean for the future of sustainable energy?

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Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up!

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00:00 - Big Nuclear Fusion Announcement
01:30 - How thermonuclear fusion works
06:17 - Lasers & Converting to Energy
08:25 - Harnessing Fusion for Sustainable Energy

[d.mort.]

Important caveat:
P_reaction=1.5 but P_total= 0.007
From my understanding the laser added 2MJ to the reaction and got 3MJ out. But 300MJ was required to power the laser in the first place.

I am curious about the steps required to make this a feasible technology. This feel like it was omitted from the talk and also feels like quite the hurdle to overcome!

I am curious of your thoughts.

[insanusmaximus]

As a kid, I grew up in an America that was still exulting in the Apollo program and the Voyager missions. I've watched the country turn its back on science more and more with each passing year. But here, at the close of 2022, we have Artemis returning to the Moon and breakthroughs like this. My fondest wish is that it might inspire a whole new generation of scientists to continue the good work.

[damann]

I came for the fusion but I stayed for the quantum love🍻🙏

[bensonstorr]

Neil has a way of keeping people entertained while educating, such a gift

[youaregoingtolovethis]

If every high school science class was like this nobody would skip science class. It would probably be one of their most favorite classes and actually look forward to going to science class and many more would want to become a scientist

[element]

Neil has a way of explaining science in a manner that is not only understandable but highly engaging

[suds]

I started studying quantum physics in the 70's and have been waiting for this paradigm shifting event since then.
So grateful this has occurred in my lifetime. I hope I get to see humans walk on the moon again.

[fcg]

If I had a professor like Neil back in college I would’ve had all A’s on Chemistry and Physics. His talent and clarity explaining things is just unbelievable.

[AdamSno]

Quantum love. That's why the show is so great. Neil breaks everything down to where normal people can understand a complex topic, and they make it entertaining at the same time.

[thefixxer]

Man, I needed you guys when I was 12. Now I'm 50. You guys are awesome and I enjoy what you do. Thank you.

[paulmfti]

A classic example of genius…taking a complicated subject and explaining it in terms that the common folk can understand…and with humor…another genius ingredient of their approach to teaching…love these guys…

[Christobanistan]

I wish he'd talk about the fact that the 150% calculation is just the energy they put into the fusion reaction. The surrounding power generation used vastly more power to make that happen. They used an old laser and a lot more work has to be done to get the total power input down. But this is still huge because it demonstrates that the reaction itself is totally doable!

[sergiomauras]

As a retired mechanical engineer, this has been the most down-to-earth explanation of thermalnuclear fusion I have ever heard. Absolutely brilliant. BTW, what is written on the T-shirt Chuck is wearing, and how can I obtain one?

[johnnyfreedom]

As a man who made career repairing coal fired power plants, I've been waiting for this! It's your explanation of the explosion that interests me. When you pulverize coal like talc, it explodes in the boiler. It's controlling that explosion that is the trick! More things change the more they stay the same!

[journees]

As a non-physicist seeing all the amazing reactions of the physicists all over the internet over this news, I believe this is something so big that maybe I couldn't understand for now, but I'm having a goosebump to realize that we are now already in the future that I imagined decades ago through science fictions like star trek. It's like a dream.

[Greebstreebling]

My friend and I worked at Culham and Harwell in the 1970s - fusion was just around the corner. 50 years on and countless billions later, fusion is - you guessed it, just around the corner.

[auntiejen]

I love listening to Neil's explanations because he makes everything so easy to understand, and he and Chuck have a good time doing it!! Now I know why the news about a fusion breakthrough is so exciting!!

[hamzavictor]

I love Neil, such an awesome personality and he makes the physics so easy.

[meadmaker]

At over 50 years old, I've seen so many amazing developments in my lifetime, but this one might be the most exciting of them all. I remember my high school science teacher talking about hydrogen, and fusion, and the idea that one day a car might run forever on a gallon of saltwater. And now we've taken that first step toward truly sustainable, clean energy. We are on the cusp of something truly amazing. I just hope to see it come to practical fruition during my lifetime. Congrats to Lasers, Lasers, and Lasers for their hard work and amazing achievement. I'm sure the Nobel committee will have something to say to them shortly.

[ottosfamily]

I work at one of the laboratories that helped develop this technology and it was a huge deal across the laboratory. It’s incredible to see humanity advancing technology like this to make sci-fi closer to reality. Such a breakthrough for humanity.