Nuclear fusion reactor in South Korea runs at 100 million degrees C for a record-breaking 48 seconds - eviltoast

48 seconds. I predict a glut of helium. balloons for everyone

  • n3m37h@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    8 months ago

    They most likely ran out if liquid helium as the world is running out of the stuff at an alarming rate

        • Strykker@programming.dev
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          8 months ago

          Sure, but they don’t consume it, and let it just boil off. They have massive refrigerant setups to bring it down to temp and keep it there.

        • HornyOnMain@fedia.io
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          8 months ago

          Sure, but why does that mean they must be losing the helium each time? I don’t know anything about liquid helium and super conductors, but I know I don’t need to replace my radiator fluid just because it cooled my engine.

            • HornyOnMain@fedia.io
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              8 months ago

              Alright, did some research, first off you’re wrong about this being the reason even if this was a plausible reason. The real reason is the ash and heat divertors failed.

              Second, you don’t even need liquid helium for super conduction. Here’s a few closed loop helium gas coolers that get to 10 kelvin. They need to be refilled on the scale of years, not from a single test.

              https://www.arscryo.com/closed-cycle-cryocoolers https://stirlingcryogenics.com/products/closed-loop-helium-gas-cooling-system/

              I get you care deeply about helium loss but this is the last thing you should be accidentally spreading misinformation about. This process literally creates more helium then it uses.

              • n3m37h@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                8 months ago

                I didn’t say they did, just said probably, I’m just a stupid redneck.

                Oh and how do we capture said multi thousand deg helium?

                • barsoap@lemm.ee
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                  8 months ago

                  Oh and how do we capture said multi thousand deg helium?

                  By cooling down the air that contains it until it’s liquid, then distilling that. Actually a standard process though usually you freeze down natural gas not just random air, it’s quite helium-rich.

    • Azzu@lemm.ee
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      8 months ago

      This is such a ridiculous comment. I can literally go on Amazon and buy some helium right now. You really think if that’s possible, a cutting edge research lab would run out of the stuff?

      Sure, it’s limited and getting scarcer, but no one’s running out yet.