/sci/ - Science & Math

>>6496700
>general fusion
>trillion

>>5512709
Not at these funding levels no, not for decades at least. The only reason the meme of "20 years away" has been continuing for 40 years is because funding for the damn project has been continually cut for 40 years. Here is a chat made in the 1970s that outlines the future of fusion research at different funding levels. I want to remind people that the fusion research projects have met or even exceeded every goal they have aimed for in the past 30 years, despite the shitty level of funding. So it's not like there has been no progress, it's just been at a snail's pace, but they still keep making breakthroughs, it would be at lightning speed if their funding was increased 10 times.

I don't hate space exploration but I'm somewhat in the lukewarm camp on this issue.

Although solving problems in space technology might yield potential benefits, people should really make nuclear fusion their top priority. It has been underfunded for way too long even though it is the only way forward for humanity. Once the problem of energy is solved the economy will become much better and there will be time for space.

http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/12/04/11/0435231/mit-fusion-researchers-answer-your-questions