this post was submitted on 21 Jan 2025
415 points (97.3% liked)
Science
3384 readers
508 users here now
General discussions about "science" itself
Be sure to also check out these other Fediverse science communities:
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I really feel the urge to correct the "infinite power part" because it hurts my soul as a (wannabe) physicist.
There exist no thing like infinite energy generator because energy is always conserved (well, there are some weird corner cases this isn't true, but that is another lesson).
There are massive "transformators" of energy known as stars (like our Sun)which expel radiation in massive quantities thanks to its humongous size and will take billions of years until it grows into a giant red star and more billions of years until it explodes into a white dwarf (If I recall it correctly).
Billions or even "measly" millions of years is basically "infinite" for human lifespan, I agree.
But it still is finite.
Fusion won't be "infinite" (billions nor even millions of years) because it will be basically a "microscopic sun"
We'd need something a bit bigger than Jupiter to get something closer to a "infinite-red-dwarf-energy-generator".
And Jupiter's diameter is around 10 or 11 Earths diameter, so it is something that is already a big massive for humans to do.
I'd say that photovoltaic cells for solar energy would be easier to make "infinite energy" becuse we are copying what the best "infinite energy users" (also known as plants) have been doing for millions of years.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/SolarSystem_OrdersOfMagnitude_Sun-Jupiter-Earth-Moon.jpg