Harnessing Fusion: Creating a Sun on Earth

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is the world's largest and most powerful laser system. The NIF is built to create very extreme states of matter - similar to those found in the interiors of stars and planets. Here, scientists and engineers are working hard to demonstrate sustainable fusion burn - the same reaction that occurs in the sun - to one day harness as a source of limitless, clean energy.
About Science on Saturday:
Science on Saturday (SOS) is a series of science lectures for middle and high school students. Each topic highlights cutting-edge science occurring at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The talks are presented by leading LLNL science researchers supported by master high school science teachers. These presentations are offered in several locations. Learn more on the LLNL Education Program website: education.llnl.gov/programs/s....
Speaker Bios:
Dr. Tammy Ma is an experimental physicist at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). She earned her B.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering from Caltech, and her M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego. Tammy's parents brought her to Science on Saturday as a high school student (she attended Mission San Jose High School in Fremont, California), and through it she was inspired to explore and understand the world through science. Since then, she has dabbled in various types of research, from microbiology to 3D printers to spacecraft thrusters and high power lasers. Tammy now leads a large number of the fusion experiments at the NIF, and currently heads the X-Ray Analysis Group for the Inertial Confinement Fusion program. Dr. Ma has authored or co-authored over 100 peer-reviewed journal publications and regularly speaks at international physics conferences. Tammy also takes an active role in many science outreach programs.
Tom Shefler is a teacher at Granada High School. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and applied mathematics from Western Michigan University in 1997 and a Master of Arts degree in astronomy and astrophysics from the University of California at Berkeley in 2000. While at Berkeley, he researched analyzed and cataloged Hubble Space Telescope images of galaxies, observational research involved in the detection and study of extrasolar planets, and discovered Supernova 1998DT while working with the Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope team. During his graduate studies he fell in love with teaching and entered the teaching profession in 2002.

[@ShampooWow]

*_Awesome video! I like it_*

[@beachboardfan9544]

Cmon! You cant say the only byproduct of deuterium/tritium fusion is helium, the vessel the neutron production happens in will become radioactive, (yes its a much shorter half life, but its still something!) and will need to be handled with the same concern as fission waste.

[@beachboardfan9544]

28:00

[@bushelfoot]

The question is whether it is powerful enough?? The Laser is it powerful enough? Scotty kick the warp core we are needing more power

[@dominicroliz2891]

It would be better to make a 100% efficiency than to make a sun.

[@wisdomafoolweakness3391]

Carbon14 cannot last for millions of yrs only thousands