Machinery
of an Energy Dream
I
read the article “Machinery of an Energy Dream” by Kenneth Chang, which talks
about the possibility of harnessing nuclear fusion as an energy source. Nuclear
power is nothing new, we all live near Indian point, a facility that has been
operating since the 70s. However, today’s nuclear power is created by nuclear
fission, the breaking apart of atoms (usually uranium) into lighter ones. However,
this process produces lots of nuclear waste, and requires a fuel that is not
easy to get. Nuclear fusion, the merging of two lighter elements to form a
heavier one, not only produces much more energy, but requires only hydrogen as
a fuel source. It is the process that produces the heat from the sun- so you
know it’s legit. In addition, nuclear fusion is safer than fission, and is
completely non-polluting. Fusion, understandably, has long been the dream of
young nuclear physicists everywhere, and the quest for fusion has just taken a
promising step forward. Led by Dr. Omar A. Hurricane, a team of scientists at
the National Ignition Facility were able to produce a fusion reaction that
produced 5 times more energy than previous tests. Granted, even this was only “the
equivalent of what a 60-watt light bulb consumes in five minutes,” but the
result is encouraging nonetheless. The scientists produced this energy by
shooting 192 high powered lasers at a piece of gold the size of a “pencil
eraser” coated in 2 hydrogen isotopes (one heavier, one lighter), until it
compressed and the isotopes fused to form regular hydrogen.
This
is important to the world for a lot of reasons. Should nuclear fusion become a
viable energy source- scientists hope it will be as soon as 2030- the world
could begin the long journey on the path away from fossil fuel dependence. The ramifications
of such an event are revolutionary: the slowing of climate change, habitat
re-development, higher air quality, better international relations, the list
goes on and on. If nuclear fusion becomes the fuel source so many dream it will
be, the transition may prove to be world saving.
I
think this article was well written. The author chose to include some twitter
quotes, which I thought were pretty funny: “Awesome science story, but there’s
a zero percent chance that a fusion laser scientist named Dr. Hurricane isn’t a
supervillain.” I thought this was a good
way to keep me interested in the midst of all the technological jargon. Even
without the comic relief I thought it was a good article. I do think the nature
of the topic (its extreme relevance) made it easier for me to stay engaged and
read- overall I really enjoyed it.
After reading Andrew’s review of the article, “Machinery of an Energy Dream,” not only did I learn about a topic that could potentially change the world, but I thoroughly enjoyed the review because of its simple yet informative content. One part of his review that I thought was well done was his use of supporting evidence from the article. I think that this greatly enhanced his review and made his facts more meaningful. Another aspect of his review that I liked was his inclusion of the future effects that nuclear fusion could have for the world. He made it very clear what the differences between nuclear fission and nuclear fusion are, and how different their subsequent effects are on the environment and the energy industry. A third aspect of his review that I enjoyed was the tone in which he wrote the review. While he included many interesting facts about nuclear fusion and the ways it could affect the world, he maintained a colloquial manner of writing which made it easier to understand and more fun to read.
ReplyDeleteWhile the majority of the review was very well-done, there were a couple of things that I think could have improved Andrew’s review. I wish that he included more direct quotes from the article because the expert knowledge of scientists who work in the field would substantially strengthen his argument. Another thing that could have improved his review is if the segment about twitter was discarded. I think that it did not really add anything to the review and was irrelevant.
After reading this review, I learned about the possible utilization of nuclear fusion as an energy source and all of the benefits that come with it. I did not know anything about this topic before reading the review, and I am glad that I read Andrew’s summary.
