How we will actually lose California?.

[TDK]

The people calling this a miniature star in that article are morons trying to stir up controversy. IT IS FUSION YES WE KNOW ITS BEEN AROUND FOR A WHILE.

[stabbity death]

Originally Posted by Azisien

Sounds a bit idealistic, no?

Half a million square kilometers of solar panels? Seriously?

The largest one in the world is like, under ten square kilometers. Not to mention the practicality of putting all our power eggs in one basket. It would make far more sense to spread it around. I'm not opposed to huge solar farms in big, useless deserts, but still.

The second point on the graphic makes it clear that the blocks are approximations, and that realistic allotment of solar panels would ideally be as decentralized as possible.

As the technology becomes more mature, you'll likely find solar power to be almost entirely decentralized, with panels being standard fare not just on house roofs, but on pretty much any structure or item outdoors which requires electricity, and the panels will be far more efficient at collection than what we have today. It will go a long way towards eliminating the need for a power grid altogether.

[Thadius]

Waitwaitwaitwaitwait.

Some of the (ill-placed) concerns about the LHC were that it would form a black hole on the Earth and doom us all. Or open a portal to other dimensions, or whatever.

They didn't pan out. We're still here, clearly, arguing about it.

And now you're all concerned about the opposite side of the spectrum? Did you learn nothing?

This is not SCIENCE from the comic books. These are men of reason and sanity testing out bold new theories and ideas to help us continue our way of life.

I can say this clearly as High Priest of Murphy: You all need to calm the hell down. Nothing is going to go wrong.

[Premmy]

Originally Posted by Thadius

You all need to calm the hell down. Nothing is going to go wrong.

WHelp, NOW we're doomed, good job, douchebag.

[Geminex]

I love the fact that they're effectively giving Arnold Schwarzenegger control of the death star.

[Flarecobra]

Nothing'll happon. It'll just be a flash, then people will move on to the next crazy-sounding idea.

[Bob The Mercenary]

So we're smashing neutrons together to form miniature black holes and firing lasers to create miniature stars.

At what point...you know what, never mind.

[Azisien]

Originally Posted by Bob the Mercenary

So we're smashing neutrons together to form miniature black holes and firing lasers to create miniature stars.

At what point...you know what, never mind.

Protons and antiprotons, actually.

Jerk.

[Sithdarth]

Protons and antiprotons, actually.

Jerk.

Just protons and lead nuclei, actually. To get a reasonable amount of data you need millions of particles whipping by a point in very short periods of time so that a few thousand of them at best can actually collide. There is no known source that could supply enough antiprotons for that kind of action. Positrons maybe antiprotons not so much.

So we're smashing neutrons together

If only we could. You see neutrons having no charge are really really easy to smack into each other. (They tend not to push each other out of the way.) Unfortunately having no charge there really is no good way to accelerate them. (They don't respond much to magnetic or electric fields which is pretty much the only way of doing it.)

[MasterOfMagic]

Originally Posted by Azisien

Yes, barrels with radioactive signs on them. Oh no save us!!!!

Actually, that sentence was in reference to the discussion of solar vs. nuclear, which has repeated itself over and over again.

I don't actually have any knowledge to confirm or deny your claims about holding nuclear waste, but I found it odd to refer to a process that produces dangerous waste we currently have no way of getting rid of as "clean". Also, I thought that stuff was rather expensive to hold onto safely, even if the amounts are small on a global scale?

I'm also intrigued by this part:

solar is surprisingly dirty due to high life cycle emissions

Could you explain that too? Don't believe I've seen this before.