Bill Nye explains why nuclear fusion breakthrough is a big deal
Bill Nye explains why nuclear fusion breakthrough is a big deal
For the first time in history, US scientists at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California successfully produced a nuclear fusion reaction resulting in a net energy gain. Science educator Bill Nye explains why this is such a big breakthrough. #CNN #News
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0.166 -> US scientists making a huge breakthrough.
3.036 -> A source tells CNN
4.204 -> that for the first time
5.238 -> ever, researchers
6.573 -> have been able
7.007 -> to create energy from a fusion r
9.876 -> Now, Laura,
10.31 -> I could explain all of this
11.444 -> in great detail.
13.113 -> But basically, it's a giant step
16.483 -> a clean energy future
17.817 -> without dependance on fossil fue
20.253 -> Now, sad
20.887 -> and I mean, that's all you need
22.455 -> The Department of Energy is yet
23.723 -> to officially announce
24.824 -> the breakthrough in just a few h
27.36 -> But here to help explain to us a
29.229 -> CNN chief
29.929 -> climate correspondent Bill
31.331 -> Weir and science
32.665 -> educator Bill
33.7 -> Nye, host of The End Is Nigh.
37.17 -> Let me begin with you, Mr.
38.705 -> Nye.
On this point,
39.539 -> because although Alison
41.041 -> and I clearly know
42.108 -> everything about have any questi
43.61 -> you can feel free to ask us any
46.212 -> you might have.
47.58 -> But could you just explain
48.882 -> for those of us
49.549 -> who don't know how this is
51.151 -> such a miraculous occurrence?
53.953 -> So I'll ask you a question.
56.022 -> Do you know that the sun
58.091 -> the sun is a continuous fusion r
61.561 -> naturally has a definite.
63.63 -> Are you really or not? This is.
65.665 -> So a nuclear weapon.
67.067 -> Can you.
68.301 -> We had to terminate World War Tw
71.104 -> We're splitting very large atoms
74.507 -> Gave off tremendous amount of en
76.676 -> But there's another amazing thin
79.045 -> that happens in nature,
80.113 -> where you smash
80.98 -> tiny, tiny
82.015 -> parts of atoms together, protons
84.451 -> and they fuze
86.219 -> and convert a tiny amount of the
88.588 -> into energy, into heat, heat and
92.392 -> And that was the mythic hydrogen
95.728 -> But for all this time, for 80 ye
100.867 -> people have tried to try to get
103.77 -> where you could do it
104.504 -> in a controlled fashion,
106.573 -> using a tiny amount of material.
109.309 -> And the material would be
112.245 -> hydrogen
112.812 -> that has an extra neutron,
114.948 -> which was the smell.
115.849 -> Marbles were deuterium.
117.717 -> And then if there's two extra
118.852 -> neutrons, that's tritium.
120.854 -> And so using lasers,
123.923 -> they zapped this container.
126.459 -> This whole room
128.228 -> this gold thing with the deuteri
132.332 -> And the lasers create X-rays,
135.335 -> and the X-rays create constant a
138.171 -> interfering shockwaves
141.241 -> that get the thing to fuze
143.877 -> without a giant magnetic bottle
146.012 -> and without the gravity of a sta
148.781 -> And so this is the first time,
151.017 -> by all accounts,
152.385 -> they've gotten more heat out
154.254 -> than they put in.
155.788 -> And this is amazing.
157.09 -> And as far as I know,
158.858 -> in the reporting the last few da
161.094 -> no one's mentioned that Enrique
165.031 -> and his colleagues
165.999 -> and University of Chicago
167.7 -> did the first chain reaction,
169.636 -> which led to all the nuclear pow
172.038 -> we have now.
172.939 -> Yeah. On December 2nd.
174.674 -> 1942. Okay.
176.91 -> So it's quite a little chain str
180.346 -> that it's very close to 80 years
182.882 -> to the day that this breakthroug
186.653 -> occurred And so you guys,
188.421 -> if this would work.
189.822 -> Yeah,
190.523 -> if this is a harbinger,
192.025 -> if this is really the beginning
193.66 -> of something huge,
195.528 -> it would change the world
196.996 -> Thank you for explaining that to
198.331 -> I want to know
198.898 -> I mean, I was going to say
199.933 -> all that, but Bill.
201.935 -> Bill Weir, tell us what we need
204.604 -> Bill just did editions on your d
207.473 -> The bill.
208.074 -> No, it's a star in a box.
210.577 -> This is the whole idea.
211.744 -> This is why
212.845 -> nuclear physicists
214.147 -> have been salivating on this ide
215.648 -> forever.
216.349 -> It's taking a star
217.517 -> and putting it in a box on Earth
219.319 -> and tapping that energy
220.353 -> that goes forever.
221.287 -> It's what Iron Man has in his ch
224.023 -> Okay, now we understand
225.425 -> it's this endless clean energy m
228.094 -> And the appeal of it is,
229.529 -> is you don't have any nuclear wa
231.331 -> There's no fallout. There's no a
233.466 -> We don't have to drill
234.534 -> or mine for fuel anymore
236.236 -> because the fuel is seawater.
