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Inflection Point

Nuclear fusion stumped us for a century. Can it fuel the future?

6/17/202639 min

In this episode, hosts David Anderson and Gina Vitale take the time machine as far back as it will go to understand the primordial origins of nuclear fusion. They also bring in C&EN reporter Prachi Patel to untangle the current state of fusion technology and predict whether fusion will power our future.

C&EN's award-winning podcast Inflection Point leans on our 100-year archive to trace headline topics in science today back to their disparate and surprising roots. In each episode, we explore three lesser-known moments in science history that ultimately led us to current-day breakthroughs. With help from expert C&EN reporters, this show examines how discoveries from our past have shaped our present and will change our future. 

Subscribe to Inflection Point now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Clips

Fusion Breakthrough 2022
Laser Idea Notarized
Fusion Safety Explained
Isotopes vs. Isopods

Transcript preview

First 90 seconds

  1. Gina Vitale· Host0:00

    Hey, uh, uh, David?

  2. David Anderson· Host0:02

    Gina.

  3. Gina Vitale· Host0:02

    Oh, what's- Try to keep your voice down a little bit, okay?

  4. David Anderson· Host0:05

    Just- Oh, okay.

  5. Gina Vitale· Host0:06

    I'm sorry. W- why are we whispering?

  6. David Anderson· Host0:09

    Well, we're in a university lab right now. Cambridge- University lab ... University- Okay ... to be specific. And see that guy over there? He's very, very intense.

  7. Gina Vitale· Host0:18

    Yeah.

  8. David Anderson· Host0:19

    He's really trying to focus. I don't wanna get in the way of any of this.

  9. Gina Vitale· Host0:21

    Right, okay. And who is that guy again?

  10. David Anderson· Host0:23

    [laughs] Okay. You don't recognize him?

  11. Gina Vitale· Host0:25

    David, why would I recognize that guy?

  12. David Anderson· Host0:28

    That's Francis William Aston, so- Okay ... there you go.

  13. Gina Vitale· Host0:32

    I guess that name kind of sounds familiar, but what is he doing right now that requires such focus that we have to talk like this?

  14. David Anderson· Host0:39

    Well, okay, as you can see- Uh-huh ... he's putting the finishing touches on his new invention, the mass spectrograph. You might know it in the current day as the mass spectrometer.

  15. Gina Vitale· Host0:49

    Whoa, he is literally inventing the mass spec right now?

  16. David Anderson· Host0:53

    The very thing, yeah.

  17. Gina Vitale· Host0:54

    And it's that thing over there? 'Cause that, that doesn't really look- Okay ... anything like the mass spec that I've used.

  18. David Anderson· Host1:00

    Oh, la-di-da. All right. Fine. Well, they have evolved a lot in the last 100 years. He's building the first one right here in 1919.

  19. Gina Vitale· Host1:09

    You know, David, as much as I love the mass spec, and I do love the mass spec- Mm-hmm ... this show is kind of supposed to focus on emerging technologies.

  20. David Anderson· Host1:17

    Okay. [laughs] Well, the topic of the episode today is not the mass spectrometer.

  21. Gina Vitale· Host1:22

    Oh, okay.

  22. David Anderson· Host1:22

    The invention of the mass spec is just the first inflection point. You see- Hmm ... using this brand-new device,

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