High-Powered Laser Possibly Powerful Enough to Create a Nuclear Fusion Reaction

When the world’s most powerful laser facility flicks the switch on its first full-scale experiments later this month, a tiny star will be born on Earth.

The National Ignition Facility in California has nearly 200 lasers that, when aimed at a small pellet of hydrogen, should produce enough energy to create a nuclear fusion reaction. This is the same reaction that is found in the formation of stars. While some are looking at the military applications of this for use in new nuclear weaponry and some are looking at the environmental applications of this as an extremely abundant source of energy. But the most interesting fact is that these energies create pressures similar to those on Jupiter, pressures that are high enough that they alter the laws of physics at the epicenter. For instance, at those pressures, hydrogen turns in to a metallic liquid, and hydrocarbons begin to breakdown and separate, the end result being the formation of diamonds. But as this is the same process used to create a star, it is also possible to test other effects, such as those of a supernova.

Space and Technology Part 2: Progress

What is the chance that alien life exists? Nasa’s latest mission – the Kepler Space Telescope due to launch on Friday night to survey the heavens for Earth-like planets – could soon give us an answer.

Was someone at NASA watching WordPress and my post just happened to be the one he saw? Regardless, at least they are finally taking some action and trying to find life. The biggest complaints against it are that Earth-like life would need Earth-like conditions to survive. They say that, for life to be sustained, it would have to so closely match the conditions here on our Earth. But honestly, do these people think that evolution constricts life to developing only in Earth-like ways? That is what evolution is, the adaptation of a species to an environment. Animal life on another planet could evolve to breath Carbon-Dioxide, or Oxygen, or Nitrogen, or what ever the primary characteristic of their atmosphere is. Botanical Earth life breath Carbon-Dioxide and release O2. Animal Earth life breath O2 and release Carbon-Dioxide. But given the fact that those two are major portions of our atmosphere, its no surprise that they do. But if another planet’s primary atmospheric component happened to be something like N2 (A two nitrogen bond) then any life to develop on that planet would probably breath N2. Of the infinite number of planets, stars, solar systems, and galaxies in this Universe of ours, there is inevitably going to be more species somewhere. Earth, in all it’s wonder, is nothing truly unique. In our solar system, perhaps it is, but in our neighboring solar systems, let alone in our galaxy, there must undeniably be another instance of life. It may have passed its existence in the millennium that passed while the light from their world traversed the depths of space to reach us, but this won’t be the only one we find, and we will find one that is living eventually. Just because we don’t see them in the tiny iota of distance this can see doesn’t mean they don’t exist, and doesn’t mean at all that we should give up on other life. In fact, the absence of life would be all the more reason to step up research in to finding life and research in to space travel.

Space and Technology

Some of you may have recently have heard about NASA launching a satellite that was intended to monitor CO2 levels in the atmosphere. Well, during the launch process, there was an on-board malfunction that caused the rocket lifting the satellite to crash in the Antarctic. This is another in a long string of failures of NASA technology that continues to raise concerns and lower funding. This is depressing because there is so much to be learned from the depths of the cosmos that we may miss because of the failures of NASA. Recently, though, there has been a small surge in private space research. A few companies are now offering, all though at enormous prices, private space flights for short distances, and other companies are selling functional crafts that can just barely break through the barrier between our world and space. With more people working on these projects, then we may some day see an increase in competition, meaning lower prices and more availability. If we can reach this point, where an at least decently wealthy person can leave Earth for an extended period of time, then we will also see major advancements on the actual process. It would be wonderful if we could finally be able to examine the aspects of an nebula or sit in orbit in a science station around a small star and study it in more detail than ever thought possible. And having access to other planets and asteroids and stars and so much more means nearly limitless development here on Earth. Resources we think are nearly depleted could be lying in amounts hundreds of times greater than ever found here on Earth, with no one to lay claim to them. And of course, we may finally encounter another sentient species. Or not even sentient. Perhaps animal in nature, but still unique entirely. Even finding a brutish animal would lend so much to science. But finding a sentient one? The possible technological advancements could be inconceivable to the current human mind. There is so much to gain from these advancements, that it is almost indescribable in any known language. Maybe the next stimulus package, which there is sure to be, shouldn’t just include a few million for these sciences. Instead of funding social projects that will serve no purpose ultimately with billions, maybe we should contribute to something that has long term capability.
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