238.204 -> We have 30 million years of sea
240.406 -> water, theoretically,
241.507 -> to feed these machines.
243.142 -> But the what Bill is describing
245.612 -> there's 200
246.145 -> lasers aimed at
247.046 -> what is essentially a peppercorn
248.982 -> of hydrogen.
250.917 -> A long way
251.851 -> from there
252.452 -> to where
you can plug in your house to th
255.321 -> This is for our grandkids, proba
258.391 -> as a as a meaningful technology
260.226 -> Maybe you're more optimistic
261.461 -> than I am about how fast this ta
263.496 -> In the meantime,
264.163 -> there's all this incredible
266.032 -> breakthroughs that are happening
267.133 -> with wind and solar.
268.268 -> And,
269.502 -> you know, more
270.236 -> will go online
270.87 -> next five years
271.537 -> that went online in the last 20.
273.439 -> So it'll be interesting to see
274.841 -> how this news is received by tho
276.676 -> who say we should be
277.31 -> putting our billions of dollars
278.444 -> into the technology
279.679 -> we know works today
281.18 -> and getting off oil and gas ASAP
283.683 -> And then maybe, you know,
285.151 -> saving life
285.752 -> as we know it
286.219 -> before we go for these amazing m
289.055 -> But at the same time
290.523 -> the promise of this,
291.991 -> you know
292.392 -> private money
292.959 -> is going to chase public after t
294.46 -> And so this could be
295.795 -> a brave new world built.
297.563 -> Is there do you think that it co
300.066 -> in our grandchildren's lifetime?
301.734 -> Could it be conceivably sooner
304.137 -> Absolutely.
305.271 -> I mean,
305.805 -> so just
306.606 -> you think about how quickly
307.874 -> people went
308.541 -> from discovering chain
309.876 -> reactions,
311.244 -> the Sizzler
311.878 -> and crossing the street in 1928.
314.113 -> And they had this idea.
315.515 -> And then
316.749 -> just two decades later,
318.151 -> we had nuclear power plants.
320.219 -> Well,
this could be the beginning
321.921 -> of something amazing.
322.922 -> So everybody
323.656 -> you know, this expression
324.991 -> H2O, high water.
327.193 -> There's no shortage of hydrogen.
329.228 -> If we can find a way to make thi
332.265 -> continuously,
333.166 -> what you do is capture the heat
336.135 -> and almost certainly capture the
338.104 -> boil water and make steam
340.039 -> and run a turbine,
341.341 -> just as we do
342.175 -> now in a coal fired plant or a
344.944 -> natural gas fired plant
346.446 -> or a nuclear plant using fission
349.015 -> So it's really an exciting thing
350.65 -> and it shows you
351.451 -> the value of just investing.
354.42 -> Like you just
355.988 -> just invest in basic research.
358.891 -> There is no right answer.
360.36 -> And I got to say, Bill,
362.395 -> to me, it's it's don't make me p
365.098 -> We don't want to have to pick
368.668 -> and we
369.135 -> because the climate
370.136 -> situation is so serious, we want
373.773 -> as I like to say everything all
376.876 -> We want to develop wind and sola
378.811 -> We want to develop
380.713 -> this fusion technology, if it's
383.282 -> We want to avoid.
385.184 -> You may know NIMBY, not in my ba
387.387 -> We want to avoid banana.
390.156 -> Build absolutely nothing anywher
393.025 -> anything. We can't do that.
395.595 -> We get
397.53 -> we have to build power lines.
399.365 -> It's going to have to go through
400.967 -> right away.
402.068 -> We've got to find ways
403.136 -> to distribute electricity
404.604 -> and include everybody.
406.606 -> In a future so that we have
410.576 -> a higher quality of life
411.677 -> for more people on Earth.
412.845 -> And we can avoid having
414.68 -> catastrophic climate consequence
416.582 -> This is one more piece in the pu
418.651 -> invest, invest, invest, and plus
422.555 -> I was born in the U.S.
423.99 -> I don't know any better.
425.658 -> Okay.
426.025 -> So I want the U.S.
427.393 -> to lead in this technology.
429.061 -> I don't want to be catching up w
432.632 -> researchers in other parts of
434.066 -> the world who are fine people.
435.601 -> Yeah. Yes.
437.57 -> I want as a as a proud American.
441.574 -> Yeah.
442.809 -> You make a great point.
443.943 -> You make a great point, Bill.
445.378 -> And I mean, this is such a great
448.114 -> You know, so often, Bill, we hav
449.949 -> And it's really discouraging
451.584 -> climate news
452.552 -> and it's catastrophic, in fact.
454.053 -> And this is such a hopeful
456.722 -> exciting story.
457.59 -> So thank you both for explaining
459.592 -> so well to us. Really great.
461.26 -> Let us, taxpayers
462.795 -> and voters, let's invest,
464.23 -> change the world. Thank you. Yea
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI4rWcu9LIg