There are lots of companies in the game now.
Tri Alpha Energy, General Fusion, Lockheed Martin and there are quite a few more.
There is the Wendelstein 7X stellarator and ITER.
The increase in fusion magnetic energy has actually been faster than Moore's law.
See this video at 18:30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkpqA8yG9T4&t=3990s
The massive improvements in superconductive magnets are really making a huge impact. Check out ARC and SPARC from MIT.
Humanity is going to get usable energy generated from fusion.
When I was in high school, 45 years ago, I visited prospective colleges. Some grad students were discussing the fusion work they were doing, in a big building, with lots of shiny hardware. They probably told me that practical fusion was 15 years away.
Humanity is going to get usable energy generated from fusion.
Yeah I heard that in high school. I'm now retired and am still hearing it. Still, stranger things have happened. The Chicago Cubs won the World Series a few years ago!
Certificates, diploma, driver license, etc. are all based on that.
Never said that. But if fusion scientists say since 50+ years, that they are allmost there, then it is a pretty good indicator, that there probably also won't be a working fusion plant in the next 15 year's.
Wonder when the first company that was targeting fusion was started.
It seems there weren't any until the 2000s sometime. Now there are lots. People with the money to sink 10s of millions into the idea think that it's close.
Danny Hillis will bet you that someone will do this by 2020:
They have lots of skin in the game.
Thanks heaps for that. I had no idea.
What do you think of the new wave of fusion companies? Do you think they will get somewhere?
There is a subreddit for fusion. reddit/r/fusion.
Would you be interested in answering questions, doing a sort of AMA there?
Tri-Alpha was, as far as I can tell, the most legitimate of the fusion companies. My pal Dave just retired from it; he worked on their data efforts. FWIIW my original comment was quoting him.
However there was the space race and lots of funds were allocated to going to the Moon.
We don't do a lot of things, at least in the modern US, because we have tie economic incentive to everything vs doing for society, even at a 'loss'.
At least money is being raised and people are trying, it's easy to be a cynic about something that's been promised as around the corner for the last 50 years.
Fusion with net positive output would change everything for the world. Really hope they get over the line.
So it's coming along even if commercial viability may still be a while off.