Occasionally, a piece of technology comes along that truly impacts the course of human
history. The invention of the telephone, of space flight, and of the internet could
all be considered examples of innovations that have forever altered the way we live. But now,
as we look further into the future, could we be approaching another technological revolution?
This is Unveiled, and today we’re taking a closer
look at the reasons why humanity needs to develop a fusion torch.
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A fusion torch is no doubt an advanced scientific and engineering concept even by today’s standards,
but it was actually first theorized all the way back in 1969, by the physicists Bernard J.
Eastlund and William C. Gough. With nuclear fusion and fission having been discovered by that time,
and with the Cold War hanging over the Soviet Union and the United States, there
was massive interest around the possibilities that nuclear technology presented. And, while
nuclear weapons had clearly brought a terrible new threat to the planet, there were early
signs that our growing nuclear know-how could one day be put to better, more positive use.
In short, and in theory, a fusion torch takes advantage of the high temperatures of plasma
during nuclear fusion, by using those temperatures to disassemble any material down into its most
basic elements… after which those elements can then be recaptured and reused. It is, then,
a potentially limitless energy solution, which could turn all used or unwanted materials into
something that will be used and something that is wanted. Kind of like ultimate recycling.
The process is performed using a Tokamak, which is a machine that uses magnetic fields to confine
nuclear plasma into a torus, donut-like shape. The plasma hits temperatures beyond
two hundred million degrees Fahrenheit, so that any material put through the Tokamak
is ruthlessly broken down… to the point that only its basic elements come out the other side.
The hope is, then, that a working fusion torch could solve so many problems for us, as we try
to gain more energy and resources in the future. In their original, 1969 paper pitching the idea,
Eastlund and Gough highlighted various hurdles they thought could ultimately slow (or
stop) humankind’s progress. One was the limited resources and energy available to us… another
was population growth and the need for more and more resources (including food) as a result…
and another was war. Build a fusion torch, then, and we might solve those three issues,
firstly by providing unlimited energy, through which we might achieve unlimited food,
water, shelter, clothing… pretty much anything you can think of… which should then reduce global
tensions and perhaps even the threat of war. So, why don’t we have fusion torches already?
As with so many potentially breakthrough technologies, funding has proven to be an
issue over the years. But another ongoing problem is that fusion torches represent an
environmental headache in their own right, as well. The fusion process itself gives off such
tremendous heat (and requires so much energy to work) that it could be counterproductive,
causing more problems than it solves for the environment. Over recent years, however,
scientists and engineers have been working hard to bring the numbers down to a “break even” figure,
where nuclear fusion produces more energy than it requires. If (or when) we reach that point,
then fusion torches might finally be widespread, as long as they can be built and used safely.
So, what would happen next? What might a world with fusion torches look like?
Well, we’d now be thinking of everything in terms of the elements that are present within it.
Water wouldn’t just be water anymore, but a prime source of hydrogen. More significantly, though,
trash wouldn’t just be trash… as literally all trash could have some sort of use and value now,
once it’s been stripped right back - via fusion torch tech - to its most basic elements.
Statistics vary, but in general the planet creates more than 2 billion tonnes of garbage every year,
under present conditions… and this is likely to rise to 3.4 billion tonnes by 2050, according to
data from the World Bank. And a large percentage of this waste is still ultimately disposed of at
landfill sites all over the world map, including famously on “trash islands” in the middle of our
oceans. When we picture futuristic utopias, it’s a sure bet that most of us don’t want
to envisage sprawling masses of used, unwanted, and harmfully decaying products blighting the
landscape and damaging the ecosystem… but that is, currently, where we appear to be headed.
Fusion torches might yet be the answer, though. If it were developed to be energy efficient
itself, then a working fusion torch could take pure trash, break it down into its constituent
elements, and redistribute those elements to wherever in the world they’re most needed.
Suddenly, those “trash islands” become energy resources, and the things you throw away
retain their elemental significance… even if the product that those elements had previously formed
had gone past its sell-by date or was no longer needed. Literally everything gets a second life,
over and over again, all thanks to a fusion torch essentially melting it down to its fundamentals.
The next question: what would we do with all these reclaimed elements? Well, scientists
and companies already utilize pure elements in a variety of ways. Pure hydrogen is used
by NASA and other space agencies, for example, as rocket fuel to launch shuttles into space.
Lithium is an important ingredient in batteries. Boron is present in many antiseptics and washing
powders. Nitrogen is a key nutrient in fertilizers. And most of these elements,
and more, are in high demand in their respective fields. More than that, though, if it were
possible for human society to make its products specifically out of only the elements it needed,
then we should - theoretically - be heading for a world with zero waste thereafter.
Or at least much lower levels of pollution, with cleaner fuels, and recyclable everything.
With a fusion torch, plain rocks should be easily transformable, too, into things like pure iron
or aluminum. While another wide-reaching predicted application for them is that they
should make it much simpler to desalinate seawater, to turn it into drinking water.
These machines would give us so much more control over the world around us that it’s perhaps not
difficult to see why advocates for them argue that they would thrust us to never-before-seen levels
of tech advancement. Ultimately, development of the fusion torch could serve as a watershed
moment in other ways, too. With it potentially solving so many of the world’s current problems,
it could well trigger population growth… but also growth in other areas of science and technology,
too. Everyday space travel could suddenly seem a whole lot more feasible, for instance.
As might flying cars, floating cities, and all manner of other, currently sci-fi concepts.
These should all seem easier once we begin bringing everything back to basic elements.
In many ways, a fusion torch would represent a major move up the scale of micro-dimensional
mastery, proposed by the theoretical physicist John Barrow. Barrow set out the scale in relation
to the famous Kardashev Scale, which seeks to rank civilizations based on technological
growth. Barrow’s scale, though, argues that a group only becomes truly advanced once it can
manipulate the world of the very small. That is, molecules, atoms, and elementary particles… with
a mind toward nanotechnology. If we ever do find ourselves repurposing elements via a fusion torch,
then, we’ll have greatly improved as a civilization, as per Barrow’s way of thinking.
The largest Tokamak in the world today is the ITER, otherwise known as the International
Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor. It’s a massive project, and a huge collaboration
between multiple nations and groups, including the EU, China, Russia, the US, India, and more.
The machine itself is based in France, and scientists are still working toward achieving that
all important distinction with it, wherein it produces more energy than it requires.
But watch this space, because it’s no exaggeration to say that ITER might one day prove to be one of
the most significant science and engineering projects of modern times. For all the
reasons that we’ve touched upon in this video. Nuclear technologies can so often seem frightening
at first, thanks to the devastating weapons and disasters that we’ve seen in recent decades…
but a fusion torch, if built correctly, could yet solve so many problems. Not least the three
that Eastlund and Gough highlighted when they first proposed it in the late ‘60s - our lack
of resources and energy, our demand for resources and energy, and our tendency
toward war. Those might all be fixed. And that’s why humanity needs to develop a fusion torch.
What do you think? Is there anything we missed? Let us know in the comments, check out these other
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