Infinite Life: Trapped in a lifetime

Although the departure time is approaching the last few days of the semester,

However, there is no exam at the end of the first semester of the elite class, and there is a more formal assessment only at the end of the first academic year.

On the course, Mo Dao's current learning progress is obviously not likely to be affected.

A group of four people took the high-speed train again.

It took nearly a day to set off from Capital University and rush to the city where EAST is located to complete the stay.

Of course, there was no way to go directly to the scene that day.

The next morning,

Mo Daocai followed Professor Hong to the laboratory where the EAST device was located.

…

This is the first time Mo Dao has directly seen a tokamak device in several lifetimes.

The core area where EAST is housed is called a laboratory, but it is more like a factory building with a higher ceiling.

In the middle of the factory building, there is the EASR, the fully superconducting tokamak experimental device.

Not far around the tokamak device, there is a circle of platforms with guardrails.

It is convenient for researchers working here and invited visitors to view the entire tokamak experimental device from a high position.

And it is convenient for some experimenters to adjust and adjust the device.

At this moment, Mo Dao was standing on this higher platform, as if he was very close to EASR.

For most people's understanding,

Even EAST, the smaller controllable nuclear fusion research device, is still a giant.

"This thing is 11 meters high and about eight meters in diameter."

Mo Dao is mainly here for a visit, and it is basically impossible to participate in any work at this stage.

I don’t know if it’s because I’m not too busy at the moment.

Professor Hong did not leave in a hurry, and took Mo Dao around the entire tokamak device.

Still smiling, he introduced Mo Dao,

"After all, it's been a few years, and the size is still a bit inferior to the one under construction at Xiwuyuan."

"But if the scale is smaller, the technology may not be backward. We can continue to adjust, transform and upgrade."

The entire tokamak device is in the form of a ring-shaped cylinder.

It doesn't look that sci-fi,

On the contrary, due to the large number of various devices, even if they are arranged neatly, they still look a bit rough and bold.

It has quite an industrial aesthetic feeling that big is beautiful.

This is certainly not the most gigantic thing Mo Dao has ever seen.

He once looked up at the snow-capped mountains at the foot of Mount Everest,

I once looked at the sea from atop a glacier.

I have also experienced space travel in low-Earth orbit and overlooked the entire earth.

Even this was not the largest human technological creation he had ever seen.

The largest hydropower station in Kelna, which was once built by China, was built in Kelna. Each of the generating units was larger than the device in front of me.

Even, as the spiritual leader of the Kelna youth,

Mo Dao also visited a fission nuclear power plant project also built by China.

But these,

It didn't matter, the 'not that big' behemoth in front of me also brought an unspeakable shock.

When this device is actually running,

The plasma running inside it has a temperature and energy that is probably the first level in this world and exceeds most people's understanding.

The only pity is that

This is just an experimental device. Whether in the past or in the future, it is unlikely to achieve commercial power generation.

Its only function is to provide experience for the construction of future experimental reactors.

"How does it feel?"

Professor Hong, who was talking, looked at the tokamak device in front of him and squinted his eyes in a daze.

Normally, he would not be so sentimental when facing the tokamak device.

But, at this moment, when watching another outstanding and talented latecomer embark on this path,

His eyes were still a little dazed.

China’s domestic research on controllable nuclear fusion actually has a long history.

Although controllable nuclear fusion is a future technology, research on it is not new.

Before the domestic hydrogen bomb exploded, research on nuclear fusion as an energy source had already begun.

This long time is enough for a generation of researchers and even their students, and many of those who came after them have gone from being in their prime to having gray hair.

Even now, Professor Hong dare not say when controllable nuclear fusion will truly reach the level of commercial power generation.

All I can say is, I hope, I hope that moment comes soon.

"It's shocking."

"Then after you graduate, you can join the Institute of Physics."

Professor Hong smiled and said something more to Mo Dao.

Then, there was no more delay at Mo Dao.

"Let your senior brother accompany you and walk around. As long as you don't disturb other people's work, it doesn't matter if you take a look."

A doctor was left behind to act as a tour guide for Mo Dao.

Professor Hong left.

Professor Hong, who has a doctorate, is fulfilling this responsibility.

Lead Mo Dao around this tokamak device and walk slowly on the platform here.

Speaking of which,

It may go against common sense,

Although tokamak devices are difficult for ordinary people to access,

But his level of secrecy is actually not that high.

This is also the reason why Mo Dao can be contacted so easily.

And the reason is,

In fact, it is because countries in the world that can afford research in this area,

The routes are very close.

The progress is also very close, or in other words, there is no essential gap.

The latest relevant developments can basically be found in various public papers.

Even if there is really something that needs to be kept secret, you can't actually tell it from the outside.

Looking at the tokamak device in front of him, Mo Dao thought about something else.

now and in the future,

In fact, there have been no fundamental changes in the research route to achieve controllable nuclear fusion.

There are three paths to achieving nuclear fusion.

Magnetic constraints, inertial constraints, gravity constraints.

Gravity confinement is basically how most stars achieve nuclear fusion.

For humans at this moment, this approach is basically a pipe dream.

In this regard, let alone results, there is no research direction.

Inertial constraints have been basically abandoned by mainstream research fields.

Nuclear fusion produced by inertial confinement has a very fatal problem. Nuclear fusion occurs discontinuously. A single nuclear fusion may occur in just a few tenths of a second.

There is no way to generate electricity at all.

Therefore, there is no way to know the time between now and the future before each life comes back again.

The research directions are all about magnetic confinement.

Mo Dao couldn't tell whether this direction was correct.

But if he engages in the research of controllable nuclear fusion in this life, he can only follow this path.

Because this is the only possible way among the three ways.

At the same time, it is also the method with the most research accumulation at present.

In magnetic confinement,

There are currently about three routes:

Ring tokamak, spherical tokamak, and stellarator.

Among them, research on ring-shaped tokamak devices is probably the most advanced.

Among the three, the stellarator is the only one that can be expected to be miniaturized after implementation.

But the premise is that it can be achieved.

The research on stellarators is now far behind the tokamak device.

It has basically been in a state of stagnation and abandonment.

The spherical tokamak device also has a fatal problem. Its overall structure determines that its plasma density is unlikely.

In other words, the prospects for commercialization are bleak.

This direction has basically never become the mainstream of research in major countries in this field.

In the end, there is still basically only one magnetic constraint left, which is the annular tokamak.

The EAST in front of Mo Dao at this moment is a ring-shaped tokamak device.

But even this, the furthest technological route humans have taken,

It is also far away from achieving commercialized controllable nuclear fusion.

The reason why we emphasize commercialization is

This is because the controllable nuclear fusion that people envision is to generate electricity and produce energy.

And not just nuclear fusion happening.