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0 pointschoeger4y ago0 comments

That's some hating BS right there. ITER might fail to produce economically viable fusion energy, but it certainly won't fail to produce a massive amount of scientific and engineering innovation.

The sole fact that such a scientific undertaking can be done internationally, over decades, is a great thing considering the global problems we face.

Yes, ITER doesn't follow the USA economic ideology of "much", "cheap", and "now", but the world doesn't consist only of the USA and not everything works well with that ideology.

ITER is not a PV or battery factory. It is more like the ISS.

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ncmncm4y ago

ISS is an apt comparison. Its apparent purpose while the Shuttle was flying was to be a place the Shuttle could get to. What it is for now is anybody's guess. In just a few years it will be a celestial light show, somewhere.

I have no doubt that plasma fluid physicists will learn a great deal from trying to get ITER lit up. Just handed the money, they could have learned a thousand times more, and maybe even achieved practical D/H-3 fusion propulsion for spacecraft. But that will not happen at ITER.

choegerOP4y ago

"Just handed the money", my ass. Did you ever work in science? How to you even think that money should be distributed in scientific institutions? Everyone gets a share based on ... what? Their degree? Number of publications? Consensus by committee?

And for comparison, look what the ISS has brought us commercially: We have a fully commercial manned spaceflight planned for next week. That is a massive achievement without even considering all the scientific work on the station.

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ncmncm4y ago

choegerOP4y ago

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