(via my good friend Eric’s TGIF Humor list)
Sandia’s Z machine exceeds two billion degrees Kelvin
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia’s Z machine has produced plasmas that exceed temperatures of 2 billion degrees Kelvin — hotter than the interiors of stars.
The unexpectedly hot output, if its cause were understood and harnessed, could eventually mean that smaller, less costly nuclear fusion plants would produce the same amount of energy as larger plants.
Sweet. But doesn’t.. err that imply that larger fusion plants already exist?
(check out the associated photo. It’s hella-cool.)
April 28th, 2006 at 2:14 pm
That pic is soooo cool. What is plasma exactly? The dictionary didn’t give me enough info…uhm, blood component.
April 28th, 2006 at 2:34 pm
Here’s a bit of an explanation: Phases of matter and plasma
The really short explanation is: when something gets so hot that the molecules fall apart, leaving electrons and neutrons and protons whizzing around!
April 28th, 2006 at 3:15 pm
Cool…I mean hot! The ditionary I checked at school said a really hot substance, more or less…I should have wiki’ed it.