Lockheed Martin changed physics

[OriginalWheelman]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlYClniDFkM[/youtube]

They're created a way to make stable nuclear fusion on a small scale. They plan to have a working prototype in 5 years, and a truck sized reactor in 10. This large amount of power out of a relatively small weight could make a lot of projects possible that were not before. In 20 years, we could be driving electric cars that almost never need fuel or maintenance.

[Dattebayo]

There's actually a "working" prototype now. They haven't finished testing quite yet, but it's about 1/10th the size and power of the finished product, and apparently at full scale costs a little less than a new coal plant would...

http://www.futuretimeline.net/blog/2014/10/9.htm

Edit: Well, I don't know if the promises are all they're cracked up to be. But it's cool looking, anyway...

[Dattebayo]

In comparison, here's an interactive display of the assembly that ITER is using: http://www.iter.org/mach

[Looneybomber]

With cheap, clean power, comes an electric vehicle in my garage.

[OriginalWheelman]

Not only that, but mag-lev style anti gravity just got a lot easier. You can lift a bolt with a car battery and a big magnet, but you can't lift the battery. The power to weight ratio of the power source is too low. This packs so much power in such a small space, once the technology is fully developed it could mean things like using anti-grav pallet jacks and hover cars.

[Dattebayo]

Don't confuse anti-gravity with standard electromagnetism, please... That's just the thing we need to give intellectual weight to those guys who run around saying "nucular".

The physics of field propulsion isn't understood yet... (or at least isn't being released to the public yet, anyhow)

[OriginalWheelman]

I hear that a lot but a sufficient electromagnetic force used to counter the effects of gravity is therefore by definition an anti-gravity force. So I will still use the term.

[Dattebayo]

Mag-lev is the appropriate term, FYI.

Like the bullet train in Japan.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Defying gravity and anti-gravity are definitely not the same thing.

[Dattebayo]

I found a picture of what Lockheed has developed so far...

[MinisterofDOOM]

Interesting that nobody talks much about what KIND of fusion this is. It's not cold fusion, so I wonder if it's a Deuterium/Tritium plasma fusion reaction or something new. I know Deuterium/Tritium plasma fusion was not TOO far off being able to maintain a stable reaction even a few years ago, but the temperatures were proving to be a problem for containment.

[Dattebayo]

Bam, right on the head. It's a deuterium/tritium plasma fusion reaction. I know that Washington's reactor uses tritium as well...
Mostly because of the nature of the reaction: when you lose containment, the plasma just precipitates into harmless gas unlike a fission reactor failure.

From what I read, the magnetic containment has been fine-tuned and is supposed to be powered directly from the reaction now, thus why the announcement came out. So all they have to do is provide the initial power to contain the reaction and the switch-over happens automatically.

[Dattebayo]

Gizmag has a great article that explains the inner workings a bit better than most that I've found: http://www.gizmag.com/lockheed-martin-c ... ctor/34277