x3lr4

x3lr4 t1_j6eub0v wrote

It is unclear at this time whether Bitcoin can become the world currency, but if it does, it should be worth around $100 million per BTC (in today's value of the Dollar). I don't think that's going to happen easily though as the powers that are will not just lay down and give up their ability to devalue their citizen's savings and their debt.

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x3lr4 t1_j25kdzl wrote

Actually a Q_total greater than 1 might be feasible. They didn't fully burn the pellet. If it fuses completely, there's 20 times more energy to be had. Also rebuilding the facility with newer lasers can make it 10 times more efficient. So overall a factor 200 is possible, which could give the entire facility a Q_total of 3. But yes, it still wouldn't be a power plant.

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x3lr4 t1_j25j7se wrote

Inertial confinement fusion is far from being useful for a fusion power plant. It's just a miniature hydrogen bomb.

The currently most interesting design that could actually speed up the timeline is Helion's approach.

Otherwise keep an eye on SPARC and ITER/DEMO. If nothing unexpected happens, commercial fusion power will likely not happen within this century.

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x3lr4 t1_ixppyl1 wrote

It will not be money anymore, because it will completely lose the property of fungibility. Every single dollar will be differentiable to another dollar and carry attributes like your name and the name of every previous user and any transaction made with it. It will be able to be seized or frozen at any time. You will only be able to make purchases that you have specifically received permission for. This will likely be done with pre-approval lists based on various categories like your social credit score and your assigned caste.

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