I read Andrew’s review on the article, “Machinery of an Energy Dream.” This review was really well written, and I got the feel that Andrew was writing from his own opinions as opposed to copy and pasting from the text itself. The first aspect of this review that was well presented was his ability to introduce nuclear fusion and discuss how this creation is much more beneficial than nuclear fission. He claims how nuclear fission produces lots of nuclear waste, and requires a fuel that is not easy to get. However, he claims that nuclear fusion produces much more energy, and requires only hydrogen as a fuel source. Next, another aspect that was well presented was the way he connected this new invention to a better future. According to scientists, nuclear fusion will become a viable energy source as soon as 2030. It will contribute to the slowing of climate change, habitat re-development, higher air quality, better international relations, etc. Finally, the last aspect that was well presented in this article was Andrew’s ability to describe his overall opinion of this article. It was very descriptive and on point.
ReplyDeleteAlthough this was an excellent review, I have two suggestions that could have made it even better. My first suggestion would be to go into more detail about nuclear fission in comparison to nuclear fusion. How exactly is nuclear fission so much worse? My other suggestion would be to elaborate a little more on how nuclear fusion is going to slow down climate change, habitat re-development, higher air quality, better international relations, etc.
After reading this article and review, I was thoroughly impressed by the fact that by 2030 (hopefully), we will not rely on fossil fuels and we will be relying on nuclear fusion. That is exciting.
I read Andrew’s review of “Machinery of an Energy Dream” by Kenneth Chang. I thought Andrew did a very good job of explaining the difference of nuclear fission and nuclear fusion as energy sources. I briefly remember learning about this in Chemistry; however, he gave a great refresher. The most important part was that he explained the how nuclear fusion produces more energy than nuclear fission, meaning it could be the new power source. I also thought he did a great job of including this new cutting edge experiment of nuclear fusion. I do not think this was as essential to the actual article, but I do think that Andrew describing it was impactful on the reader. With the experiment, we can better understand how scientists are only beginning to really study this new power, and how this path will grow over the next few years. I also thought Andrew did a good job in explaining its importance to the world. Nuclear fission produces a lot of pollution, and at the rate we are using it, there will not be enough to support the world. The importance of fusion is that it is a cleaner and more effective energy source. Essentially, this can make the world less fossil fuel dependent and more world-saving.
ReplyDeleteI thought that Andrew could have improved his review in a few ways. The first, and most crucial, was the missing bibliography. I usually read the article before the review, and was unable to this time due to the lack of citation. At this point, even a website link would have been helpful. This could have easily been fixed. I also thought Andrew could have improved his review by being a little less jocular. There were a few parts that were written fairly informally and almost like a verbal transcript. I did not think this was terrible, but I did think that fixing the problem would greatly improve the review.
I thought it was incredible that just a small change in how he get the energy we use can make such a difference. In my mind, I knew that fusion was better than fission, but I did not realize that it makes such a huge difference in the world in terms of pollution, new energy and strength of energy. I think the experiments scientists are doing are crucial to the future of the world. It is amazing to be part of a time period where people are genuinely trying the make the world a better and safer place.
I read Andrew’s article review of the article “Machinery of an Energy Dream”. This article introduced nuclear fusion as a new viable source of energy. Andrew did many things well to make the reading of the article summary interesting. First of all, Andrew was very straightforward in his explanation. He claimed himself that the article used its own “technological jargon”, however instead of mentioning complicated terms in his summary leaving the reader with countless questions, he made the article easier to understand and made it easier to read. Another thing that Andrew did well was that he was honest in what he liked and found interesting in his article. Most times students tend to make up what they thought was interesting and what they liked, however Andrew stepped outside the box and included information about the twitter comments posted and how they effected his reading of the article. The final thing that Andrew did well was his explanation of this discovery’s importance to our world. It is true that energy is essential in our society and alternate forms of obtaining it are becoming more necessary as oil starts to run out.
ReplyDeleteAlthough this article was written exquisitely well, there are a few things that Andrew could do to improve his summary. One thing that he could improve is to change the tone of the article. I felt like it was more conversational yet these articles and written assignments like reviews should be more formal. Another thing that Andrew should do next time is to include the link of the article so that the review can be better evaluated.
I thought this article was really interesting and thought that it was very relevant to our world today. It is really important to investigate the topic of energy because more efficient methods of obtaining it could both help the environment and money for buying it.